Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (2004 page)

Mrs. L.
(
returning to her place
). Five thousand pounds, free of legacy duty, is a fair acknowledgment of my services, sir, on the part of a rich man like you. Set it down there. (
She places the will before
NOEL,
who fills in the blank.
) Thank you, sir. We will now read the rest of your will. (
She reads over
NOEL’S
shoulder.
) “The whole residue of my estate, after payment of my burial expenses and my lawful debts, I give and bequeath to Rear-Admiral Bartram, my executor aforesaid, to be by him applied to such uses as he may think fit.”

Noel.
Is that all?

Mrs. L.
The forms relating to the signatures follow, sir. I will ring for the servants to be witnesses. (
She rings. The female Servant appears.
) Tell James he is wanted, and come back here with him yourself.

Noel.
Why do I leave my money to Admiral Bartram?

Mrs. L.
You have no relations living, Mr. Noel. You leave your money to your oldest and best friend. Sign, and I shall have something more to say to you about this. (
The two servants enter on the right.
MRS. LECOUNT
addresses them.
) You are called in to witness your master’s signature to his will. Sign, Mr. Noel. (NOEL
signs.
MRS. LECOUNT
continues to the servants.
) Sign your names there. (
The servants sign.
) Thank you. That will do. (
The servants go out on the right.
)

Noel
(
faintly
). Is it all over, Lecount? I’m dreadfully shaken; I want to lie down again.

Mrs. L.
There is one thing more to do, sir. When your will is proved, your widow can see it by paying a shilling at the office in London. Do you wish to leave Admiral Bartram exposed to the plots of the vile woman who is now your wife?

Noel
(
reviving for a moment
). No! no ! no!

Mrs. L.
Don’t excite yourself, Mr. Noel. (
She takes a second paper out of her bag.
) Here is the way to be even with her! You have left your property to the admiral in this will, which your widow sees. Take the property away from him again, in this private letter, which remains a dead secret between the admiral and yourself. The thing is quite lawful; and the lawyer’s name for it is — a Secret Trust. (
She hands the letter to
NOEL.)

Noel
(
sinking once more
). My eyes are heavy, Lecount. Read the letter.

Mrs. L.
There is a blank place here also, sir, which must be first filled up. Let us fill it up with the name of your next oldest friend — Mr. George Bartram.

Noel
(
drowsily
). George! Haven’t I quarrelled with George?

Mrs. L.
He quarrelled with
you,
Mr. Noel. But he has atoned for it now. It is through him that I have got here, before your wife had time to take you away. Mr. George hired a special train.

Noel
(
reviving a little
). Does George pay for it?

Mrs. L.
Yes, sir.

Noel
(
sinking back
). Put down his name, Lecount.

Mrs. L.
(
after inserting
GEORGE’S
name
). It is done. Now, Mr. Noel, this is what you say in the letter. You first warn the admiral that Magdalen Vanstone is in no case to have the money. And you then direct him to give his legacy to his nephew on two conditions — conditions which his nephew will certainly fulfil. First, that Mr. George marries. Second, that your widow shall not be his wife.
There
is an obstacle in her way, sir, which she will not get over! — no, not even with Mr. Bygrave to help her! Are you asleep, Mr. Noel?

Noel
(
rousing himself
). Only tired.

(MRS. LECOUNT
puts the letter before him.
)

Mrs. L.
Sign your name once more, sir, and you shall have a nice sleep. (
Giving him the pen.
) There — in that place.

Noel
(
wildly
). Where?

Mrs. L.
(
guiding his hand
). Here, sir. (NOEL
with a last effort, signs.
MRS. LECOUNT
raises him from the chair.
) Now, Mr. Noel, come and rest on the sofa. (
He lies quietly with closed eyes.
MRS. LECOUNT
returns to the writing-table in triumph.
) Done, and well done! I am even with Magdalen Vanstone at last! Let me seal up the will and the Trust. (
She lights a taper; a knock is heard at the door on the right.
MRS. LECOUNT
pauses with the papers in her hand.
) Come in! (CAPTAIN WRAGGE
appears.
MRS. LECOUNT
ironically salutes him.
) Are you back again, Mr. Bygrave?
I
mark the trick this time, sir. Mr. Noel has made his will, and here it is!

(
She holds up the will, then places it on the table by the side of the Trust.
)

Wragge.
The trick is yours, ma’am, but the rubber is not played yet. (
He advances close to
MRS. LECOUNT,
and stands at the opposite side of the writing-table, at which she is sitting.
) The will amply revenges you on Mr. Noel’s widow, I have no doubt. I am here now to assert the interests of Mr. Noel’s wife.

