The Woman in White: Hartright 1-2

Summary

Storytime for Grownups: Episode Summary

Title: The Woman in White: Hartright 1-2
Host: Faith Moore
Release Date: April 7, 2025

---

Introduction and Welcome

In this engaging episode of Storytime for Grownups, host Faith Moore delves deeper into Wilkie Collins' classic novel, The Woman in White. Faith, accompanied by her co-host, guides listeners through the intricate narratives of the story, enhancing the experience with insightful comments and analyses. As always, the podcast aims to make classic literature accessible and enjoyable for grown-up audiences, akin to an audiobook with built-in notes.

---

Recap of Previous Episode

Faith begins by recapping the suspenseful developments from the last episode, particularly focusing on a major revelation: Laura Fairlie is not dead. This twist has left listeners eagerly anticipating the unfolding mystery.

Co-host:
"She's not actually dead. Laura's alive."
[00:43]

This dramatic confirmation that Laura is alive transforms the narrative, introducing new questions about her survival and the circumstances surrounding her supposed death. Faith expresses her delight at this plot twist, sharing the excitement with listeners.

Faith Moore:
"Hooray."
[00:47]

---

Fan Engagement and Reactions

The hosts engage with fan feedback, highlighting two insightful comments that reflect the audience's curiosity and theories about the story's direction.

1. David Axley's Comment:
   "While this narrative supplies hope, it doesn't explain details. I understand Laura escaped Fosco in London. Why was Laura present at her own gravesite? By what manner did she come to Cumberland?"
   [07:35]

2. Megan Blake's Insight:
   "Oh, thank goodness. I was so glad to hear from Walter, alive and physically well. The moment he said the woman cried out upon seeing him and the other woman was Marian, my hope was kindled anew."
   [07:35]

Faith and the co-host acknowledge these comments, appreciating the listeners' engagement and eagerness to unravel the novel's mysteries. They emphasize the complexity of Laura's survival and the challenges it poses to the characters involved.

Co-host:
"There is one theory that is sort of the prevailing theory in Storytime for Grown Ups land right now. But I won't share that because I don't want to put ideas into people's heads."
[08:24]

---

Plot Developments and Analysis

The episode transitions into a detailed discussion of the novel's progression, particularly focusing on Walter Hartright's return and his mission to uncover the truth about Laura's survival.

Walter Hartright's Transformation: Walter returns from a perilous journey in Central America, having matured significantly. His love for Laura remains unwavering, even though she is now married to another man, Sir Percival Glyde.

Co-host:
"What he tells us about his time away. He says, 'In the stern school of extremity and danger. Danger.'"
[10:50]

Supernatural Elements: The reunion between Walter and Laura introduces a supernatural undertone, especially with Marian Halcombe's prophetic dream about Walter surviving multiple disasters to return to Laura.

Co-host:
"In that dream, Walter told Marian that he was going to live."
[13:10]

This element adds depth to the narrative, aligning with gothic novel traditions where supernatural occurrences often influence the story's trajectory.

Tension and Mystery: The hosts discuss the tension surrounding Laura's presence at her own gravesite despite multiple witnesses affirming her death. This paradox raises numerous questions about the veracity of the events and the possible deceit involved.

Co-host:
"How can this be? And of course, after we figure that out, there's also the question of Sir Percival and the Count."
[08:49]

---

Reading from Hartright's Narrative (Chapters 1-2)

Faith and her co-host transition to reading chapters one and two of Hartright's narrative, providing listeners with an in-depth understanding of the protagonist's perspective.

Summary of Chapters 1-2:

• Walter’s New Identity: Walter adopts an assumed name, living with Marian Halcombe and a woman believed to be Anne Catherick, who everyone thinks is Laura Fairlie. They operate under this façade to hide from society and potential threats.

• Laura’s Survival: Contrary to public belief, Laura is alive. Her return is shrouded in mystery, especially given the accounts that confirmed her death. Marian believes Laura's identity despite societal perceptions.

• Escape Plan: Miss Halcombe orchestrates a plan to rescue Laura from an asylum where she is held under the guise of Anne Catherick. This involves bribing a nurse to facilitate Laura's escape, highlighting the lengths to which the characters go to protect Laura.

• Confrontation and Rejection: Upon returning to Limmeridge House, Miss Halcombe faces resistance from Mr. Fairlie, Laura’s uncle, who refuses to acknowledge Laura's survival, believing her to be Anne Catherick. This rejection underscores the societal challenges Laura faces in reclaiming her identity.

