 between the scenes four and five of no-name this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Philip Griffiths no-name by Wilkie Collins between the scenes progress of the story through the post one from George Bartram to Nell Vanstone sent crux September 4th 1847 my dear knoll here are two plain questions at starting in the name of all that is mysterious what are you hiding for and why is everything related to your marriage kept an impenetrable secret from your oldest friends I have been to Old Bra to try if I could trace you from that place and have come back as wise as I went I have applied to your lawyer in London and have been told in reply that you have forbidden him to disclose the place of your retreat to anyone without first receiving your permission to do so all I could prevail on him to say was that he would forward any letter which might be sent to his care I write accordingly and mind this I expect an answer you may ask in your ill-tempered way what business I have to meddle with affairs of yours which it is your pleasure to keep private my dear knoll there is serious reason for our opening communications with you from this house you don't know what events have taken place at St. Croix since you ran away to get married and though I detest writing letters I must lose an hour shooting today in trying to enlighten you on the 23rd of last month the Admiral and I were disturbed over our wine after dinner by the announcement that a visitor had unexpectedly arrived at St. Croix who do you think the visitor was Mrs. LeCount my uncle with that old-fashioned bachelor gallantry of his which pays equal respect to all wearers of petticoats left the table directly to welcome Mrs. LeCount while I was debating whether I should follow him or not my meditations were suddenly brought to an end by a loud call from the Admiral I ran into the morning room and there was your unfortunate housekeeper on the sofa with all the woman servants around her more dead than alive she had traveled from England to Zurich and from Zurich back again to England without stopping and she looked seriously and literally at death's door I immediately agreed with my uncle that the first thing to be done was to send for medical help we dispatched a groom on the spot and and Mrs. LeCount's own request sent all the servants in a body out of the room as soon as we were alone Mrs. LeCount surprised us by a singular question she asked if you had received a letter which she had addressed to you before leaving England at this house when we told her that the letter had been forwarded undercover to your friend Mr. Bygrave by your own particular request she turned as pale as ashes and when we added that you had left us in company with the same Mr. Bygrave she clasped her hands and stared at us as if she had taken leave of her senses her next question was where is Mr. Noel now we could only give her one reply Mr. Noel has not informed us she looked perfectly thunderstruck at that answer he has gone to his ruin she said he has gone away in company with the greatest villain in England I must find him I tell you I must find Mr. Noel if I don't find him at once it will be too late he will be married she burst out quite frantically on my honor and my oath he will be married the Admiral in cautiously perhaps but with the best intentions told her you were married already she gave a scream that made the windows ring again and dropped back on the sofa in a fainting fit the doctor came in the nick of time and soon bought her to but she was taken ill the same night she has grown worse and worse ever since and the last medical report is that the fever from which she has been suffering is in a fair way to settle on her brain now my dear Noel neither my uncle nor I have any wish to intrude ourselves on your confidence we are naturally astonished at the extraordinary mystery which hangs over you and your marriage and we cannot be blind to the fact that your housekeeper has apparently some strong reason of her own for viewing Mrs. Noel Vanstone with enmity and distrust which we are quite ready to believe that lady has done nothing to deserve whatever strange misunderstanding there may have been in your household it is your business if you choose to keep it to yourself and not ours all we have any right to do is to tell you what the doctor says his patient has been delirious he declines to answer for her life if she goes on as she is going on now and he thinks finding that she is perpetually talking of her master that your presence would be useful in quieting her if you could come here at once and exert your influence before it is too late what do you say will you emerge from the darkness that surrounds you and come to St. Croix if this was the case of an ordinary servant I could understand you're hesitating to leave the delights of your honeymoon for any such object as is here proposed to you but my dear fellow Mrs. LeCount is not an ordinary servant you are under obligations to her fidelity and attachment in your father's time as well as in your own and if you can quiet the anxieties which seem to be driving this unfortunate woman mad I really think you ought to come here and do so you're leaving Mrs. Noel Vanstone is of course out of the question there is no necessity for any such hard-hearted proceeding the Admiral desires me to remind you that he is your oldest friend living and that his house is at your wife's disposal as it has always been at yours in this great rambling place she need dread no near association with the sick room and with all my uncle's oddities I am sure she will not think the offer of his friendship and offer to be despised have I told you already that I went to Albre to try and find a clue to your whereabouts I can't be at the trouble of looking back to see so if I have told you I tell you again the truth is I made an acquaintance at Albre of whom you know something at least by report after applying vainly at sea view I went to the hotel to inquire about you the landlady could give me no information but the moment I mentioned your name she asked if I was related to you and when I told her I was your cousin she said there was a young lady then at the hotel whose name was Vanstone also who was in great distress about a missing relative and who might prove of some use to me or I to her if we knew of each other's errand at Albre I had not the least idea who she was but I sent in my card at a venture and in five minutes afterward I found myself in the presence of one of the most charming women these eyes ever looked on our first words of explanation informed me that my family name was known to her by repute who do you think she was the eldest daughter of my uncle and yours Andrew Vanstone I had often heard my poor mother in past years speak of her brother Andrew and I knew of that sad story at Coombe Raven but our families as you are aware had always been estranged and I had never seen my charming cousin before she has the dark eyes and hair and the gentle retiring manners that I always admire in a woman I don't want to renew our old disagreement about your father's conduct to those two sisters or to deny that his brother Andrew may have behaved badly to him I am willing to admit that the high moral position he took in the matter is quite unassailable by such a miserable sinner as I am and I will not dispute that my own spend drift habits incapacitate me from offering any opinion on the conduct of other people's pecuniary affairs but with all these allowances and drawbacks I can tell you one thing Noel if you ever see the elder Miss Vanstone I venture to prophesy that for the first time in your life you will doubt the propriety of following your father's example she told me her little story poor thing most simply and unaffectedly she is now occupying her second situation as a governess and as usual I who know everybody know the family they are friends of my uncles whom he has lost sight of latterly the Tyrells of Portland Place and they treat Miss Vanstone with as much kindness and consideration as if she was a member of the family one of their old servants accompanied her to Oldborough her object in traveling to that place being what the landlady of the hotel had stated it to be the family reverses have is seems had a serious effect on Miss Vanstone's younger sister who has left her friends and who has been missing from home for some time she had been last heard of at Oldborough and her elder sister on her return from the continent with the Tyrells had instantly set out to make inquiries at that place this was all Miss Vanstone told me she asked whether you had seen anything of her sister or whether Mrs. LeCount knew anything of her sister I suppose because she was aware you had been at Oldborough of course I could tell her nothing she entered into no details on the subject and I could not presume to ask her for any all I did was to set to work with might and main to assist her inquiries the attempt was an utter failure nobody could give us any information we tried personal description of course and strange to say the only young lady formally staying at Oldborough who answered the description was of all the people in the world the lady you have married if she had not had an uncle and aunt both of whom have left the place I should have begun to suspect that you had married your cousin without knowing it is this the clue to the mystery don't be angry I must have my little joke I can't help writing as carelessly as I talk the end of it was our inquiries were all baffled and I travelled back with Miss Vanstone and her attendant as far as our station here I think I should call on the Tyrells when I'm next in London I have certainly treated that family with the most inexcusable neglect here I am at the end of my third sheet of note paper I don't often take the pen in hand but when I do you will agree with me that I am in no hurry to lay it aside again treat the rest of my letter as you like but consider what I've told you about Mrs. LeCount and remember that time is of consequence ever yours George Bartram to from Nora Vanstone to Miss Garth Portland Place my dear Miss Garth more sorrow more disappointment I have just returned from Aldbra without making any discovery Magdalene is still lost to us I cannot attribute this new overthrow of my hopes to any want of perseverance or penetration in making the necessary inquiries my inexperience in such matters was most kindly and unexpectedly assisted by Mr. George Bartram by a strange coincidence he happened to be at Aldbra inquiring after Mr. Noel Vanstone at the very time when I was there inquiring after Magdalene he sent in his card and knowing when I looked at the name that he was my cousin if I may call him so I thought there would be no impropriety in my seeing him and asking his advice I abstained from entering into particulars for Magdalene's sake and I made no illusion to that letter of Mrs. LeCounts which you answered for me I only told him Magdalene was missing and had been last heard of at Aldbra the kindness which he showed in devoting himself to my assistance exceeds all description he treated me in my forlorn situation with a delicacy and respect which I shall remember gratefully long after he has himself perhaps forgotten our meeting together he is quite young not more than 30 I should think in face and figure he reminded me a little of the portrait of my father at Coom Raven I mean the portrait in the dining room of my father when he was a young man useless as our inquiries were there is one result of them which