Mrs. Lecount repeated it in a less direct form.
"How much have you left your widow, Mr. Noel, in the event of your
death?"
"Eighty thousand pounds."
That reply answered the question. Eighty thousand pounds was exactly
the fortune which Michael Vanstone had taken from his brother's orphan
children at his brother's death--exactly the fortune of which Michael
Vanstone's son had kept possession, in his turn, as pitilessly as
his father before him. Noel Vanstone's silence was eloquent of the
confession which he was ashamed to make. His doting weakness had, beyond
all doubt, placed his whole property at the feet of his wife. And thi s
girl, whose vindictive daring had defied all restraints--this girl,
who had not shrunk from her desperate determination even at the church
door--had, in the very hour of her triumph, taken part only from the man
who would willingly have given all!--had rigorously exacted her father's
fortune from him to the last farthing; and had then turned her back
on the hand that was tempting her with tens of thousands more! For the
moment, Mrs. Lecount was fairly silenced by her own surprise; Magdalen
had forced the astonishment from her which is akin to admiration,
the astonishment which her enmity would fain have refused.
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