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When a Man Marries

Chapter 6 A MIGHTY POOR JOKE

Word Count: 2766    |    Released on: 28/11/2017

little overkeen at bridge, or take the wrong sables, or stuff a gold-backed brush into a muff at a reception. You remember the ivory dressing set that Theodora Bucknell had, fastened wi

ten, at least eight of us were friends, and the other two had been vouched for by the Browns and Jimmy. It was a horrible mix-up. For the necklace was gon

e of us, at least, would break quarantine within the next twenty-four hours, and, of course, that settled it. Dick told it around the club as a joke, and a man who owns a newspape

things of Jimmy's-and I was still dressed. The house was perfectly quiet, and, after listening carefully, I went slowly down the stairs. There was a light in the hall, and

e breathing just beside me. I had stooped to my gown, and I turned my head without straightening-I couldn't have raised m

e before I could spea

's t

nder I had not walked into him;

ly. "I was afraid to speak suddenly, or mo

Mr. H

" I managed to say, with dry lips. "Do

ar he had not known me be

as much impressed by the fact that I had not undressed as I was by the fact that he HAD, partly. He wore a hideous dressing gown of Jimmy's, much too small,

house is like a barn. You ought not to be running around with your a

turb any one," I said

he furnace. I didn't suppose any one else would think of it. But I lost myself in that pantry, stumbled against a half-open drawer, and nearly went down the dumb-waiter." And, as if in judgment on me, at that instan

forgot to mention it. There is a policeman asleep in the furnace room. I

he repeated, staring at me, and

ded by soiled dishes and all the cheerless aftermath of a dinner party. "Please don't go down. I-it's one of

ster pipe, and some language

re about the kitchen? I'm going down and arrest that police

irmness. "He-he is probably in a very dang

grinned and the

minute this crazy quarantine is raised I am off to the Argentine Republic," (perhaps he said Chili) "and because I don't know anything at all about you. You see

cided to make the best of a bad thing. Anyhow, it was going to require strength to ge

sudden resolution, and le

them. And then I saw she was asleep. Her hat and veil were laid beside her, and she had taken off her coat and draped it around her. She had ru

er my breath. "And-she doesn't want to stay. She is on bad terms with-with

ituation were quite ordinary. "However, we can try. S

though he had taken a lump of coal and was attacking the lock. Mr. H

you won't get out of here at all, u

ead with her eyes shut and then opened them one at a t

d yawned. "Do you know what time it is? And that-

her hastily. "He-he came with An

nd she took a hair pin out of her mouth, and arche

ee about a-a butler. Unfortunately, the house was quarantined just at that time, and-here I am. Surely there can not be any harm in helping me to get o

ourse she was free. She had a perfect right to marry again, but I will say thi

down on society from a lofty, lonely pinnacle agreed to help one of

table. He changed after that, but that comes later in the story. Anyhow, the Harbison man went upstairs and came down with a Bagdad curtain and

een. No prisoners ever dug their way out of a dungeon with more energy than that with which we attached that screen, hacking at it with kitchen knives, whispering like conspirators, being scratched with the ragged edges of the wire, frozen with the cold air one minute and boiling with excitement the next. And

dure. For the whole conversation came out the next afternoon in the paper, with the most awful drawings, and the reporter

e Harbison man was trying to apologize for the language he had used to the reporter, and I was on the ver

t!" she screeched.

part of the house in such condition, and that if I had acted like a sane person and put her out, when she had no business there at all, she would have had her freedom and her

four o'cloc

o one could have taken it. There wasn't a soul in this pa

name-helped me to creep upstairs, and wanted to get me a glass of ale to make me sleep. But I said it would be of no use, as I had to get up and get the breakf

e of her with the violets underneath. I couldn't see what there was about Bella to inspire such undying devotion,

yfully. I dragged myself to the door and opened it, and then I heard excited voi

and hold a blanket around himself with the other. No one was dressed except Anne, and she had been up for an hour, looking in

I forgot. And I didn't sleep well; I was awake half the night. Wasn't I, Dal? Then, when the clock downstairs in the hall was chiming five, somethi

ad nightmare," h

d on the light over the bed then, and the room was empty. I thought of my collar, and although it seemed ridicul

was true. And there we stood, every one of us a miserable picture of guilt, and tried to look innocent a

r fellow did it, this house will be a nice little hell to live in. And if anybody"-here he glared around-"if anybody has got funny a

obody

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When a Man Marries
When a Man Marries
“According to Wikipedia: "Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876-September 22, 1958) was a prolific author often called the American Agatha Christie.[1] She is considered the source of the phrase "The butler did it", although she did not actually use the phrase herself, and also considered to have invented the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing.... Rinehart wrote hundreds of short stories, poems, travelogues and special articles. Many of her books and plays, such as The Bat (1920) were adapted for movies, such as The Bat (1926), The Bat Whispers (1930), and The Bat (1959). While many of her books were best-sellers, critics were most appreciative of her murder mysteries. Rinehart, in The Circular Staircase (1908), is credited with inventing the "Had-I-But-Known" school of mystery writing. The Circular Staircase is a novel in which "a middle-aged spinster is persuaded by her niece and nephew to rent a country house for the summer. The house they choose belonged to a bank defaulter who had hidden stolen securities in the walls. The gentle, peace-loving trio is plunged into a series of crimes solved with the help of the aunt. This novel is credited with being the first in the "Had-I-But-Known" school."[3] The Had-I-But-Known mystery novel is one where the principal character (frequently female) does less than sensible things in connection with a crime which have the effect of prolonging the action of the novel. Ogden Nash parodied the school in his poem Don't Guess Let Me Tell You: "Sometimes the Had I But Known then what I know now I could have saved at least three lives by revealing to the Inspector the conversation I heard through that fortuitous hole in the floor." The phrase "The butler did it", which has become a cliché, came from Rinehart's novel The Door, in which the butler actually did do it, although that exact phrase does not actually appear in the work."”
1 Chapter 1 AT LEAST I MEANT WELL2 Chapter 2 THE WAY IT BEGAN3 Chapter 3 I MIGHT HAVE KNOWN IT4 Chapter 4 THE DOOR WAS CLOSED5 Chapter 5 FROM THE TREE OF LOVE6 Chapter 6 A MIGHTY POOR JOKE7 Chapter 7 WE MAKE AN OMELET8 Chapter 8 CORRESPONDENTS' DEPARTMENT9 Chapter 9 FLANNIGAN'S FIND10 Chapter 10 ON THE STAIRS11 Chapter 11 I MAKE A DISCOVERY12 Chapter 12 THE ROOF GARDEN13 Chapter 13 HE DOES NOT DENY IT14 Chapter 14 ALMOST, BUT NOT QUITE15 Chapter 15 SUSPICION AND DISCORD16 Chapter 16 I FACE FLANNIGAN17 Chapter 17 A CLASH AND A KISS18 Chapter 18 IT'S ALL MY FAULT19 Chapter 19 THE HARBISON MAN20 Chapter 20 BREAKING OUT IN A NEW PLACE21 Chapter 21 A BAR OF SOAP22 Chapter 22 IT WAS DELIRIUM23 Chapter 23 COMING