_From Miss Garth to Mr. Pendril._
"Portland Place, October 28th.
"MY DEAR SIR--Mrs. Lecount has just left us. If it was not too late to
wish, I should wish, from the bottom of my heart, that Norah had taken
your advice, and had refused to see her.
"I write in such distress of mind that I cannot hope to give you a clear
and complete account of the interview. I can only tell you briefly what
Mrs. Lecount has done, and what our situation now is. The rest must be
left until I am more composed, and until I can speak to you personally.
"You will remember my informing you of the letter which Mrs. Lecount
addressed to Norah from Aldborough, and which I answered for her in her
absence. When Mrs. Lecount made her appearance to-day, her first words
announced to us that she had come to renew the subject. As well as I can
remember it, this is what she said, addressing herself to Norah:
"'I wrote to you on the subject of your sister, Miss Vanstone, some
little time since, and Miss Garth was so good as to answer the letter.
What I feared at that time has come true. Your sister has defied all my
efforts to check her; she has disappeared in company with my master, Mr.
Noel Vanstone; and she is now in a position of danger which may lead to
her disgrace and ruin at a moment's notice. It is my interest to recover
my master, it is your interest to save your sister. Tell me--for time is
precious--have you any news of her?'
"Norah answered, as well as her terror and distress would allow her, 'I
have had a letter, but there was no address on it.'
"Mrs. Lecount asked, 'Was there no postmark on the envelope?'
"Norah said, 'Yes; Allonby.'
"'Allonby is better than nothing,' said Mrs. Lecount. 'Allonby may help
you to trace her. Where is Allonby?'
"Norah told her. It all passed in a minute. I had been too much confused
and startled to interfere before, but I composed myself sufficiently to
interfere now.
"'You have entered into no particulars,' I said. 'You have only
frightened us--you have told us nothing.'
"'You shall hear the particulars, ma'am,' said Mrs. Lecount; 'and you
and Miss Vanstone shall judge for yourselves if I have frightened you
without a cause.'
"Upon this, she entered at once upon a long narrative, which I cannot--I
might almost say, which I dare not--repeat. You will understand the
horror we both felt when I tell you the end. If Mrs. Lecount's
statement is to be relied on, Magdalen has carried her mad resolution
of recovering her father's fortune to the last and most desperate
extremity--she has married Michael Vanstone's son under a false name.
Her husband is at this moment still persuaded that her maiden name was
Bygrave, and that she is really the niece of a scoundrel who assisted
her imposture, and whom I recognize, by the description of him, to have
been Captain Wragge.
"I spare you Mrs. Lecount's cool avowal, when she rose to leave us,
of her own mercenary motives in wishing to discover her master and to
enlighten him. I spare you the hints she dropped of Magdalen's purpose
in contracting this infamous marriage. The one aim and object of my
letter is to implore you to assist me in quieting Norah's anguish of
mind. The shock she has received at hearing this news of her sister is
not the worst result of what has happened. She has persuaded herself
that the answers she innocently gave, in her distress, to Mrs. Lecount's
questions on the subject of her letter--the answers wrung from her under
the sudden pressure of confusion and alarm--may be used to Magdalen's
prejudice by the woman who purposely startled her into giving the
information. I can only prevent her from taking some desperate step
on her side--some step by which she may forfeit the friendship and
protection of the excellent people with whom she is now living--by
reminding her that if Mrs. Lecount traces her master by means of the
postmark on the letter, we may trace Magdalen at the same time, and by
the same means. Whatever objection you may personally feel to renewing
the efforts for the rescue of this miserable girl which failed so
lamentably at York, I entreat you, for Norah's sake, to take the same
steps now which we took then. Send me the only assurance which will
quiet her--the assurance, under your own hand, that the search on our
side has begun. If you will do this, you may trust me, when the time
comes, to stand between these two sisters, and to defend Norah's peace,
character, and future prosperity at any price.
"Most sincerely yours,
"HARRIET GARTH."