“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. Noel Vanstone with an enmity and distrust which we are quite ready to believe that lady has done nothing to deserve.  Whatever strange misunderstanding there may have been in your household, is your business (if you choose to keep it to yourself), and not ours.  All we have any right to do is to tell you what the doctor says.  His patient has been delirious; he declines to answer for her life if she goes on as she is going on now; and he thinks—­finding that she is perpetually talking of her master—­that your presence would be useful in quieting her, if you could come here at once, and exert your influence before it is too late.

“What do you say?  Will you emerge from the darkness that surrounds you and come to St. Crux?  If this was the case of an ordinary servant, I could understand your hesitating to leave the delights of your honeymoon for any such object as is here proposed to you.  But, my dear fellow, Mrs. Lecount is not an ordinary servant.  You are under obligations to her fidelity and attachment in your father’s time, as well as in your own; and if you can quiet the anxieties which seem to be driving this unfortunate woman mad, I really think you ought to come here and do so.  Your leaving Mrs. Noel Vanstone is of course out of the question.  There is no necessity for any such hard-hearted proceeding.  The admiral desires me to remind you that he is your oldest friend living, and that his house is at your wife’s disposal, as it has always been at yours.  In this great rambling-place she need dread no near association with the sick-room; and, with all my uncle’s oddities, I am sure she will not think the offer of his friendship an offer to be despised.

“Have I told you already that I went to Aldborough to try and find a clew to your whereabouts?  I can’t be at the trouble of looking back to see; so, if I have told you, I tell you again.  The truth is, I made an acquaintance at Aldborough of whom you know something—­at least by report.

“After applying vainly at Sea View, I went to the hotel to inquire about you.  The landlady could give me no information; but the moment I mentioned your name, she asked if I was related to you; and when I told her I was your cousin, she said there was a young lady then at the hotel whose name was Vanstone also, who was in great distress about a missing relative, and who might prove of some use to me—­or I to her—­if we knew of each other’s errand at Aldborough.  I had not the least idea who she was, but I sent in my card at a venture; and in five minutes afterward I found myself in the presence of one of the most charming women these eyes ever looked on.