Mrs. Oakley: After all, that letter was...

Mrs. Oakley: After all, that letter was certainly intended for my husband. I see plain enough they are all in a plot against me. My husband intriguing, the major working him up to affront me, Charles owning his letters, and so playing into each other’s hands. - They think me a fool, I find - but I’ll be too much for them yet. - I have desired to speak with Mr. Oakley, and expect him here immediately. His temper is naturally open, and if he thinks my anger abated, and my suspicions laid asleep, he will certainly betray himself by his behaviour. I’ll assume an air of good-humour, pretend to believe the fine story they have trumped up, throw him off his guard, and so draw the secret out of him. - Here he comes. - How hard it is for to dissemble one’s anger! O, I coud rate him soundly! But I’ll keep down my indignation at present, though it chokes me.

George Colman the Elder, The Jealous Wife, Public Domain, 1761, pp. 15.