has left a very strange and shocking impression on my mind it appears that Mr. Norr Vanstone has lately married under mysterious circumstances a young lady whom he met with at Aldbra named by grave he has gone away with his wife telling nobody but his lawyer where he has gone to this I heard from Mr. George Bartram who was endeavoring to trace him for the purpose of communicating the news of his housekeeper's serious illness the housekeeper being the same Mrs. LeCount whose letter you answered so far you may say there is nothing which need particularly interest either of us but I think you will be as much surprised as I was when I tell you that the description given by the people at Aldbra have missed by Graves appearance is most startlingly and unaccountably like the description of Magdalene's appearance this discovery taken in connection with all the circumstances we know of has had an effect on my mind which I cannot describe to you which I dare not realize to myself pray come and see me I have never felt so wretched about Magdalene as I feel now suspense must have weakened my nerves in some strange way I feel superstitious about the slightest thing this accidental resemblance of a total stranger to Magdalene fills me every now and then with the most horrible misgivings merely because Mr. Noel Vanstone's name happens to be mixed up with it once more pray come to me I have so much to say to you that I cannot and dare not say in writing gratefully and affectionately yours Nora three from Mr. John Loscombe solicitor to George Bartram Esquire Lincoln's Inn London September 6th 1847 sir I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your note in closing a letter addressed to my client Mr. Noel Vanstone and requesting that I will forward the same to Mr. Vanstone's present address since I last had the pleasure of communicating with you on this subject my position toward my client is entirely altered three days ago I received a letter from him which stated his intention of changing his place of residence on the next day then ensuing but which left me entirely in ignorance on the subject of the locality to which it was his intention to remove I have not heard from him since and as he had previously drawn on me for a larger sum of money than usual there would be no present necessity for his writing to me again assuming that it is his wish to keep his place of residence concealed from everyone myself included under these circumstances I think it right to return you your letter with the assurance that I will let you know if I happen to be again placed in the position to forward it to its destination your obedient servant John Loscombe four from Nora Vanstone to Miss Garth Portland Place my dear Miss Garth forget the letter I wrote to you yesterday and all the gloomy forebodings that it contains this morning's post has brought new life to me I have just received a letter addressed to me at your house and forwarded here in your absence from home yesterday by your sister can you guess who the writer is Magdalene the letter is very short it seems to have been written in a hurry she says she has been dreaming of me for some nights past and the dreams have made her fear that her long silence has caused me more distress on her account than she is worth she writes therefore to assure me that she is safe and well that she hopes to see me before long and that she has something to tell me when we meet which will try my sisterly love for her as nothing has tried it yet the letter is not dated but the postmark is Alan B which I have found on referring to the Gazetteer to be a little seaside place in Cumberland there is no hope of my being able to write back from Magdalene expressly says that she is on the eve of departure from her present residence and that she is not at liberty to say where she is going to next or to leave instructions for forward in any letters after her in happier times I should have thought this letter very far from being a satisfactory one and I should have been seriously alarmed by that allusion to a future confidence on her part which will try my love for her as nothing has tried it yet but after all the suspense I have suffered the happiness of seeing her handwriting again seems to fill my heart and to keep all other feelings out of it I don't send you her letter because I know you are coming to me soon and I want to have the pleasure of seeing you read it ever affectionately yours Nora p.s. Mr George Bartram called on Mrs Tyrell today he insisted on being introduced to the children when he was gone Mrs Tyrell laughed in her good-humoured way and said that his anxiety to see the children looked to her mind very much like an anxiety to see me you may imagine how my spirits are improved when I can occupy my pen in writing such nonsense as this five from Mrs LeCount to Mr DeBlerio general agent London st crux october 23rd 1847 dear sir I have been long in thanking you for the kind letter which promises me your assistance in friendly remembrance of the commercial relations formerly existing between my brother and yourself the truth is I have overtaxed my strength on my recovery from a long and dangerous illness and for the last 10 days I have been suffering under a relapse I am no better again unable to enter on the business which you so kindly offered to undertake for me the person whose present place of abode it is of the utmost importance to me to discover is Mr Nolvan Stone I have lived for many years past in this gentleman's service as housekeeper and not having received my formal dismissal I consider myself in his service still during my absence on the continent he was privately married at Albra in Suffolk on the 18th of august last he left Albra the same day taking his wife with him to some place of retreat which was kept a secret from everybody except his lawyer mr loscombe of lincoln's inn after a short time he again removed on the 4th of september without informing mr loscombe on this occasion of his new place of abode from that date to this the lawyer has remained or has pretended to remain in total ignorance of where he now is application has been made to mr loscombe under the circumstances to mention what that former place of residence was of which mr van stone is known to have informed him mr loscombe has declined exceeding to this request for want of formal permission to disclose his client's proceedings after leaving Albra I have all these latter particulars for mr loscombe's correspondent the nephew of the gentleman who owns this house and whose charity has given me an asylum during the heavy affliction of my sickness under his own roof I believe the reasons which have induced mr noel van stone to keep himself and his wife in hiding are reasons which relate entirely to myself in the first place he is aware that the circumstances under which he is married are such as to give me the right of regarding him with a just indignation in the second place he knows that my faithful services rendered through a period of 20 years to his father and to himself forbid him in common decency to cast me out helpless on the world without a provision for the end of my life he is the meanest of living men and his wife is the vilest of living women as long as he can avoid fulfilling his obligations to me he will and his wife's encouragement may be trusted to fortify him in his ingratitude my object in determining to find him out is briefly this his marriage has exposed him to consequences which a man of 10 times his courage could not face without shrinking off those consequences he knows nothing his wife knows and keeps him in ignorance I know and can enlighten him his security from the danger that threatens him is in my hands alone and he shall pay the price of his rescue to the last farthing of the debt that justice claims for me as my due no more and no less I have now laid my mind before you as you told me without reserve you know why I want to find this man and what I mean to do when I find him I leave it to your sympathy for me to answer the serious question that remains how is the discovery to be made if a first trace of them can be found after their departure from old bro I believe careful inquiry will suffice for the rest the personal appearance of the wife and the extraordinary contrast between her husband and herself are certain to be remarked and remembered by every stranger who sees them when you favor me with your answer please address it to care of admiral Bartram st crux in the marsh near ossary s6 you're much obliged version e la count six from mr. de blerio to mrs. la count dark's buildings king'sland october 25th 1847 private and confidential dear madam I hasten to reply to your favor of Saturday's date circumstances have enabled me to forward your interests by consulting a friend of mine possessing great experience in the management of private inquiries of all sorts I have placed your case before him without mentioning names and I am happy to inform you that my views and his views of the proper course to take agree in every particular both myself and friend then are of opinion that little or nothing can be done toward tracing the parties you mention until the place of their temporary residence after they left Albra has been discovered first if this can be done the sooner it is done the better judging from your letter some weeks must have passed since the lawyer received his information that they had shifted their quarters as they are both remarkable looking people the strangers who may have assisted them on their travels have probably not forgotten them yet nevertheless expedition is desirable the question for you to consider is whether they may not possibly have communicated the address of which we stand in need to some other person besides the lawyer the husband may have written to members of his family or the wife may have written to members of her family both myself and friend are of opinion that the latter chance is the likelier of the two if you have any means of access in the direction of the wife's family we strongly recommend you to make use of them if not please supply us with the names of any of her near relations or intimate female friends whom you know and we will endeavour to get access for you in any case we request you will at once favour us with the most exact personal description that can be written of both the parties we may require your assistance in this important particular at five minutes notice favour us therefore with the description by return of post in the meantime we will endeavour to ascertain on our side whether any information is to be privately obtained at mr loscombe's office the lawyer himself is probably altogether beyond our reach but if any of his clerks can be advantageously treated with on such terms as may not overtax your pecuniary resource accept my assurance that the opportunity shall be made the most of by dear madam your faithful servant alfred de blerio seven from mr pendriel to norah van stone sewell street october 27th 1847 my dear miss van stone a lady named lacount formally attached to mr null van stone services in the capacity of housekeeper has called at my office this morning and has asked me to furnish her with your address i have begged her to excuse my immediate compliance with her request and to favour me with a call tomorrow morning when i shall be prepared to meet her with a definite answer my hesitation in this matter does not proceed from any distrust of mrs lacount personally for i know nothing whatever to her prejudice but in making her request to me she