ing of his
father's death and of my succession to the estates--with the settled
purpose of plundering and injuring me. My rash confidence put such an
opportunity into his hands as he could never have hoped for. He had
waited to possess himself of the letter which my mother wrote to Mr.
Blanchard at the outset of my illness--had then caused his own dismissal
from his situation--and had sailed for Madeira in the very ship that was
to have sailed with me. Arrived at the island, he had waited again till
the vessel was away once more on her voyage, and had then presented
himself at Mr. Blanchard's--not in the assumed name by which I shall
continue to speak of him here, but in the name which was as certainly
his as mine, 'Allan Armadale.' The fraud at the outset presented few
difficulties. He had only an ailing old man (who had not seen my mother
for half a lifetime) and an innocent, unsuspicious girl (who had never
seen her at all) to deal with; and he had learned enough in my service
to answer the few questions that were put to him as readily as I might
have answered them myself. His looks and manners, his winning ways with
women, his quickness and cunning, did the rest. While I was still on my
sickbed, he had won Miss Blanchard's affections. While I was dreaming
over the likeness in the first days of my convalescence, he had secured
Mr. Blanchard's consent to the celebration of the marriage before he and
his daughter left the island.

"Thus far Mr. Blanchard's infirmity of sight had helped the deception.
He had been content to send messages to my mother, and to receive the
messages which were duly invented in return. But when the suitor was
accepted, and the wedding-day was appointed, he felt it due to his old
friend to write to her, asking her formal consent and inviting her to
the marriage. He could only complete part of the letter himself; the
rest was finished, under his dictation, by Miss Blanchard. There was no
chance of being beforehand with the post-office this time; and Ingleby,
sure of his place in the heart of his victim, waylaid her as she came
out of her father's room with the letter, and privately told her the
truth. She was still under age, and the position was a serious one.
If the letter was posted, no resource would be left but to wait and be
parted forever, or to elope under circumstances which made detection
almost a certainty. The destination of any ship which took them away
would be known beforehand;