.

He arranged that Noel should visit Admiral Bartram, leaving Mrs. Lecount
behind to pack up. From Admiral Bartram's he was to proceed to London,
where he would be duly united to Magdalen. In order to secure the
non-interference of Mrs. Lecount, the captain sent her a forged letter,
summoning her at once to the death-bed of her brother at Zurich. But
Mrs. Lecount was not so easily disposed of as Captain Wragge had
imagined.

As soon as her master departed for Admiral Bartram's she took the
opportunity, when both Magdalen and the captain were out, to visit their
house. Readily persuading the simple-minded Mrs. Wragge, who had a
passion for clothes, to show her Magdalen's wardrobe, she discovered
there the skirt from which she had cut a piece on the occasion of the
girl's visit in the character of Miss Garth.

She was detected by Captain Wragge leaving the house, but, careless of
what the latter might think, she returned home in triumph. There she
found the letter summoning her to Zurich. There was no time to be lost;
she had to go. But before she set out she wrote a letter to Noel
Vanstone, disclosing the whole facts of the conspiracy.

Captain Wragge, positive in his own mind that Mrs. Lecount had
discovered everything, would have consulted Magdalen, but the girl was
in a condition which prevented her from taking any active part in the
affair. She wandered about Aldborough with a settled despair written
clearly on the beautiful features of her face. Her woe-begone appearance
attracted the attention of a certain Captain Kirke, and he carried away
with him on his ship the indelible memory of her beauty.

Captain Wragge had to depend solely on his own exertions. Waiting till
the housekeeper had left Aldborough, he discovered, by inquiries at the
post-office, that Mrs. Lecount had written to Noel Vanstone. That letter
must be stopped at all costs, and the captain acted boldly. The day was
Saturday. Obtaining a special licence, he hurried off to Admiral
Bartram's, before Mrs. Lecount's letter was delivered, and induced Noel
Vanstone to accompany him to London. At the same time he left behind him
several envelopes, addressed to "Captain Wragge," under cover of which
Admiral Bartram was to forward all correspondence which might arrive
after his departure. By this means, Mrs. Lecount's letter was prevented
from coming into the hands of her master, and two days later Magdalen
duly became the wife of Noel Vanstone.

Twelv