stated that the object of the desired interview was to speak to you privately on the subject of your sister forgive me for acknowledging that i determined to withhold the address as soon as i heard this you will make allowances for your old friend and your sincere well-wisher you will not take it amiss if i express my strong disapproval of your allowing yourself on any pretense whatever to be mixed up for the future with your sister's proceedings i will not distress you by saying more than this but i feel too deep an interest in your welfare and too sincere an admiration of the patience with which you have borne all your trials to say less if i cannot prevail on you to follow my advice you have only to say so and mrs lacount shall have your address tomorrow in this case which i cannot contemplate without the greatest unwillingness let me at least recommend you to stipulate that mrs garth shall be present at the interview in any matter with which your sister is concerned you may want an old friend's advice and an old friend's protection against your own generous impulses if i could have helped you in this way i would but mrs lacount gave me indirectly to understand that the subject to be discussed was of too delicate a nature to permit of my presence whatever this objection may be really worth it cannot apply to mrs garth who has brought you both up from childhood i say again therefore if you see mrs lacount see her in mrs garth's company always most truly yours william pendrell eight from norah van stone to mr pendrell portland place wednesday dear mr pendrell pray don't think i am ungrateful for your kindness indeed indeed i am not but i must see mrs lacount you were not aware when you wrote to me that i had received a few lines from magdalene not telling me where she is but holding out the hope of our meeting before long perhaps mrs lacount may have something to say to me on this very subject even if it should not be so my sister do what she may is still my sister i can't desert her i can't turn my back on anyone who comes to me in her name you know dear mr pendrell i have always been obstinate on this subject and you have always borne with me let me owe another obligation to you which i can never return and bear with me still need i say that i willingly accept that part of your advice which refers to miss garth i have already written to beg that she will come here at four tomorrow afternoon when you see mrs lacount please inform her that miss garth will be with me and that she will find us both ready to receive her here tomorrow at four o'clock gratefully yours norah van stone nine from mr diblerio to mrs lacount private darks buildings october 28th dear madam one of mr loscombe's clerks has proved amenable to a small pecuniary consideration and has mentioned a circumstance which it may be of some importance for you to know nearly a month since accident gave the clerk in question an opportunity of looking into one of the documents on his master's table which had attracted his attention from a slight peculiarity in the form and color of the paper he had only time joined mr loscombe's momentary absence to satisfy his curiosity by looking at the beginning of the document and at the end at the beginning he saw the customary form used in making a will at the end he discovered the signature of mr null van stone with the names of two attesting witnesses and the date of which he is quite certain the 30th of september last before the clerk had time to make any further investigations his master returned sorted the papers on the table and carefully locked up the will in the strongbox devoted to the custody of mr null van stone's documents it has been ascertained that at the close of september mr loscombe was absent from the office if he was then employed in superintending the execution of his client's will which is quite possible it follows clearly that he was in the secret of mr van stone's address after the removal of the fourth of september and if you can do nothing on your side it may be desirable to have the lawyer watched on ours in any case it is certainly ascertained that mr null van stone has made his will since his marriage i leave you to draw your own conclusions from that fact and remain in the hope of hearing from you shortly your faithful servant alfred de blerio ten from miss garth to mr pendrell portland place october 28th my dear sir mrs lecount has just left us if it was not too late to wish i should wish from the bottom on my heart that norah had taken your advice and had refused to see her i write in such distress of mind that i cannot hope to give you a clear and complete account of the interview i can only tell you briefly what mrs lecount has done and what our situation now is the rest must be left until i am more composed and until i can speak to you personally you will remember my informing you of the letter which mrs lecount addressed to norah from albra and which i answered for her in her absence when mrs lecount made her appearance today her first words announced to us that she had come to renew the subject as well as i can remember it this is what she said addressing herself to norah i wrote to you on the subject of our sister miss van stone some little time since and miss garth was so good as to answer the letter what i feared at that time has come true your sister has defied all my efforts to check her she has disappeared in company with my master mr null van stone and she is now in a position of danger which may lead to her disgrace and ruin at a moment's notice it is my interest to recover my master it is your interest to save your sister tell me for time is precious have you any news of her norah answered as well as her terror and distress would allow her i have had a letter but there was no address on it mrs lecount asked was there no postmark on the envelope norah said yes allen b allen b is better than nothing said mrs lecount allen b may help you to trace her where is allen b norah told her it all passed in a minute i had been too much confused and startled to interfere before but i can pose myself sufficiently to interfere now you have entered into no particulars i said you have only frightened us you have told us nothing you shall hear the particulars ma'am said mrs lecount and you and miss van stone shall judge for yourselves if i have frightened you without a cause upon this she entered at once upon a long narrative which i cannot i might almost say which i dare not repeat you will understand the horror we both felt when i tell you the end if mrs lecount's statement is to be relied on magdalene has carried her mad resolution of recovering her father's fortune to the last and most desperate extremity she has married michael van stone's son under a false name her husband is at this moment still persuaded that her maiden name was by grave and that she is really the niece of a scoundrel who assisted her in posture and whom i recognize by the description of him to have been captain rag i spare you mrs lecount's cool avowal when she rose to leave us of her own mercenary motives in wishing to discover her master and to enlighten him i spare you the hint she dropped of magdalene's purpose in contracting this infamous marriage the one aim and object of my letter is to implore you to assist me in quieting nor as anguish of mind the shock she has received at hearing this news of her sister is not the worst result of what has happened she has persuaded herself that the answers she innocently gave in her distress to mrs lecount's questions on the subject of her letter the answers rung from her under the sudden pressure of confusion and alarm may be used to magdalene's prejudice by the woman who purposely startled her into giving the information i can only prevent her from taking some desperate step on her side some step by which she may forfeit the friendship and protection of the excellent people with whom she is now living by reminding her that if mrs lecount traces her master by means of the postmark on the letter we may trace magdalene at the same time and by the same means whatever objection you may personally feel to renewing the efforts for the rescue of this miserable girl which failed so lamentably at york i entreat you for nor as sake to take the same steps now which we took then send me the only assurance which will quieter the assurance under your own hand that the search on our side has begun if you will do this you may trust me when the time comes to stand between these two sisters and to defend nor as peace character and future prosperity at any price most sincerely yours harriet garth 11 from mrs lecount to mr deblerio october 28th dear sir i have found the trace you wanted mrs null vandstone has written to her sister the letter contains no address but the postmark is allenby in cumberland from allenby therefore the inquiries must begin you have already in your possession the personal description of both husband and wife i urgently recommend you not to lose one unnecessary moment if it is possible to send to cumberland immediately on receipt of this letter i beg you will do so i have another word to say before i close my note a word about the discovery in mr loscombe's office it is no surprise to me to hear that mr null vandstone has made his will since his marriage and i am at no loss to guess in whose favor the will is made if i succeed in finding my master let that person get the money if that person can a course to follow in this matter has presented itself to my mind since i received your letter but my ignorance of details of business and intricacies of law leaves me still uncertain whether my idea is capable of ready and certain execution i know no professional person whom i can trust in this delicate and dangerous business is your large experience in other matters large enough to help me in this i will call at your office tomorrow at two o'clock for the purpose of consulting you on the subject it is of the greatest importance when i next see mr null vandstone that he should find me thoroughly prepared beforehand in this matter of the will your much obliged servant virginila count 12 from mr pendrell to miss garth surle street october 29th dear miss garth i have only a moment to assure you of the sorrow with which i have read your letter the circumstances under which you urge your request and the reasons you give for making it are sufficient to silence any objection i might otherwise feel to the course you propose a trustworthy person whom i have myself instructed will start for alambi today and as soon as i receive any news from him you shall hear of it by special messenger tell miss vandstone this and pray add the sincere expression of my sympathy and regard faithfully yours william pendrell 13 from mr debilario to mrs lecount dark's buildings november 1st dear madam i have the pleasure of informing you that the discovery has been made with far less trouble than i had anticipated mr and mrs null vandstone have been traced across the soulway furth to dumfries and thence to a cottage a few miles from the town on the banks of the nith the exact address is baliol cottage near dumfries this information though easily hunted up has nevertheless been obtained under rather singular circumstances before leaving alambi the persons in my employ discovered to their surprise that a stranger was in the place pursuing the same inquiry as themselves in the absence of any instructions preparing them for such an occurrence as this they took their own view of the circumstance considering the man as an intruder on