es leave the house. The servant was no doubt at her work in the
kitchen; Mrs. Bygrave was probably still in her bed; and Miss Bygrave
(if she was up at that early hour) had perhaps received directions not
to venture out in her uncle's absence. The difficulty of meeting the
obstacle of Magdalen's presence in the house had been, for some days
past, the one difficulty which all Mrs. Lecount's ingenuity had thus far
proved unable to overcome.

She sat at the window for a quarter of an hour after the captain's
boat had left the beach with her mind hard at work, and her eyes fixed
mechanically on North Shingles--she sat considering what written excuse
she could send to her master for delaying her departure from Aldborough
for some days to come--when the door of the house she was watching
suddenly opened, and Magdalen herself appeared in the garden. There
was no mistaking her figure and her dress. She took a few steps hastily
toward the gate, stopped and pulled down the veil of her garden hat as
if she felt the clear morning light too much for her, then hurried
out on the Parade and walked away northward, in such haste, or in such
pre-occupation of mind, that she went through the garden gate without
closing it after her.

Mrs. Lecount started up from her chair with a moment's doubt of the
evidence of her own eyes. Had the opportunity which she had been vainly
plotting to produce actually offered itself to her of its own accord?
Had the chances declared themselves at last in her favor, after steadily
acting against her for so long? There was no doubt of it: in the popular
phrase, "her luck had turned." She snatched up her bonnet and mantilla,
and made for North Shingles without an instant's hesitation. Mr. Bygrave
out at sea; Miss Bygrave away for a walk; Mrs. Bygrave and the servant
both at home, and both easily dealt with--the opportunity was not to be
lost; the risk was well worth running!

This time the house door was easily opened: no one had bolted it
again after Magdalen's departure. Mrs. Lecount closed the door softly,
listened for a moment in the passage, and heard the servant noisily
occupied in the kitchen with her pots and pans. "If my lucky star leads
me straight into Miss Bygrave's room," thought the housekeeper, stealing
noiselessly up the stairs, "I may find my way to her wardrobe without
disturbing anybody."

She tried the door nearest to the front of the house on the right-hand
side of the landing. Caprici