“You!”
She tottered, ran forward, grasped the table, and shrieked, “You!”
“Yes, Mrs. Parrot,” exclaimed Dolly, “this is John—my own darling husband, who I thought was dead.”
“And do you mean to say, sir,” gasped Mrs. Parrot hysterically, “that you knew who you was yourself all the time?”
“All the time that I have lodged with you.”
“An’ you’ve seen your lawful wife day arter day without speakin’ of it, or sayin’ who you was?”
“Yes.”
“Because,” stammered Mrs. Parrot, still clinging to the table, “because you says that a wife can’t have two husbands, and so you hid yourself that you might spare her feelin’s?”
“Yes, that is why, Mrs. Parrot,” cried Dolly.