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...decided inclemency of to-day ... kept the cat within doors; whence, however, she soon emerged, pursued by the cook, and with what looked like the better half of a roast chicken in her mouth. - Chapter VIII

вообще с 18-й главы парня повело, и в плане игривой сексуальной откровенности - тоже. ménage à trois:

...began to encroach upon my dreams. In those of the last night, Hollingsworth and Zenobia, standing on either side of my bed, had bent across it to exchange a kiss of passion. Priscilla, beholding this,--for she seemed to be peeping in at the chamber window...