Lecount composedly opened the traveling-bag and took out her
smelling bottle, in case of emergency.
"You have spoken to me in plain words," she said. "In plain words, sir,
you shall have your answer. Are you too angry to listen?"
Her looks and tones alarmed him, in spite of himself. His courage began
to sink again; and, desperately as he tried to steady it, his voice
trembled when he answered her.
"Give me my answer," he said, "and give it at once."
"Your commands shall be obeyed, sir, to the letter," replied Mrs.
Lecount. "I have come here with two objects. To open your eyes to
your own situation, and to save your fortune--perhaps your life. Your
situation is this. Miss Bygrave has married you under a false character
and a false name. Can you rouse your memory? Can you call to mind the
disguised woman who threatened you in Vauxhall Walk? That woman--as
certainly as I stand here--is now your wife."
He looked at her in breathless silence, his lips falling apart, his
eyes fixed in vacant inquiry. The suddenness of the disclosure had
overreached its own end. It had stupefied him.
"My wife?" he repeated, and burst into an imbecile laugh.
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