their business whose success might deprive them of the credit and reward of making the discovery they took advantage of their superiority in numbers and of their being first in the field and carefully misled the stranger before they ventured any further with their own investigations i am in possession of the details of their proceedings with which i need not trouble you the end is that this person whoever he may be was cleverly turned back southward on a false scent before the men in my employment crossed the furth i mentioned the circumstance as you may be better able than i am to find a clue to it and as it may possibly be of a nature to induce you to hasten your journey your faithful servant alfred de blerio 14 from mrs laccount to mr de blerio november 1st dear sir one line to say that your letter has just reached me at my lodging in london i think i know who sent the strange man to inquire at allenby it matters little before he finds out his mistake i shall be at dumfries my luggage is packed and i start for the north by the next train you're deeply obliged version illa count end of between the fourth and fifth scenes scene five chapter one of no name this is the libra vox recording or libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by dude peel no name by wilkie collins scene five chapter one to once 11 o'clock on the morning of the third november a breakfast table at baleo cottage presented that essentially comfortless appearance which is caused by a meal in a stator transition that is to say by a meal prepared for two persons which has already been eaten by one and which has not yet been approached by the other it must be a hardy appetite which can contemplate without a momentary discouragement the battered eggshell the fish half stripped to a skeleton the crumbs in the plate and the dregs in the cup there is surely a wise admission to the weaknesses in human nature which must be respected and not reproved in the sympathizing rapidity in which servants in the places of public refreshment clear away all signs of the customer in the past from the eyes of the customer in the present although his predecessor may have in the wife of his bosom or the child of his loins no man can find himself confronted at the table by the traces of a vanished eater without a passing sense of injury and connection to the idea of his own meal some such impression as this found its way into the mind of mr. knoll van stone when he entered the lonely breakfast partner at ballet cottage shortly after 11 o'clock he looked at the table with a frown and rang the bell with an expression of disgust clear away this mess he said when the servant had appeared has your mistress gone yes sir nearly an hour ago is louisa downstairs yes sir when you have put this table right send louisa up to me he walked away to the window the momentary irritation passed away from his face but it left an expression there which remained an expression of pining discontent personally his marriage had altered him from the worse his whiz and little cheeks were beginning to shrink into hollows his frail little figure had already contracted us like stoop a form of delicacy if his compraction had gone and the sickly paleness of it was all that was remained his thin flats and moustaches were no longer pragmatically waxed and twisted into a curl the weak feathery ends unmeatly pedant over the quaverless corners of his mouth if in the 10 or 12 weeks since his marriage had been counted by his looks they might have reckoned as 10 or 12 years he stood at the window mechanically picking leaves from a pot of heath placed in front of it and drearily humming the forlorn fragment of a tune the prospect from the window overlooked the course of the nith at bender the river a few miles above Dumfries here and there through wintery gaps in the wooded bank broad tracks of the level cultivated valley met the eye boats passed on the river and carts plotted along the high road on their way to Dumfries the sky was clear the November sun shone as pleasantly as if the year had been younger by a good two months and the view noted in Scotland for its bright and peaceful charm was presented at the best which its wintery aspect could assume if it had been hidden and missed or drenched with rain Mr Noel Vanstone Wood to all appearance have found it as attractive as he found it now he waited at the window until he heard Louise's knock at the door and then turned back suddenly to the breakfast table and told her to come in make the tea he said i know nothing about it i'm left here neglected nobody helps me which is screed louisa silently and submissively obeyed did your mistress leave any message for me he asked before she went away no message in particular sir my mistress only said that she should be too late if she waited for breakfast any longer did you say nothing else she told me at the carriage door sir that she would most likely be back in a week was she in good spirits at the carriage door no sir i thought my mistress seemed very anxious and uneasy is there anything more i can do sir i don't know wait a minute he proceeded discontentedly with his breakfast louisa waiting resignedly at the door i think your mistress has been in bad spirits lately he resumed with a sudden outbreak of petulance my mistress has not been very cheerful sir what do you mean by not very cheerful do you mean to prevaricate am i nobody in the house am i to be kept in the dark for everything is your mistress to go away on our own affairs and leave me at home like a child am i not even to ask a question about her am i to be prevaricated with by a servant i won't be prevaricated with not very cheerful what do you mean by not very cheerful my own meant that my mistress was not in good spirits sir why couldn't you say it then don't you know the value of words the most dreadful consequences sometimes happen from not knowing the value of words did your mistress tell you she was going to london yes sir what did you think when your mistress told you she was going to london did you think it was odd she was going without me i did not think to resume it sir is there anything more i can do for you if you please sir what kind of morning is it out is it warm is the sun on the garden yes sir have you seen the sun at yourself on the garden yes sir get me my great coat i'll take a little turn has a man brushed it did you see the man brush it yourself what do you mean by saying he has brushed it when you didn't see him let me look at the tails if there's a speck of dust on the tails i'll turn the man off help me on with it louisa helped him on with his coat okay from his hat he went up irritably the coat was a large one it belonged to his father and the hat was a large one it was a misfit purchased as a bargain by himself it was submerged in his hat and his coat he looked singularly small and frail and miserable as he slowly wended his way in the wintry sunlight down the garden path the path slowed gently from the back of the house to the water side from which it was parted by a low fence after pacing backward and forwards for some little time he stopped at the lower extremity of the garden and leaning on the fence looked down listlessly at the smooth flow of the river his thoughts still ran on the subject of his first fretful question to louisa he was still brooding over the circumstances under which his wife had left the cottage that morning and over the want of consideration to himself implied in the manner of her departure the longer he thought of his grievance the more acutely he resented it he was capable of great tenderness of feeling where any injury to his senses if only importance was concerned his head drooped a little by little on his arms so rested on the fence and in the deep sincerity of his modification he sighed bitterly the sigh was answered by a voice closer to his side you were happier with me so said the voice in accents of tender regret he looked up with a screen literally with a screen and confronted mrs lakout was it the spectre of the woman or the woman herself her hair was white her face had fallen away her eyes looked at large bright and haggard over hollow cheeks she was withered and old her dress hung loose round her wasted figure not a trace of its buxom autumnal beauty remained a quietly penetrable resolution with smoothly insinuating voice these were the only relics of the past which sickness and suffering had left in mrs lakout compose yourself mr noel she said gently you have no cause to be alarmed at seeing me your servant when i inquired said you were in the garden and i came here to find you i have traced you out sir with no resentment against yourself with no wish to distress you by so much as a shadow of a reproach i come here on what has been and still is the business of my life your service he recovered himself a little but was still incapable of speech he held fast by the fence and stared at her try to process your mindset of what i say preceded mrs lakout i have come here not as your enemy but as your friend i've been tried by sickness i've been tried by distress nothing remains of me but my heart my heart forgives you my heart in your sore need need which you have yet to feel places me in your service take my arm mr noel a little turn in the sun will help you recover yourself she put his hand through her arm and marched slowly up the garden walk before she'd been five minutes in his company she'd resumed a full possession of him in her own right now down again mr noel she said gently down again in this fine sunlight i have much to say to you sir which you never expected to hear from me let me ask a little domestic question first he told me at the house door mrs noel vansten was away on a journey has she gone for long her master's hand trembled on her arm but she put that question instead of answering it he tried faintly to plead for himself the first words that escaped him were prompted by his first returning sense the sense that his housekeeper is taking him into custody he tried to make his peace with mrs lakount i always meant to do something for you he said coaxingly you would have heard from me before long upon my word and honor lakount you would have heard from me before long don't doubt it sir replied mrs lakount but from the present never mind about me you and your interests first how did you come here he said looking at her astonishment how came you to find me out it is a long story sir i will tell it you some other time let it be enough to say now that i have found you well mrs noel be back again at the house today a little love to sir i can hardly hear you so so not back again for a week and where has she gone to london did you say and what for i'm not inquisitive mr noel i am asking serious questions under serious necessity why has the wife left you here i've gone to london by herself they were down at the fence again when she made that last inquiry and they waited leaning against it while mr noel bamstone answered her reiterated assurances that she bought him no malice will produce in their effect he was beginning to recover himself the old helpless habit of addressing all his complaints to his housekeeper was returning already with the reappearance of mrs lakount returning insidiously in company with that besetting anxiety to talk about his grievances which had got the better of him at the breakfast table and which had shown the wound inflicted on his vanity to his wife's maid i can't answer for mrs noel vanstone he said spitefully mrs noel vanstone has not treated me with the consideration