(
He looks down at the documents on the table.
)

Mrs. L.
(
putting her hand over the papers
). Not quite so near, Mr. Bygrave!

Wragge
(
drawing back, and speaking aside
). Not quite quick enough, ma’am! News for Magdalen! There is another paper besides the will. And it’s endorsed: “Secret Trust.”

Mrs. L.
(
enclosing the papers
). Has your niece sent you here to beg for money?

Wragge.
My niece has
not
sent me here. I assert her claims on my own responsibility. (
He turns towards the sofa.
) Mr. Noel appears to he asleep! I am afraid I must wake him.

Mrs. L.
(
sealing the envelope
). He will give you nothing, when you
have
woke him. He will appeal to the law. The law will release him from a woman who has married him by a trick.

Wragge.
The law will hear both sides, Mrs. Lecount. In the mean time, his wife
is
his wife, and I mean to wake him. (
He goes to the sofa, stoops over
NOEL,
and recoils from him with a cry of horror.
MRS. LECOUNT
rises in alarm.
WRAGGE
points to the sofa, and calls to her under his breath.
) Come here!

(MRS. LECOUNT
goes to the unoccupied side of the sofa, lays her hand on
NOEL’S
heart, starts back from the sofa, and looks across it, at the Captain, in silent dismay. The curtain falls.

THE END OF THE THIRD ACT.

ACT IV.

IN THREE SCENES.

(DATE SEPT. 20, 1870.)

FIRST SCENE. —
A sitting-room in a lodging-house in London, poorly furnished. Side entrances on the right and on the left. A cheap American clock upon the mantelpiece. Writing materials on a table. Two months are supposed to elapse between the third act and the fourth.

On the rise of the curtain,
MISS GARTH
is discovered, with her bonnet and shawl on, taking leave of a gentleman, who bows to her, and goes out on the left. At the same moment
MAGDALEN
appears at the door on the right, and approaches
MISS GARTH.

Mag.
Has the new doctor just left you?

Miss G.
Yes.

Mag.
What does he say about Norah?

Miss G.
He agrees with our regular medical man. The disorder from which your sister has so long suffered has reached a crisis. For the first time there is a chance of her being restored to health, provided we can meet the expenses of the treatment.

Mag.
Are the expenses serious?

Miss G.
To us, most serious. Many — I dare not say how many — hundred pounds.

Mag.
(
warmly
). The hundredth part, perhaps, of the inheritance which my father meant to leave to Norah and to me! — the hundredth part of the money which is at this moment in the hands of another person, we don’t even know whom. Oh, if I could solve the mystery of the Secret Trust! — if I could discover the person who has defrauded us this time!

Miss G.
Magdalen! Magdalen! are those old hopeless aspirations not dead in you yet?

Mag.
The sense of wrong, the hatred of injustice, lives in me while I live.

Miss G.
Why dwell on the past? Your life is all before you.

Mag.
(
sadly
). What future have I?

Miss G.
You have but to say the word; and George Bartram offers you a future, as his wife.

Mag.
(
suddenly softening
). After what I have done?

Miss G.
He has forgiven and forgotten what you have done.

Mag.
I
have not forgotten it. Too late! too late! Don’t speak of it again.

Miss G.
I must speak of it again, for Norah’s sake.

Mag.
Anything else, any sacrifice of myself, for Norah, But oh, I can’t sacrifice George, so noble, so generous, so good, to such a woman as I am! The time was — if I had only known it then as I know it now — when I might have been worthy of him. The time has gone by. Oh me! young as I am, too late! too late! (
She rises, and points abruptly to the clock.
) Look at the clock! Your class at the school is waiting for you.

Miss G.
(
rising
). Try to think more justly and more hopefully, Magdalen. Let me find you with a quieter mind when I come back. (
She goes out on the left.
)

Mag.
(
to herself
). With a quieter mind? Ah, Miss Garth, if you only knew how the old sense of that insufferable wrong burns in me still! If you only knew that I am at this moment in secret expectation of a visit from Captain Wragge! Why not? Is there anything degrading, this time, in the object that I am trying to reach? A person unknown is in possession of our birthright. Can any living creature blame me for wanting to find out who that person is? Now, too, when our poverty is an obstacle to Norah’s recovery! Now, when my sister’s life may depend on what my devotion and my intercession can do! (
Looking round impatiently.
) Where is Captain Wragge? I appointed the time when Miss Garth would be at the school. Has he made any mistake?