human
Didn't she look dreadful?
gpt
And her manner toward the general was so singular.
human
In what respect?
gpt
She looked at him so strangely, so anxious and scared-like. I never knew him to be so silent. He's social and talkative, you know--such good company. But he hadn't a word to say this morning. Something has gone wrong between him and his wife. I wonder what it can be?
human
I thought I heard some unusual noises in their room last night after they came home from the party, said a lady whose chamber was opposite theirs across the hall.
gpt
They seemed to be moving furniture about, and twice I thought I heard a scream. But then the storm was so high that one might easily have mistaken a wail of the wind for a cry of distress.
human
A cry of distress! You didn't imagine that the general was maltreating his wife?
gpt
I intimated nothing of the kind,
human
But what made you think about a cry of distress?
gpt
I merely said that I thought I heard a scream; and if you had been awake from twelve to one or two o'clock this morning, you would have thought the air full of wailing voices. The storm chafed about the roof and chimneys in a dreadful way. I never knew a wilder night.
human
You saw the general at the party?
gpt
Yes, a few times. But there was a crowd in all the rooms, and the same people were not often thrown together.
human
Nothing unusual about him? Hadn't been drinking too much?
gpt
Not when I observed him. But-- Mr. Craig hesitated a moment, and then went on:
human
But there's one thing has a strange look. They went in a carriage, I know, but walked home in all that dreadful storm.
gpt
Walked home!
human
Yes; they came to the door, white with snow, just as we got home.
gpt
How strange! What could it have meant?
human
It meant, said one,
gpt
That will hardly explain it. Such disappointments rarely, if ever, occur,
human
Did you say anything to them, Mr. Craig?
gpt
My wife did, but received only a gruff response from the general. Mrs. Abercrombie made no reply, but, went hastily after her husband. There was something unusual in the manner of both.