which is my duty she has taken my commission for granted and has only thought proper to tell me that the object of her journey is to see her friends in london she went away this morning without bidding me goodbye she takes her own way as if i was nobody she treats me like a child you would not believe it lakount but i don't even know who her friends are i am left quite in the dark i am left to guess for myself that her friends in london are her aunt and uncle mrs lakount privately considered the question by help of our knowledge obtained in london she soon reached the obvious conclusion after writing to her sister in the first instance mad delayne had now in all probability followed the letter in person there was little doubt that the friend she had gone to visit in london were her sister and miss garne not her uncle and aunt sir resumed mrs lakount composedly a secret for your privateer she has no uncle and aunt a little turn before i explained myself a little turn to compose your spirits she took him into custody once more and marched him back toward the house mister nor she said suddenly stopping in the middle of the walk do you know what was the worst mischief you ever did yourself in your life i will tell you that worst mischief was sending me to xeric his hand began to trample on her arm once more it didn't do it he cried piteously it was all mr bygrave you acknowledge sir that mr bygrave deceived me preceded mrs lakount i'm glad to hear that you will be all the ready air to make the next discovery which is waiting for you the discovery that mr bygrave has deceived you he is not here to slip through my fingers now i'm not the helpless woman in this place but i was an old bro thank god she uttered that devout exclamation through her set teeth all her hatred of captain rag hissed out of her lips in those two words obliged me for by holding one side of my traveling bag she resumed i open it and take something out the interior of the bag disclosed a series of neatly folded papers all laid together in order and numbered outside mrs lakount took out one of the papers and shut up the bag again with a loud snap the spring that closed it and over a mr knoll i had only my own opinion to support mrs you marked my own opinion was nothing against miss bygrave's youth and beauty and mr bygrave's ready wit i could only hope to attack your infatuation with proofs and at that time i had not got them i have them now i am armed at all points with proofs i bristle from head to foot with proofs i break my false silence and speak with the emphasis of my proofs do you know this writing sir shrunk back from the paper which he offered him i don't understand this he said nervously i don't know what you want or what you mean mrs lakount forced the paper into his hand you shall know what i mean sir if you give me a moment's attention she said on the day after you went away to st crux i obtained admission to mr bygrave's house and i had some talk in private with mr bygrave's wife that talk supplied me with the means to convince you which i had wanted to find for weeks and weeks past i wrote you a letter to say so i wrote to tell you that i would forfeit my place in your service and my expectations from your generosity if i did not prove to you when i came back from switzerland that my own private suspicion of miss bygrave was the truth i directed that letter to you at st crux i posted it myself now mr knoll read the paper which i forced into your hand it is admiral bartram's written affirmation that my letter came to st crux and that he enclosed it to you undercover to mr bygrave at your own request did mr bygrave ever give you that letter don't agitate yourself sir one word of reply will do yes or no he read the paper and looked up to her with growing bewilderment and fear she obstinately waited until he spoke no he said faintly i never got the letter first proof said mrs lookout taking the paper from him and putting it back in the bag one more with your kind permission before we come to things more serious still i gave you a written description sir at albara of a person not named and i asked you to compare it with mr bygrave the next time you were in her company after having first shown the description to mr bygrave it is useless to deny it now mr knoll your friend at north shingles is not here to help you after having first shown my note to mr bygrave you made the comparison and you found it failed in the most important particular there were two little moles placed close together on the left side of the neck in my description of the unknown lady and there were no little moles at all when you looked to miss bygrave's neck i am old enough to be your mother mr knoll the question is not indelicate may i ask what the present state of your knowledge is on the subject of your wife's neck she looked at him with merciless steadiness drew back a few steps cowering under her eye i i cannot say he stammered i i don't know what do you mean by these questions i never thought about the moles afterward i i never looked she wears her hair low she's excellent reasons to wear it low sir should remark this little account we will try and lift that hair before we are done with the subject when i came out here to find you in the garden i saw a unique young person through the kitchen window with a work in her hand who looks to my eyes like a lady's maid is this young person your wife's made i beg your pardon sir did you say yes in that case another question if you please did you engage her or did your wife i engaged her while i was away while i was in total ignorance that you meant to have a wife or a wife's maid yes under those circumstances mr knoll you cannot possibly suspect me of conspiring to deceive you with the maid for my instrument go into the house sir while i wait here ask the woman who dresses mrs knoll's fanstone's hair morning and night whether her mistress has a mark on the left side of her neck and if so what that mark is he walked a few steps towards the house without uttering a word then stopped and looked back at mr's account his blinking eyes were steady his wizened face had become suddenly composed mr's account advanced a little and joined him she saw the change but with all her experience of him she failed to interpret the true meaning of it are you want to pretend sir she asked are you at a loss to account to your wife's maid for such a question as i wish you to put her pretenses are easily found which will do for persons in hesitation of life say i'd come here with news of a legacy for mrs knoll's fanstone and that there is a question of her identity to settle before she received the money she pointed to the house he paid no attention to the sign his face grew paler and paler without moving or speaking he stood and looked at her are you afraid asked mrs lecount those words roused him those words let a spark of the fire of manhood in him at last he turned on her like a sheep on a dog i won't be questioned and ordered he broke out trembling violently under the new cessation of his own courage i won't be threatened and mystified any longer how did you find me out at this place what do you mean by coming here with your hints and your mysteries what have you got to say against my wife mrs lecount composedly opened the traveling bag and took out her smelling bottle in case of emergency you've spoken to me in plain words she said in plain words sir you shall have your answer are you too angry to listen her looks and tones alarmed him in spite of himself his courage began to sink again and desperately as he tried to steady it his voice trembled when he answered her give me my answer he said and give it at once your command shall be obeyed sir to the letter replied mrs lecount i have come here with two objects to open your eyes to your own situation to save your fortune perhaps your life your situation is this is by grave marriage you under a false character and a false name can you rouse your memory can you call to mind the disguised woman who threatened you in voxel walk that woman as certainly as i stand here is now your wife he looked at her in breathless silence his lips falling apart his eyes fixed and vacant inquiry the suddenness of the disclosure had overreached its own end it had stupefied him my wife he repeated and broke into an imbecile laugh your wife reiterated mrs lecount and the repetition of those two words Australian and his faculties relaxed a thought dawned on him for the first time his eyes fixed on her with a furtive alarm and he drew back hastily mad he said to himself with a sudden remembrance of what his friend mr bygrave had told him in oboe sharpened by his own sense of the haggard change that he saw in her face he spoke in a whisper but mrs lecount heard him she was close at his side in an instant for the first time her self possession felt her she caught him angrily by the arm will you put my madness to the proof sir she asked he shook off her hold and began to gather courage again in the intense sincerity of his disbelief courage to face the assertion which she persisted on forcing on him yes he answered what must i do do what i have told you said mrs lecount asked her made that question about her mistress on the spot and as she tells you the mark is there do one thing more take me up into your wife's room and open her wardrobe in my presence with your own hands what do you want with her wardrobe he asked you shall know when you open it very strange he said to himself frequently it's like a scene in a novel it's like nothing in real life he went slowly into the house mrs count waited for him in the garden after an absence of a few minutes only he appeared again on the top of a flight of stairs which led into the garden from the house he had the iron rail with one hand while with the other he beckoned to mrs lecount to join him on the steps what does the maid say she asked as she approached him is the mark there he answered in a whisper yes what he had heard from the maid produced a mark changing him the horror of the coming discovery had laid its paralyzing hold on his mind he moved mechanically he looked and spoke like a man in a dream will you take my arm sir he shook his head and proceeding her along the passage and up the stairs led the way into his wife's room when she joined him and locked the door he stood passively waiting for his directions without making any remark without showing any external appearance a surprise he'd not removed either his hat or coat mrs lecount took them off him thank you he said with the docility of a well-crained child it's like a scene in a novel it's nothing like real life the bedchamber was not very large and the furniture was heavy and all pressioned but traces of Magdalene's natural taste and revignment were still visible everywhere and the little embellishments that graced and enlivened the aspect of the room the perfume of dried rose leaves hung fragrant in the cool air mrs lecount sniffed the perfume of the disparishing frown threw the window open to its full height pah she said with a shudder of virtuous disgust the atmosphere of deceit she seated herself near the window the wardrobe stood against the wall opposite and the bed at the room on her right hand open the wardrobe mr null she said i don't go near it i touch nothing in there myself take out the dresses with your own hand and put them on the bed take them out one by one until i tell you to stop he baited her i'll do as well as i can he said my hands are cold and my head feels half to sleep the dresses to be removed were not many for