That is my conviction,
Mr. Vanstone. I may be right, or I may be wrong. All I say is
this--neither you, nor any man, can assign a sane motive for the
production of that incomprehensible document, and for the use which you
are requested to make of it."
"I don't think Lecount's mad," said Noel Vanstone, with a very blank
look, and a very discomposed manner. "It couldn't have escaped me,
with my habits of observation; it couldn't possibly have escaped me if
Lecount had been mad."
"Very good, my dear sir. In my opinion, she is the subject of an insane
delusion. In your opinion, she is in possession of her senses, and has
some mysterious motive which neither you nor I can fathom. Either way,
there can be no harm in putting Mrs. Lecount's description to the test,
not only as a matter of curiosity, but for our own private satisfaction
on both sides. It is of course impossible to tell my niece that she is
to be made the subject of such a preposterous experiment as that note
of yours suggests. But you can use your own eyes, Mr. Vanstone; you
can keep your own counsel; and--mad or not--you can at least tell your
housekeeper, on the testimony of your own senses, that she is wrong.
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