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Ewbert went out to the gate with the old man, and when he came back to his study, he found his wife there looking strangely tall and monumental in her reproach. "I supposed you were in bed long ago, my dear," he attempted lightly.
"You _don't_ mean that you've been out in the night air without your hat on! " she returned. "Well, this is too _much_! " Her long-pent-up impatience broke in tears, and he strove in vain to comfort her with caresses. "Oh, what a fatal day it was when you stirred that wretched old creature up! _Why_ couldn't you leave him alone!"