Magdalene had taken some of them away with her after you'd put two dresses on the bed he was obliged to search in the inner recesses of the wardrobe before he could find a third and he produced it mrs lecount made a sign for him to stop the end was reached already he'd found the brown backpack address lay it out on the bed sir said mrs lecount you will see a double flance running around the bottom of it lift up the outer flance across the inner one through your fingers inch by inch if you come to a place where the morsel of the stuff is missing stop and look up at me he passed the flance slowly through his fingers for a minute or more and stopped and looked up mrs lecount produced a pocketbook and opened it every word i now speak sir is of serious consequence to you and to me she said listen with your closest attention when the woman calling herself miss gaff came to see us in voxel walk i laid down behind the chair in which you were sitting and cut off a morsel of the stuff in the dress she wore which might help you to know that dress if i ever saw it again i did this while the woman's whole attention was absorbed in talking to you the morsel of stuff has been kept in my pocketbook from that time to this see for yourself mr noel if it fits the gap in the dress which your own hands have just taken from your wise wardrobe she rose and handed him a fragment of the stuff across the bed he put it in the vacant space in the flance as well as his trembling fingers would let him does it fit sir mrs lecount the dress dropped from his hands and the deadly bluish pallor every doctor who attended him had warned his housekeeper to dread over spread his face slowly mrs lecount had not reckoned on such an answer to a question as she now saw in his cheeks she hurried round to him with the smelling bottle in her hand he dropped to his knees and caught at the dress with the grasp of a drowning man save me he gasped in halls breathless whisper oh lecount save me i promised to save you said mrs lecount i am here with the means and the resolution to save you come away from this place come nearer to the air she raised him as she spoke and let him across the room to the window do you feel the chill pain again in your left side she asked for the first signs of alarm that she's shown yet has your wife got any odor cologne any salvoletil in her room don't exhaust yourself by speaking point to the place he pointed to a little triangular cupboard of old wormeaton walnut wood fixed time the corner of the room mrs lecount tried the door it was locked she made that discovery she saw his head sink gradually back on the easy chair in which she had placed him the warning of the doctors in years past if you ever let him faint you let him die it occurred to her memory as if it had been spoken the day before she looked at the cupboard again in the recess under it there's some cords placed there apparently for the purpose of packing with that instance hesitation she snatched up a morsel of cord tied one end fast around the knob of the cupboard door and seizing the other in both hands pulled it suddenly with the exertion of her whole strength the rotten wood gave way the cupboard doors flew open and a heap of little trifles poured noisily out on the floor without stopping to notice the broken china and glass her defeat she looked in the dark recess and the cupboard saw the gleam of two glass bottles one was put away at the extreme back of the shelf the other little in advance almost hiding she snatched them both out and took them one in each hand to the window where she could read the labels and clear a light the bottle in her right hand was the first bottle she looked at it was marked salvoletil she instantly laid the other bottle aside on the table without looking at it the other bottle lay there waiting its turn it held a dark liquid it was labelled poison end of chapter one scene five scene five chapter two of no name this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Philip Griffiths no name by Wilkie Collins fifth scene chapter two Mrs. LeCount mixed the salvoletil with water and administered it immediately the stimulant had its effect in a few minutes Noel Vanstone was able to raise himself in the chair without assistance his color changed again for the better and his breath came and went more freely how do you feel now sir asked Mrs. LeCount are you warm again on your left side he paid no attention to that inquiry his eyes wandering about the room turned by chance toward the table to Mrs. LeCount's surprise instead of answering her he bent forward in his chair and looked with staring eyes and pointing hand at the second bottle which she had taken from the cupboard and which she had hastily laid aside without paying attention to it seeing that some new alarm possessed him she advanced to the table and looked where he looked the labelled side of the bottle was full in view and there in the plain handwriting of the chemist at Aldbra was the one startling word confronting them both poison even Mrs. LeCount's self-possession was shaken by that discovery she was not prepared to see her own darkest forebodings the unacknowledged offspring of her hatred for Magdalene realized as she saw them realized now the suicide despair in which the poison had been procured the suicide purpose for which in distrust of the future the poison had been kept had bought with them their own retribution there the bottle lay in Magdalene's absence a false witness of treason which had never entered her mind treason against her husband's life with his hand still mechanically pointing at the table no vanstone raised his head and looked up at Mrs. LeCount I took it from the cupboard she said answering the look I took both bottles out together not knowing which might be the bottle I wanted I am as much shocked as much frightened as you are poison he said to himself slowly poison locked up by my wife in the cupboard in her own room he stopped and looked at Mrs. LeCount once more for me he asked in a vacant inquiring tone we will not talk of it sir until your mind is more at ease said Mrs. LeCount in the meantime the danger that lies waiting in this bottle shall be instantly destroyed in your presence she took out the cork and threw the Lordinum out of the window and the empty bottle after it let us try to forget this dreadful discovery for the present she resumed let us go downstairs at once all that I have now to say to you can be said in another room she helped him to rise from the chair and took his arm in her own it is well for him it is well for me she thought as they went downstairs together that I came when I did on crossing the passage she stepped to the front door where the carriage was waiting which had brought her from Dumfries and instructed the coachman to put up his horses at the nearest inn and to call again for her in two hours time this done she accompanied Nelvan Stone into the sitting room stirred up the fire and placed him before it comfortably in an easy chair he sat for a few minutes warming his hands feebly like an old man and staring straight into the flame then he spoke when the woman came and threatened me in voxel walk he began still staring into the fire you came back to the parlor after she was gone and you told me he stopped shivered a little and lost the thread of his recollections at that point I told you sir said mrs lecount that the woman was in my opinion miss van stone herself don't start mr nul your wife is away and I am here to take care of you say to yourself if you feel frightened lecount is here lecount will take care of me the truth must be told sir however hard to bear the truth may be miss magdalen van stone was the woman who came to you in disguise and the woman who came to you in disguise is the woman you have married the conspiracy which she threatened you with in london is the conspiracy which has made her your wife that is the plain truth you have seen the dress upstairs if that dress had been no longer in existence I should still have had my proofs to convince you thanks to my interview with mrs bygrave I have discovered the house your wife lodged at in london it was opposite our house in voxel walk I have laid my hand on one of the landlady's daughters who watched your wife from an inner room and saw her put on the disguise who can speak to her identity and to the identity of her companion mrs bygrave and who has furnished me at my own request with a written statement of facts which she is ready to affirm on oath if any person ventures to contradict her you shall read the statement mr null if you like when you are fitter to understand it you shall also read a letter in the handwriting of miss garth who will repeat to you personally every word she has written to me a letter formally denying that she was ever in voxel walk and formally asserting that those moles on your wife's neck are mark's peculiar to miss magdalen van stone whom she has known from childhood I say it with a just pride you will find no weak place anywhere in the evidence which I bring you if mr bygrave had not stolen my letter you would have had your warning before I was cruelly deceived into going to Zurich and the proofs which I now bring you after your marriage I should then have offered to you before it don't hold me responsible sir for what has happened since I left England blame your uncle's bastard daughter and blame that villain with the brown eye and the green she spoke her last venomous words as slowly and distinctly as she had spoken all the rest no van stone made no answer he still sat cowering over the fire she looked round into his face he was crying silently I was so fond of her said the miserable little creature and I thought she was so fond of me mrs lecount turned her back on him in disdainful silence fond of her as she repeated those words to herself her haggard face became almost handsome again in the magnificent intensity of its contempt she walked to a bookcase at the lower end of the room and began examining the volumes in it before she had been long engaged in this way she was startled by the sound of his voice a frightedly calling her back the tears were gone from his face it was blank again with terror when he now turned it toward her lecount he said holding to her with both hands can an egg be poisoned I had an egg for breakfast this morning and a little toast make your mind easy sir said mrs lecount the poison of your wife's deceit is the only poison you have taken yet if she had resolved already on making you pay the price of your folly with your life she would not be absent from the house while you were left living in it dismiss the thought from your mind it is the middle of the day you want refreshment I have more to say to you in the interest of your own safety I have something for you to do which must be done at once recruit your strength and you will do it I will set you the example of eating if you still distrust the food in this house are you composed enough to give the servant her orders if I ring the bell it is necessary to the object I have in view for you that nobody should think you ill in body or troubled in mind try first with me before the servant comes in let us see how you look and speak when you say bring up the lunch after two rehearsals mrs lecount considered him fit to give the order without betraying himself the bell was answered by louisa louisa looked hard at mrs lecount the luncheon was brought up by the housemaid the housemaid looked hard at mrs lecount when luncheon was over the table was cleared by the cook the cook looked hard