Nothing but the closest inspection could have
discovered the artifice by which they had been concealed; at the
distance of two or three feet only, it was perfectly invisible.
"Wait here five minutes," said Captain Wragge, "to let the paint
dry--and then join us in the parlor. Mrs. Lecount herself would be
puzzled if she looked at you now."
"Stop!" said Magdalen. "There is one thing you have not told me yet. How
did Mrs. Lecount get the description which you read downstairs? Whatever
else she has seen of me, she has not seen the mark on my neck--it is too
far back, and too high up; my hair hides it."
"Who knows of the mark?" asked Captain Wragge.
She turned deadly pale under the anguish of a sudden recollection of
Frank.
"My sister knows it," s he said, faintly.
"Mrs. Lecount may have written to your sister," suggested the captain:
"Do you think my sister would tell a stranger what no stranger has a
right to know? Never! never!"
"Is there nobody else who could tell Mrs. Lecount? The mark was
mentioned in the handbills at York. Who put it there?"
"Not Norah! Perhaps Mr. Pendril. Perhaps Miss Garth."
"Then Mrs. Lecount has written to Mr.
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