"Twice over the landlady called me Mrs.Woodville in your mother's hearing, and twice over, I declare to you on my word of honor, it failed to produce the slightest impression on her.

She looked and acted as if she had never heard her own name before in her life." "'Acted' is the right word," he said, just as composedly as before.
"The women on the stage are not the only women who can act.

My mother's object was to make herself thoroughly acquainted with you, and to throw you off your guard by speaking in the character of a stranger.

It is exactly like her to take that roundabout way of satisfying her curiosity about a daughter-in-law she disapproves of.

If I had not joined you when I did, you would have been examined and cross-examined about yourself and about me, and you would innocently have answered under the impression that you were speaking to a chance acquaintance.