" His husky domestic voice ceased for a while.

Mrs Verloc made no reply.
Before that silence he felt ashamed of what he had said.

But as often happens to peaceful men in domestic tiffs, being ashamed he pushed another point.
"You have a devilish way of holding your tongue sometimes," he began again, without raising his voice.

"Enough to make some men go mad.

It's lucky for you that I am not so easily put out as some of them would be by your deaf-and-dumb sulks.