“And leave me here?  Leave me alone in this house after what has happened?  How do I know my wife may not come back to-night?  How do I know her journey is not a blind to mislead me?  Have you no feeling, Lecount?  Can you leave me in my miserable situation—?” He sank into a chair and burst out crying over his own idea, before he had completed the expression of it in words.  “Too bad!” he said, with his handkerchief over his face—­“too bad!”

It was impossible not to pity him.  If ever mortal was pitiable, he was the man.  He had broken down at last, under the conflict of violent emotions which had been roused in him since the morning.  The effort to follow Mrs. Lecount along the mazes of intricate combination through which she had steadily led the way, had upheld him while that effort lasted:  the moment it was at an end, he dropped.  The coachman had hastened a result—­of which the coachman was far from being the cause.

“You surprise me—­you distress me, sir,” said Mrs. Lecount.  “I entreat you to compose yourself.  I will stay here, if you wish it, with pleasure—­I will stay here to-night, for your sake.  You want rest and quiet after this dreadful day.  The coachman shall be instantly sent away, Mr. Noel.  I will give him a note to the landlord of the hotel, and the carriage shall come back for us to-morrow morning, with another man to drive it.”

The prospect which those words presented cheered him.  He wiped his eyes, and kissed Mrs. Lecount’s hand.  “Yes!” he said, faintly; “send the coachman away—­and you stop here.  You good creature!  You excellent Lecount!  Send the drunken brute away, and come back directly.  We will be comfortable by the fire, Lecount—­and have a nice little dinner—­and try to make it like old times.”  His weak voice faltered; he returned to the fire side, and melted into tears again under the pathetic influence of his own idea.

Mrs. Lecount left him for a minute to dismiss the coachman.  When she returned to the parlor she found him with his hand on the bell.

“What do you want, sir?” she asked.

“I want to tell the servants to get your room ready,” he answered.  “I wish to show you every attention, Lecount.”

“You are all kindness, Mr. Noel; but wait one moment.  It may be well to have these papers put out of the way before the servant comes in again.  If you will place the Will and the Sealed Letter together in one envelope—­and if you will direct it to the admiral—­I will take care that the inclosure so addressed is safely placed in his own hands.  Will you come to the table, Mr. Noel, only for one minute more?”