The Argosy, Vol. 13

# Within the Maze (Chapter XVII)

This chapter, from Mrs. Henry Wood's serial novel Within the Maze, depicts domestic tension at Foxwood Court during a visit from Colonel and Mrs. Cleeve. Lady Lucy Andinnian maintains public appearances of propriety with her husband Sir Karl while privately suffering: she knows he visits "the Maze" nightly, and sleeps separately from him under the pretense of summer heat. Her mother suspects pregnancy, which painfully reminds Lucy such is impossible. Miss Blake, a pious local figure, observes the separate chambers and resolves to inform Mrs. Cleeve of Sir Karl's infidelity as a moral duty. Separately, Smith the agent meets Karl privately regarding an escaped convict rumor circulating in sensational newspapers—implied to concern someone hidden at the Maze. The chapter juxtaposes domestic marital crisis with an underlying criminal mystery.