Then she had left him quickly, while the footman carried the table from
the room--and after that he remembered nothing more, he had fallen into
a feverish sleep. But the next morning, when he awoke, he knew captivity
had indeed tumbled upon him, and that he was chained hand and foot.
And all the day his temperature went up again, and he was not allowed to
see even Arabella of the kind heart, who would have come and condoled
with him, and even wept over him if she had dared, so moved did the good
creature feel at his fate.
It was only upon the third day, when telegrams of congratulation began
to pour in upon him by the dozen, that he knew anything about the
announcement that had appeared in the _Morning Post_.
Yes, he was caught and chained at last, and for the next week had moods
of gnashing his teeth, and feeling the most degraded of men, alternating
with hours of trying to persuade himself that it was the best thing
which could have happened to him.
Mrs. Cricklander, now that she had gained her end, wisely left him for a
day or two in peace to the care of Arabella and the nurses, drawing the
net closer each hour by her public parade of her position as his
_fiancee_.
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