Captain Wragge's inquiries on the evening when he and Magdalen had
drunk tea at Sea View had certainly informed him that the housekeeper's
brother possessed a modest competence; that his sister was his nearest
living relative; and that there were some unscrupulous cousins on the
spot who were anxious to usurp the place in his will which properly
belonged to Mrs. Lecount. Here were strong motives to take the
housekeeper to Zurich when the false report of her brother's relapse
reached England. But if any idea of Noel Vanstone's true position dawned
on her in the meantime, who could say whether she might not, at the
eleventh hour, prefer asserting her large pecuniary interest in her
master, to defending her small pecuniary interest at her brother's
bedside? While that question remained undecided, the plain necessity of
checking the growth of Noel Vanstone's intimacy with the family at North
Shingles did not admit of a doubt; and of all means of effecting that
object, none could be less open to suspicion than the temporary
removal of the household from their residence at Aldborough. Thoroughly
satisfied with the soundness of this conclusion, Captain Wragge made
straight for Sea-view Cottage, to apologize and explain before the
carriage came and the departure took place.
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