at mrs lecount the three servants were plainly suspicious that something extraordinary was going on in the house it was hardly possible to doubt that they had arranged to share among themselves the three opportunities which the service of the table afforded them of entering the room the curiosity of which she was the object did not escape the penetration of mrs lecount i did well she thought to arm myself in good time with the means of reaching my end if i let the grass grow under my feet one or the other of these women might get in my way roused by this consideration she produced her traveling bag from a corner as soon as the last of the servants had entered the room and seating herself at the end of the table opposite no van stone looked at him for a moment with a steady investigating attention she had carefully regulated the quantity of wine which he had taken at luncheon she had let him drink exactly enough to fortify without confusing him and she now examined his face critically like an artist examining his picture at the end of the day's work the result appeared to satisfy her and she opened the serious business of the interview on the spot will you look at the written evidence i have mentioned to you mr noel before i say any more she inquired or are you sufficiently persuaded of the truth to proceed at once to the suggestion which i have now to make to you let me hear your suggestion he said sullenly resting his elbows on the table and leaning his head on his hands mrs lecount took from her traveling bag the written evidence to which she had just eluded and carefully placed the papers on one side of him within easy reach if he wished to refer to them far from being daunted she was visibly encouraged by the ungraciousness of his manner her experience of him informed her that the sign was a promising one on those rare occasions when the little resolution that he possessed was roused in him it invariably asserted itself like the resolution of most other weak men aggressively at such times in proportion as he was outwardly sullen and discourteous to those about him his resolution rose and in proportion as he was considerate and polite it fell the tone of the answer he had just given and the attitude he had assumed at the table convinced mrs lecount that spanish wine and scotch mutton had done their duty and had rallied his sinking courage i will put the question to you for form's sake sir if you wish it she proceeded but i'm already certain without any question at all that you have made your will he nodded his head without looking at her you have made it in your wife's favor he nodded again you have left her everything you possess no mrs lecount looked surprised did you exercise a reserve toward her mr knoll of your own accord she inquired or is it possible that your wife put her own limits to her interest in your will he was uneasily silent he was plainly ashamed to answer the question mrs lecount repeated it in a less direct form how much have you left your widow mr knoll in the event of your death eighty thousand pounds that reply answered the question eighty thousand pounds was exactly the fortune which michael vanstone had taken from his brother's orphan children at his brother's death exactly the fortune of which michael vanstone's son had kept possession in his turn as pitilessly as his father before him knoll vanstone's silence was eloquent of the confession which he was ashamed to make his doting weakness had beyond all doubt placed his whole property at the feet of his wife and this girl whose vindictive daring had defied all restraints this girl who had not shrunk from her desperate determination even at the church door had in the very hour of her triumph taken part only from the man who would willingly have given all had rigorously exacted her father's fortune from him to the last farthing and had then turned her back on the hand that was tempting her with tens of thousands more for the moment mrs lecount was fairly silenced by her own surprise magdalene had forced the astonishment from her which is akin to admiration the astonishment which her enmity would feign have refused she hated magdalene with a tenfold hatred from that time i have no doubt sir she resumed after a momentary silence that mrs knoll gave you excellent reasons why the provision for her at your death should be no more and no less than eighty thousand pounds and on the other hand i am equally sure that you in your innocence of all suspicion found these reasons conclusive at the time that time has now gone by your eyes are open sir and you will not fail to remark as i remark that the kum rave and property happens to reach the same sum exactly as the legacy which your wife's own instructions directed you to leave her if you are still in any doubt of the motive for which she married you look in your own will and there the motive is he raised his head from his hands and became closely attentive to what she was saying to him for the first time since they had faced each other at the table the kum rave and property had never been classed by itself in his estimation it had come to him merged in his father's other possessions at his father's death the discovery which had now opened before him was one to which his ordinary habits of thought as well as his innocence of suspicion had hitherto closed his eyes he said nothing but he looked less sullenly at mrs lecount his manner was more ingratiating the high tide of his courage was already on the ebb your position sir must be as plain by this time to you as it is to me said mrs lecount there is only one obstacle now left between this woman and the attainment of her end that obstacle is your life after the discovery we have made upstairs i leave you to consider for yourself what your life is worth at those terrible words the ebbing resolution in him ran out to the last drop don't frighten me he pleaded i have been frightened enough already he rose and dragged his chair after him round the table to mrs lecount's side he sat down and caressingly kissed her hand you good creature he said in a sinking voice you excellent lecount tell me what to do i'm full of resolution i'll do anything to save my life have you got writing materials in the room sir asked mrs lecount will you put them on the table if you please while the writing materials were in process of collection mrs lecount made a new demand on the resources of her traveling bag she took two papers from it each endorsed in the same neat commercial handwriting one was described as draught for proposed will and the other as draught for proposed letter when she placed them before her on the table her hand shook a little and she applied the smelling salt which she had brought with her in null vanston's interest to her own nostrils i had hoped when i came here mr null she proceeded to have given you more time for consideration than it seems safe to give you now when you first told me of your wife's absence in london i thought it probable that the object of her journey was to see her sister and miss garth since the horrible discovery we have made upstairs i am inclined to alter that opinion your wife's determination not to tell you who the friends are whom she has gone to see fills me with alarm she may have accomplices in london accomplices for anything we know to the contrary in this house all three of your servants sir have taken the opportunity in turn of coming into the room and looking at me i don't like their looks neither you nor i know what may happen from day to day or even from hour to hour if you take my advice you will get the start at once of all possible accidents and when the carriage comes back you will leave this house with me yes yes he said eagerly i'll leave the house with you i wouldn't stop here by myself for any sum of money that could be offered me what do we want the pen and ink for are you to write or am i you are to write sir said mrs lecount the means taken for promoting your own safety are to be mean set in motion from beginning to end by yourself i suggest mr knoll and you decide recognize your own position sir what is your first and foremost necessity it is plainly this you must destroy your wife's interest in your death by making another will he vehemently nodded his approval his color rose and his blinking eyes brightened in malicious triumph she shan't have a farthing he said to himself in a whisper she shan't have a farthing when your will is made sir preceded mrs lecount you must place it in the hands of a trustworthy person not my hands mr knoll i am only your servant then when the will is safe and when you are safe write to your wife at this house tell her her infamous impostor is discovered tell her you have made a new will which leaves her penniless at your death tell her in your righteous indignation that she enters your doors no more place yourself in that strong position and it is no longer you who watch your wife's mercy but your wife who is at yours assert your own power sir with the law to help you and crush this woman into submission to any terms for the future that you please to impose he eagerly took up the pen yes he said with a vindictive self-importance any terms i pleased to impose he suddenly checked himself and his face became dejected and perplexed how can i do it now he asked throwing down the pen as quickly as he had taken it up do what sir inquired mrs lecount how can i make my will with mr loscombe away in london and no lawyer here to help me mrs lecount gently tapped the papers before her on the table with her forefinger all the help you need sir is waiting for you here she said i considered this matter carefully before i came to you and i provided myself with the confidential assistance of a friend to guide me through these difficulties which i could not penetrate for myself the friend to whom i refer is a gentleman of swiss extraction but born and bred in england he is not a lawyer by profession but he has had his own sufficient experience of the law nevertheless and he has supplied me not only with a model by which you may make your will but with the written sketch of a letter which it is as important for us to have as the model of the will itself there is another necessity waiting for you mr knoll which i have not mentioned yet but which is no less urgent in its way than the necessity of the will what is it he asked with roused curiosity we will take it in its turn sir answered mrs lecount his turn has not come yet the will if you please first i will dictate from the model in my possession and you were right knoll van ston looked at the draft for the will and the draft for the letter was suspicious curiosity i think i ought to see the papers myself before you dictate he said it would be more satisfactory to my own mind account by all means sir rejoined mrs lecount handing him the papers immediately he read the draft for the will first pausing and knitting his brows distrustfully wherever he found blank spaces left in the manuscript to be filled in with the names of persons and the enumeration of sums bequeath to them two or three minutes of reading brought him to the end of the paper he gave it back to mrs lecount without making any objection to it the draft for the letter was a much longer document he obstinately read it through to the end with an expression of perplexity and discontent which showed that it was utterly unintelligible to him i must have this explained he said with a touch of his old self-importance before i take any steps in the matter it shall be explained sir as we go on said mrs lecount