Wragge in disguise.
What advantage had she gained to set against these disasters? The
advantage of knowing more of Noel Vanstone and of Mrs. Lecount than she
might have discovered in months if she had trusted to inquiries made for
her by others. One uncertainty which had hitherto perplexed her was set
at rest already. The scheme she had privately devised against Michael
Vanstone--which Captain Wragge's sharp insight had partially penetrated
when she first warned him that their partnership must be dissolved--was
a scheme which she could now plainly see must be abandoned as
hopeless, in the case of Michael Vanstone's son. The father's habits
of speculation had been the pivot on which the whole machinery of
her meditated conspiracy had been constructed to turn. No such
vantage-ground was discoverable in the doubly sordid character of
the son. Noel Vanstone was invulnerable on the very point which had
presented itself in his father as open to attack.
Having reached this conclusion, how was she to shape her future course?
What new means could she discover which would lead her secretly to
her end, in defiance of Mrs. Lecount's malicious vigilance and Noel
Vanstone's miserly distrust?
She was seated before the looking-glass, mechanically combing out her
hair, while that all-important consideration occupied her mind.
Pages:
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507