Sentence:  B. Wickham had also the disposition and general outlook on life of a ticking bomb. In her society you always had the uneasy feeling that something was likely to go off at any moment with a pop. You never knew what she was going to do next or into what murky depths of <WSD>soup</WSD> she would carelessly plunge you. [...]<!--ch. X--> “It may be fun for her,” I said with one of my bitter laughs, “but it isn't so diverting for the unfortunate toads beneath the harrow whom she plunges so ruthlessly in the soup.” 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An unfortunate situation; trouble, problems (a fix, a mess); chaos.