o say so--I
wrote to tell you that I would forfeit my place in your service, and my
expectations from your generosity, if I did not prove to you when I came
back from Switzerland that my own private suspicion of Miss Bygrave was
the truth. I directed that letter to you at St. Crux, and I posted
it myself. Now, Mr. Noel, read the paper which I have forced into your
hand. It is Admiral Bartram's written affirmation that my letter came to
St. Crux, and that he inclosed it to you, under cover to Mr. Bygrave,
at your own request. Did Mr. Bygrave ever give you that letter? Don't
agitate yourself, sir! One word of reply will do--Yes or No."

He read the paper, and looked up at her with growing bewilderment and
fear. She obstinately waited until he spoke. "No," he said, faintly; "I
never got the letter."

"First proof!" said Mrs. Lecount, taking the paper from him, and putting
it back in the bag. "One more, with your kind permission, before we come
to things more serious still. I gave you a written description, sir, at
Aldborough, of a person not named, and I asked you to compare it with
Miss Bygrave the next time you were in her company. After having first
shown the description to Mr. Bygrave--it is useless to deny it now,
Mr. Noel; your friend at North Shingles is not here to help you!--after
having first shown my note to Mr. Bygrave, you made the comparison,
and you found it fail in the most important particular. There were two
little moles placed close together on the left side of the neck, in my
description of the unknown lady, and there were no little moles at
all when you looked at Miss Bygrave's neck. I am old enough to be your
mother, Mr. Noel. If the question is not indelicate, may I ask what the
present state of your knowledge is on the subject of your wife's neck?"

She looked at him with a merciless steadiness. He drew back a few steps,
cowering under her eye. "I can't say," he stammered. "I don't know.
What do you mean by these questions? I never thought about the moles
afterward; I never looked. She wears her hair low--"

"She has excellent reasons to wear it low, sir," remarked Mrs. Lecount.
"We will try and lift that hair before we have done with the subject.
When I came out here to find you in the garden, I saw a neat young
person through the kitchen window, with her work in her hand, who looked
to my eyes like a lady's maid. Is this young person your wife's maid? I
beg your pardon, sir, did you say yes? In