• Laura and Miss Halcombe's Departure: Determined to safeguard Laura, Miss Halcombe leads her sister away from Limmeridge House to London, where they plan to disappear and evade those pursuing Laura under the false identity of Anne.

Key Excerpts with Quotes:

Hartright's Narrative, Chapter 1:
"A life suddenly changed, its whole purpose created afresh... opens before me like the burst of view from a mountain's top."
[16:43]

Hartright's Narrative, Chapter 2:
"Miss Halcombe wisely resolved not to attempt the assertion of Lady Glyde's identity until the next day."
[51:49]

These sections illustrate Walter's dedication to Laura and the strategic maneuvers Miss Halcombe employs to ensure her sister's safety.

---

Character Insights and Themes

The episode delves into the complexities of the main characters and the overarching themes of identity, deception, and resilience.

• Walter Hartright: Portrayed as the quintessential hero, Walter's unwavering love for Laura drives him to rectify the injustice of her presumed death. His maturation and resilience are central to the narrative, positioning him as a beacon of hope amidst chaos.

Co-host:
"He's our hero, but now he's a hero. He's the hero."
[11:38]

• Marian Halcombe: As Laura's sister, Marian exhibits strength and determination. Her proactive role in uncovering the truth and orchestrating Laura's rescue underscores themes of loyalty and familial bonds.

• Laura Fairlie: Laura's survival raises questions about identity and societal perceptions. Her struggle to reclaim her identity amidst deceit highlights the vulnerability and resilience of her character.

• Sir Percival Glyde and Count Fosco: These antagonists embody deception and control, orchestrating the false narrative of Laura's death to serve their own interests.

Themes Explored:

1. Identity and Deception: The false identity imposed on Laura as Anne Catherick explores the fragility of identity and the ease with which it can be manipulated.

2. Resilience and Justice: Walter and Marian's relentless pursuit of the truth emphasizes the themes of resilience and the quest for justice against societal and personal adversities.

3. Supernatural Influence: The prophetic dream introduces an element of fate and destiny, influencing the characters' actions and the story's progression.

---

Conclusion and Call to Action

As the episode concludes, Faith encourages listeners to engage further by sharing their thoughts and questions through her website. She also promotes the show's merchandise and invites listeners to support the podcast financially to enhance future episodes.

Faith Moore:
"Before I go, I'd like to ask a quick favor... Subscribe, tap those five stars and leave a positive review wherever you're listening."
[59:48]

However, per the summarization guidelines, these sections are briefly acknowledged but not detailed extensively.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Co-host:
  "She's not actually dead. Laura's alive."
  [00:43]

• Faith Moore:
  "Hooray."
  [00:47]

• Co-host:
  "How can this be? And of course, after we figure that out, there's also the question of Sir Percival and the Count."
  [08:49]

• Co-host:
  "What he tells us about his time away. He says, 'In the stern school of extremity and danger. Danger.'"
  [10:50]

• Co-host:
  "He's our hero, but now he's a hero. He's the hero."
  [11:38]

• Faith Moore:
  "Thank you so much for listening. I'd love to know what you thought of the chapters."
  [59:47]

---

Final Thoughts

This episode of Storytime for Grownups intricately weaves plot summaries, character analyses, and thematic explorations, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of the unfolding drama in The Woman in White. Faith Moore's engaging narration, combined with her co-host's insightful commentary, creates a rich and immersive experience that deepens the appreciation of Wilkie Collins' masterful storytelling.

Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the novel, this summary serves as a valuable guide to navigating the complexities and suspense that characterize this literary classic.

Transcript

[Faith Moore]

Hello, and welcome to Storytime for Grown Ups. I'm Faith Moore, and this season we're reading the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Each episode I'll read a few chapters from the book, pausing from time to time to give brief explanations so it's easier to follow along. It's like an audiobook with built in notes. So brew a pot of tea, find a cozy chair and settle in. It's story time.

[Co-host]

Oh, my goodness.

[Faith Moore]

What?

[Co-host]

She's not actually dead. Laura's alive.

[Faith Moore]

Hooray.

