e jealousy of
a Wife. Make it a condition, in your letter to the admiral, that if Mr.
George is a bachelor at the time of your death, he shall marry within
a certain time afterward, or he shall not have the legacy. Suppose he
remains single in spite of your condition, who is to have the money
then? Put a woman in your wife's way, sir, once more--and leave the
fortune, in that case, to the married sister of your cousin George."

She paused. Noel Vanstone again attempted to express his opinion, and
again Mrs. Lecount's hand extinguished him in silence.

"If you approve, Mr. Noel," she said, "I will take your approval for
granted. If you object, I will meet your objection before it is out of
your mouth. You may say: Suppose this condition is sufficient to answer
the purpose, why hide it in a private letter to the admiral? Why not
openly write it down, with my cousin's name, in the will? Only for one
reason, sir. Only because the secret way is the sure way, with such a
woman as your wife. The more secret you can keep your intentions, the
more time you force her to waste in finding them out for herself.
That time which she loses is time gained from her treachery by the
admiral--time gained by Mr. George (if he is still a bachelor) for his
undisturbed choice of a lady--time gained, for her own security, by the
object of his choice, who might otherwise be the first object of your
wife's suspicion and your wife's hostility. Remember the bottle we
have discovered upstairs; and keep this desperate woman ignorant, and
therefore harmless, as long as you can. There is my advice, Mr. Noel,
in the fewest and plainest words. What do you say, sir? Am I almost
as clever in my way as your friend Mr. Bygrave? Can I, too, conspire a
little, when the object of my conspiracy is to assist your wishes and to
protect your friends?"

Permitted the use of his tongue at last, Noel Vanstone's admiration of
Mrs. Lecount expressed itself in terms precisely similar to those which
he had used on a former occasion, in paying his compliments to Captain
Wragge. "What a head you have got!" were the grateful words which he
had once spoken to Mrs. Lecount's bitterest enemy. "What a head you have
got!" were the grateful words which he now spoke again to Mrs. Lecount
herself. So do extremes meet; and such is sometimes the all-embracing
capacity of the approval of a fool!

"Allow my head, sir, to deserve the compliment which you have paid to
it," said Mrs. L