But his
remarks had not been without a touch of facetiousness in their wilful
disgust. And the mere tone of his voice proved that he felt better. To
justify his previous black pessimism he had of course been obliged to
behave in a certain manner (well known among patients who have been
taking themselves too seriously), and Rachel had understood and
excused. She would have been ready, indeed, to excuse for worse
extravagances than any that could have occurred to the fancy of a
nature so polite and benevolent as that of Louis; for, in order to
atone for her silly school-girlishness, she had made a compact with
herself to be an angel and a serpent simultaneously for the entire
remainder of her married life.
Then Mrs. Tams had come in, from errands of marketing, with a copy of
the early special of the _Signal_, containing a description of
the accident. Mrs. Tams had never before bought such a thing as a
newspaper, but an acquaintance of hers who "stood the market" with
tripe and chitterlings had told her that Mr. Fores was "in" the
_Signal_, and accordingly she had bravely stopped a news-boy
in the street and made the purchase. To Rachel she pointed out the
paragraph with pride, and to please her and divert Louis, Rachel
had introduced the newspaper into the bedroom.
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