[Co-host]

Oh, my gosh. We have so much to talk about. Okay, welcome. Welcome back to Storytime for Grown Ups. I'm so glad to be here with you. Thank you for indulging in my insane desire to want to make this book even more suspenseful than it already is by leaving you with cliffhangers that Wilkie Collins didn't even put in there. So I appreciate your willingness to come along with me on this truly wild ride. You know, it was so hard for me not to give away that Laura wasn't really dead. Some of you guessed it and some of you didn't, and some of you hoped it was true, but you weren't sure. And you know one of my favorite favorite things about doing this podcast? I have lots of favorite things, but one of them is talking about the book with you, as if I also haven't read any further than we have read together, but then using the fact that I actually have read further to sort of point out interesting or important things. But this one was hard to keep to myself as all of these emails were coming in saying, no, I can't believe she's dead. I'm so sad. And I had to keep it to myself, but that is the price that I must pay for torturing you in this way. So now we know that she's alive, but of course, we still don't know how she can possibly be alive when so many people testified that she was dead and buried. So we have a lot to find out, we have a lot to discuss. I also was having such a good time imagining you all tuning into the episode from last time and having it say the narrative of Walter Hartright.

[Faith Moore]

Did you cheer?

[Co-host]

Were you, like, standing up? I hope you were. I hope you were, like, standing up and cheering for the return of Walter Hartright. I love that it wasn't like a chapter called the Narrative of Walter Hartright so that you knew when you opened up your podcast player that it was going to be him. I just. I don't know. I was imagining you all kind of jumping for joy when it said that right in the chapter section. So I hope that you did. I know some of you did. Some of you wrote it to say that you did. I hope you all did in some way. And even if jumping for joy is not your thing, I hope you were at least glad to welcome back our friend Walter. And we're going to talk much more about that in just a minute. But before I go any further, I just want to say thank you to those of you who have been writing emails just basically saying lovely things about me and about the podcast and how much it means to you. Just recently those letters have been kind of pouring in and I'm replying to them, but I just wanted to say here publicly how grateful I am and how touched I am that you're writing those things to me. You know, I don't read those letters on the show. That would be weird. They're letters to me saying positive things about me. I'm not going to sort of toot my own horn on here like that, but I. I just wanted to say, you know, it goes both ways. I think you guys are fantastic. I'm so happy to share this podcast with you.

[Faith Moore]

It means a lot to me.

[Co-host]

This show is really close to my heart and you guys are the ones.

[Faith Moore]

That make it possible and that make it what it is. Your letters and your engagement and the.

[Co-host]

Way that you guys interacting with this book and falling in love with these characters and all the books that we've read, that is what makes this show what it is. So thank you for your emails. You're saying such kind things about the.

[Faith Moore]

Way that I read the stories and.

[Co-host]

The voices that I do and what this show means to you, and thank you for that. But thank you for just being here and for listening and for wanting to show up every Monday and Thursday to listen to this show. This show is really important to me. I love it so, so much and it brings me such joy to create it. And so it's just really, really touching and moving to get those emails. So I just wanted to acknowledge that and say thank you. So thank you and thank you for being here. I really appreciate it, as always. Don't forget to subscribe. Tap those five stars if you're enjoying the show. Leave a positive review if you have a couple of extra seconds.

[Faith Moore]

And if you're able to support the.

[Co-host]

Show financially, I really appreciate that. It means that I can spend more time on the show, creating the show than on other. And so there's a link in the show notes to the Buy me a coffee page. Of course you would be buying me a tea and all kinds of other things to make this show what it is. So you can find that there. And if you'd like to keep talking with me and with other storytime for Grown Ups listeners out there in the world, we do have the drawing room, the withdrawing room, where we withdraw after the show. It's an online community and you can be a part of it by becoming a member. There's a link in the show notes to that as well.

[Faith Moore]

You can also find our merch store there.

[Co-host]

We've got all kinds of cool items that have lots of interesting and great designs related to the books that we're reading and the show itself. So check out all those links. I really encourage you to do that. And of course, write in. Write to me faithk moore.com click on contact or find that link in the show notes as well. And tell a friend. Tell a friend about the show. Okay, so let's get back into it. So this is a bit of a longer episode. You probably noticed we're making up for the fact that last time was so short, so this one's a bit long. Last time, of course, we read the end of the several narratives section, which ended with Walter Hartright coming back into the picture. That ended the second epoch of the story. So we're going into the third epoch.

[Faith Moore]

And we're staying with Walter.

[Co-host]

Hooray. So today we're reading Heart Wright's narrative chapters one and two, because now we're starting again with the numbering because we're in the third epoch. But first, let's remind ourselves if we need any reminders about what happened last time, here's the recap. So where we left off in my quest to make you fall in love with the cliffhanger, right? The final narrative of the Several Narratives section was Walter. He tells us he's been away on.

