Noel now?' We could only
give her one reply--Mr. Noel had not informed us. She looked perfectly
thunderstruck at that answer. 'He has gone to his ruin!' she said. 'He
has gone away in company with the greatest villain in England. I must
find him! I tell you I must find Mr. Noel! If I don't find him at
once, it will be too late. He will be married!' she burst out quite
frantically. 'On my honor and my oath, he will be married!' The admiral,
incautiously perhaps, but with the best intentions, told her you were
married already. She gave a scream that made the windows ring again and
dropped back on the sofa in a fainting-fit. The doctor came in the nick
of time, and soon brought her to. But she was taken ill the same night;
she has grown worse and worse ever since; and the last medical report
is, that the fever from which she has been suffering is in a fair way to
settle on her brain.
"Now, my dear Noel, neither my uncle nor I have any wish to intrude
ourselves on your confidence. We are naturally astonished at the
extraordinary mystery which hangs over you and your marriage, and we
cannot be blind to the fact that your housekeeper has, apparently, some
strong reason of her own for viewing Mrs.
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