every word of it every word of it mr null when its turn comes you have no objection to the will to the will then as i said before let us devote ourselves first you have seen for yourself that it is short enough and simple enough for a child to understand it but if any doubts remain on your mind by all means compose those doubts by showing your will to a lawyer by profession in the meantime let me not be considered intrusive if i remind you that we are all mortal and that the lost opportunity can never be recalled while your time is your own sir and while your enemies are unsuspicious of you make your will she opened a sheet of note paper and smoothed it out before him she dipped the pen in ink and placed it in his hands he took it from her without speaking he was to all appearance suffering under some temporary uneasiness of mind but the main point was gained there he sat with the paper before him and the pen in his hand read it last in right earnest to make his will the first question for you to decide sir said mrs laccount after a preliminary glance at her draft is your choice of an executor i have no desire to influence your decision but i may without impropriety remind you that a wise choice means in other words the choice of an old and tried friend whom you know that you can trust it means the admiral i suppose said no van stone mrs laccount bowed very well he continued the admiral let it be there was plainly some oppression still weighing on his mind even under the trying circumstances in which he was placed it was not in his nature to take mrs laccount's perfectly sensible and disinterested advice without a word of prevail as he had taken it now are you ready sir yes mrs laccount dictated the first paragraph from the draft as follows this is the last will and testament of me no van stone now living at balial cottage near dumfries i revoke absolutely and in every particular my former will executed on the 30th of september 1847 and i hear by a point rear admiral arthur everard bartram of st crux in the marsh sx sole executor of this my will have you written those words sir yes mrs laccount laid down the draft no van stone laid down the pen they neither of them looked at each other there was a long silence i am waiting mr knoll said mrs laccount at last to hear what your wishes are in respect to the disposal of your fortune your large fortune she added with merciless emphasis he took up the pen again and began picking the feathers from the quill in dead silence perhaps your existing will may help you to instruct me sir pursued mrs laccount may i inquire to whom you left all your surplus money after leaving the eighty thousand pounds to your wife if he had answered that question plainly he must have said i've left the whole surplus to my cousin george bartram and the implied acknowledgement that mrs laccount's name was not mentioned in the will must then have followed in mrs laccount's presence a much bolder man in his situation might have felt the same oppression and the same embarrassment which he was feeling now he picked the last morsel of feather from the quill and desperately leaping the pitfall under his feet advanced to meet mrs laccount's claims on him of his own accord i would rather not talk of any will but the will i am making now he said uneasily the first thing laccount he hesitated put the bare end of the quill into his mouth nodded it thoughtfully and said no more yes sir persisted mrs laccount the first thing is yes sir the first thing is to to make some provision for you he spoke the last words in a tone of plaintive interrogation as if all hope of being met by a magnanimous refusal had not deserted him even yet mrs laccount enlightened his mind on this point without a moment's loss of time thank you mr knoll she said with the tone and manner of a woman who was not acknowledging a favor but receiving a right he took another bite at the quill the perspiration began to appear on his face the difficulty is he remarked to say how much your lamented father sir rejoined mrs laccount met that difficulty if you remember at the time of his last illness i don't remember said null vans don't doggedly you were on one side of his bed sir and i was on the other we were vainly trying to persuade him to make his will after telling us he would wait and make his will when he was well again he looked round at me and said some kind and feeling words which my memory will treasure to my dying day have you forgotten those words mr knoll yes said mr knoll without hesitation in my present situation sir retorted mrs laccount delicacy forbids me to improve your memory she looked at her watch and relapsed into silence he clinched his hands and rides from side to side of his chair in an agony of indecision mrs laccount passively refused to take the slightest notice of him what should you say he began and suddenly stopped again yes sir what should you say to a thousand pounds mrs laccount rose from her chair and looked him full in the face with the majestic indignation of an outraged woman after the service i have rendered you today mr null she said i have at least earned a claim on your respect if i have earned nothing more i wish you good morning two thousand cried null van stone with the courage of despair mrs laccount folded up her papers and hung her traveling bag over her arm in contemptuous silence three thousand mrs laccount moved with impenetrable dignity from the table to the door four thousand mrs laccount gathered her shawl round her with a shudder and opened the door five thousand he clasped his hands and rung them at her in a frenzy of rage and suspense five thousand was the deathcribe of his pecuniary suicide mrs laccount softly shut the door again and came back a step free of legacy duty sir she inquired no mrs laccount turned on her heel and opened the door again yes mrs laccount came back and resumed her place at the table as if nothing had happened five thousand pounds free of legacy duty was the sum sir which your father's grateful regard promised me in his will she said quietly if you choose to exert your memory as you have not chosen to exert it yet your memory will tell you that i speak the truth i accept your filial performance of your father's promise mr null and there i stop i scorn to take a mean advantage of my position toward you i scorn to grasp anything from your fears you are protected by my respect for myself and for the illustrious name i bear you are welcome to all that i have done and to all that i have suffered in your service the widow of professor laccount sir takes what is justly hers and takes no more as she spoke these words the traces of sickness seemed for the moment to disappear from her face her eyes shone with a steady inner light all the woman warmed and brightened in the radiance of her own triumph the triumph trebly one of carrying her point of vindicating her integrity and of matching magdalene's incorruptible self-denial on magdalene's own ground when you are yourself again sir we will proceed let us wait a little first she gave him time to compose himself and then after first looking at her draft dictated the second paragraph of the will in these terms i give and bequeath to madame virginil accompt widow of professor laccount late of zurek the sum of five thousand pounds free of legacy duty and in making this bequest i wish to place it on record that i am not only expressing my own sense of madame laccount's attachment and fidelity in the capacity of my housekeeper but that i also believe myself to be executing the intentions of my deceased father who but for the circumstance of his dying intestate would have left madame laccount in his will the same token of grateful regard for her services which i now leave her in mind have you written the last word sir yes mrs. laccount leaned across the table and offered no vanstone her hand thank you mr. no she said the five thousand pounds is the acknowledgement on your father's side of what i have done for him the words in the will are the acknowledgement on yours a faint smile flickered over his face for the first time it comforted him on reflection to think that matters might have been worse there was balm for his wounded spirit in paying the debt of gratitude by a sentence not negotiable at his bankers whatever his father might have done he had got laccount a bargain after all a little more writing sir resumed mrs laccount and you're painful but necessary duty will be performed the trifling matter of my legacy being settled we may come to the important question that is left the future direction of a large fortune is now waiting your word of command to whom is it to go he began to ride again in his chair even under the all-powerful fascination of his wife the parting with his money on paper had not been accomplished without a pang he had endured the pang he had resigned himself to the sacrifice and now here was a dreaded ordeal again awaiting him mercilessly for the second time perhaps it may assist your decision sir if i repeat a question which i have put to you already observed mrs laccount in the will that you made under your wife's influence to whom did you leave the surplus money which remained at your own disposal there was no harm in answering the question now he acknowledged that he had left the money to his cousin george you could have done nothing better mr null and you can do nothing better now said mrs laccount mr george and his two sisters are your only relations left one of those sisters is an incurable invalid with more than money enough already for all the wants which her affliction allows her to feel the other is the wife of a man even richer than yourself to leave the money to these sisters is to waste it to leave the money to their brother george is to give your cousin exactly the assistance which he will want when he one day inherits his uncle's dilapidated house and his uncle's impoverished estate a will which names the admiral your executor and mr george your heir is the right will for you to make it does honor to the claims of friendship and it does justice to the claims of blood she spoke warmly for she spoke with a grateful remembrance of all that she herself owed to the hospitality of st crux nor van stone took up another pen and began to strip the second quill of its feathers as he had stripped the first yes he said reluctantly i suppose george must have it i suppose george has the principal claim on me he hesitated he looked at the door he looked at the window as if he longed to make his escape by one way or the other oh le count he cried pitiously it's such a large fortune let me wait a little before i leave it to anybody to his surprise mrs le count at once complied with this characteristic request i wish you to wait sir as she replied i have something important to say before you add another line to your will a little while since i told you there was a second necessity connected with your present situation which had not been provided for yet but which must be provided for when the time came the time has come now you have a serious difficulty to meet and conquer before you can leave your fortune to your cousin george what difficulty he asked mrs le count rose from her chair without answering stole to the door and suddenly threw it open no one was listening outside the passage was a solitude from one end to the other i distrust all servants she said returning to her place your servants particularly sit closer mr noel what i have now to say to you must be heard by no living creature but ourselves end of fifth scene chapter two