[Faith Moore]

This dangerous journey in Central America, and he returned, still in love with Laura.

[Co-host]

But ready to get on with his life.

[Faith Moore]

But then he goes home to his.

[Co-host]

Mother and sister and his mother tells him that Laura is dead. He's devastated and he decides to go to Cumberland to see her grave and to say his goodbyes. While he's there, two veiled women approach him.

[Faith Moore]

One lifts her veil and reveals herself to be Marian Halcombe. Marian seems very changed to Walter. She's clearly been through something awful.

[Co-host]

She's shocked to see Walter, and she seems to feel that her dream about him came true.

[Faith Moore]

And she tells Walter not to look.

[Co-host]

At the other woman because he'll be too shocked to see her.

[Faith Moore]

He won't be able to bear it. But he does look book. And the woman lifts her veil and it's Laura.

[Co-host]

All right, so I'm going to read two comments today. The first one comes from David Axley. David writes, while this narrative supplies hope, it doesn't explain details. I understand Laura escaped Fosco in London. Why was Laura present at her own gravesite?

[Faith Moore]

By what manner did she come to Cumberland?

[Co-host]

Though this is a shorter narrative, it is by far the most intriguing. And the second one comes from Megan Blake. Megan writes, oh, thank goodness. I was so glad to hear from Walter, alive and physically well. The moment he said the woman cried out upon seeing him and the other woman was Marian, my hope was kindled anew. Okay, so, yes, Laura is alive, which is a relief.

[Faith Moore]

And I know that many of you.

[Co-host]

Were thinking that she might be. That was one of the things that I couldn't share before that a lot of people had written into say that they thought that maybe Laura was actually still alive somehow. I mentioned that before, right? So those of you who thought that were right and few, thank goodness. But now, of course, the question becomes.

[Faith Moore]

How is this possible, right?

[Co-host]

As David is saying in his letter, and lots of you have theories about that as well. There is one theory that is sort of the prevailing theory in Storytime for Grown Ups land right now. But I won't share that because I don't want to put ideas into people's heads. But it's certainly the question, right? Laura died at Count Fosco's house in London. The body was attended by witnesses all.

[Faith Moore]

The way until burial.

[Co-host]

We have witnesses saying they saw her body in the coffin, they saw the coffin lid nailed down, and yet here she is in Cumberland with Marian.

[Faith Moore]

How can this be?

[Co-host]

And of course, after we figure that.

[Faith Moore]

Out, if we can, there's also the.

[Co-host]

Question of Sir Percival and the Count. Where are they? What are they doing? Is Laura in danger from them? What is the current state of things in that whole area of the story, right? So last time when I was still pretending that I thought Laura was really dead, I said that the first part of the story had basically ended, right? The part about Laura's marriage to Sir Percival. And I said that a new part of the story was beginning, a part about what happened to Laura and will justice be done. So, of course, the new part of the story is not about how Laura died, but it is going to be about what on earth actually went down.

[Faith Moore]

Right? And Was there foul play?

[Co-host]

And if so, will there be justice? And Wilkie Collins is just so brilliant. I love him for this.

[Faith Moore]

So now, just at the moment when.

[Co-host]

We'Re like, oh, help, Laura has died. We're so sad.

[Faith Moore]

Sad.

[Co-host]

We don't know what's going on, who should show up but Walter Hartright. You know, I said a while ago that I always think of Count Fosco with the kind of melodramatic, like, dun, dun dun music playing.

[Faith Moore]

But here comes Walter.

[Co-host]

Like, dun, dun dun. It's Walter, and he's like, riding in on his white horse just at the right moment to save the day. And like I was saying, I love that Walter's narrative was just one of the several narratives, because I was just imagining you guys tuning in last time, ready to hear from, like, the cleaning lady or whatever random other person was going to come next. And instead it was Walter, our dear friend Walter. And doesn't it feel so comforting? Like, don't you want to just give.

[Faith Moore]

Him a big hug?

[Co-host]

Like, oh, thank goodness, finally Walter is here. I don't know. That's how I feel about this anyway. And of course, Walter's not just back. He's back and better than ever.

[Faith Moore]

He's grown up, essentially.

[Co-host]

This is Walter 2.0. Okay, here's what he tells us about his time away. He says, in the stern school of extremity and danger. Danger.

[Faith Moore]

My will had learnt to be strong.

[Co-host]

My heart to be resolute, my mind to rely on itself. I had gone out to fly from my own future. I came back to face it as a man should. Okay, so he's become a man. He's not the young drawing master trembling over his love for his beautiful pupil.

