his nephew George. Tell him that your trust in this matter rests
solely on your confidence in his honor, and on your belief in his
affectionate remembrance of your father and yourself. You have known the
admiral since you were a boy. He has his little whims and oddities; but
he is a gentleman from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot;
and he is utterly incapable of proving false to a trust in his honor,
reposed by his dead friend. Meet the difficulty boldly, by such a
stratagem as this; and you save these two helpless men from your wife's
snare, one by means of the other. Here, on one side, is your will, which
gives the fortune to the admiral, and sets her plotting accordingly. And
there, on the other side, is your letter, which privately puts the money
into the nephew's hands!"

The malicious dexterity of this combination was exactly the dexterity
which Noel Vanstone was most fit to appreciate. He tried to express
his approval and admiration in words. Mrs. Lecount held up her hand
warningly and closed his lips.

"Wait, sir, before you express your opinion," she went on. "Half the
difficulty is all that we have conquered yet. Let us say, the admiral
has made the use of your legacy which you have privately requested him
to make of it. Sooner or later, however well the secret may be kept,
your wife will discover the truth. What follows that discovery! She lays
siege to Mr. George. All you have done is to leave him the money by a
roundabout way. There he is, after an interval of time, as much at
her mercy as if you had openly mentioned him in your will. What is the
remedy for this? The remedy is to mislead her, if we can, for the
second time--to set up an obstacle between her and the money, for the
protection of your cousin George. Can you guess for yourself, Mr. Noel,
what is the most promising obstacle we can put in her way?"

He shook his head. Mrs. Lecount smiled, and startled him into close
attention by laying her hand on his arm.

"Put a Woman in her way, sir!" she whispered in her wiliest tones. "_We_
don't believe in that fascinating beauty of hers--whatever _you_ may do.
_Our_ lips don't burn to kiss those smooth cheeks. _Our_ arms don't
long to be round that supple waist. _We_ see through her smiles and her
graces, and her stays and her padding--she can't fascinate _us!_ Put a
woman in her way, Mr. Noel! Not a woman in my helpless situation, who
is only a servant, but a woman with the authority and th