"I told you, sir," said Mrs. Lecount, "that the woman was, in my
opinion, Miss Vanstone herself. Don't start, Mr. Noel! Your wife is
away, and I am here to take care of you. Say to yourself, if you feel
frightened, 'Lecount is here; Lecount will take care of me.' The truth
must be told, sir, however hard to bear the truth may be. Miss Magdalen
Vanstone was the woman who came to you in disguise; and the woman who
came to you in disguise is the woman you have married. The conspiracy
which she threatened you with in London is the conspiracy which has
made her your wife. That is the plain truth. You have seen the dress
upstairs. If that dress had been no longer in existence, I should still
have had my proofs to convince you. Thanks to my interview with Mrs.
Bygrave I have discovered the house your wife lodged at in London; it
was opposite our house in Vauxhall Walk. I have laid my hand on one of
the landlady's daughters, who watched your wife from an inner room, and
saw her put on the disguise; who can speak to her identity, and to the
identity of her companion, Mrs. Bygrave; and who has furnished me, at
my own request, with a written statement of facts, which she is ready to
affirm on oath if any person ventures to contradict her.
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