"
Magdalen entered the room as he said those words, and after the first
greetings were exchanged, took the chair presented to her with the most
unsuspicious readiness. Noel Vanstone applied the Crucial Test on the
spot, with the highest appreciation of the fair material which was the
subject of experiment. Not the vestige of a mole was visible on any part
of the smooth white surface of Miss Bygrave's neck. It mutely answered
the blinking inquiry of Noel Vanstone's half-closed eyes by the flattest
practical contradiction of Mrs. Lecount. That one central incident in
the events of the morning was of all the incidents that had hitherto
occurred, the most important in its results. That one discovery shook
the housekeeper's hold on her master as nothing had shaken it yet.
In a few minutes Mrs. Wragge made her appearance, and excited as much
surprise in Noel Vanstone's mind as he was capable of feeling while
absorbed in the enjoyment of Magdalen's society. The walking-party left
the house at once, directing their steps northward, so as not to
pass the windows of Sea-view Cottage. To Mrs. Wragge's unutterable
astonishment, her husband, for the first time in the course of their
married life, politely offered her his arm, and led her on in advance
of the young people, as if the privilege of walking alone with her
presented some special attraction to him! "Step out!" whispered the
captain, fiercely.
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