[Faith Moore]

He's been through dangers.

[Co-host]

He's seen things, you guys.

[Faith Moore]

He's had to survive in the wilderness. And even though he still loves Laura, and he always will, he's come to.

[Co-host]

Terms with the fact that she's married to another man and he's to get on with his life as best he can. So he's always been our hero, essentially. He's the one putting together these narratives.

[Faith Moore]

He's the one trying to right whatever.

[Co-host]

Wrong has been committed. So he's our hero, but now he's a hero. He's the hero. And as any good hero should, he's constant and true. Right? His love for Laura hasn't waned even little in all this time that he's been away, even though he knows that he can never be with her.

[Faith Moore]

Here's what he says.

[Co-host]

He says Laura Fairley was in all.

[Faith Moore]

My thoughts when the ship bore me.

[Co-host]

Away and I looked my last at England Laura Fairlie was in all my thoughts when the ship brought me back and the morning light showed the friendly shore in view so he is our white knight, essentially. And not a moment too soon.

[Faith Moore]

Right.

[Co-host]

But what the heck is actually going on?

[Faith Moore]

What is he here to save us from?

[Co-host]

Exactly right. We thought Laura was dead, but she's alive.

[Faith Moore]

Not only is she alive, but she's.

[Co-host]

Back with Marian somehow. Not only is she back with Marian.

[Faith Moore]

But she's at Limmeridge House, away from.

[Co-host]

Blackwater park, away from Sir Percival, away from the. So what does Walter need to do now, exactly? We don't know. And far from Walter and Laura, like, rushing into each other's arms or whatever, there's a kind of like a supernatural dread to their reunion.

[Faith Moore]

I mean, first of all, something actually.

[Co-host]

Supernatural has happened, which is that the dream about Walter surviving three disasters that killed other people but spared him that dream that Marian had turns out to actually be true. And remember, in that dream, Walter told Marian that he was going to live.

[Faith Moore]

Because he was fated to come back to Laura.

[Co-host]

And now here he is, and here she is. So there have been things before in the story that felt supernatural, right?

[Faith Moore]

Most notably the woman in white appearing.

[Co-host]

Out of nowhere on the road at the very beginning. And of also the little boy in the school claiming that he had seen the ghost of Mrs. Fairley. But they always turned out to have been totally not supernatural things. But here something actually supernatural is revealed.

[Faith Moore]

To be true, which is that Marian.

[Co-host]

Had a prophetic dream, essentially. And this is a feature of usually gothic novels, this sense of the supernatural kind of suddenly breaking through into an otherwise not supernatural story. We saw that in Jane Eyre, if you remember, if you were with us for that, or if you've read it on your own. So this book is a sensation novel rather than a Gothic novel.

[Faith Moore]

But there are a lot of similarities.

[Co-host]

And this is one of them. So there's this kind of like, pall of the supernatural already hanging over this meeting. Because we see immediately, and Marian clearly also sees immediately, that her dream was not just a dream, but a prophecy. And then also we've got Marian, whose illness and grief over Laura's supposed death.

[Faith Moore]

Have taken their toll on her, right?

[Co-host]

Here's what Walter says about changed. Changed as if had passed over it.

[Faith Moore]

It being her face, the eyes large.

[Co-host]

And wild, and looking at me with.

[Faith Moore]

A strange terror in them. The face worn and wasted piteously pain and fear and grief. Written on her as with a brand. So we've got Marian, who is not.

[Co-host]

Exactly the Marian we remember, which also feels a little uncanny, right?

[Faith Moore]

She's Marian, but she's sort of not Marian as well. We've got her telling Walter not to.

[Co-host]

Look at Laura, right? She says, hide your face, don't look at her.

[Faith Moore]

Oh for God's him.

[Co-host]

As if he's about to look on some sort of horrible demon or something. And many of you commented on this and you asked, you know, what is so wrong with Laura? Why is Marian so anxious for Walter not to look at her? And I think here we're meant to feel that creeping dread of the supernatural again. I think Marian is trying to shield Walter from the shock of seeing someone he thought was dead, alive again and.

[Faith Moore]

Alive in a graveyard. She's trying to shield him from seeing what she assumes that he's going to.

[Co-host]

Think is a ghost. She doesn't want him to experience the supernatural shock of seeing like a phantom. Even though it seems like Laura is not a ghost, it seems like she's alive, at least as far as we can tell.

[Faith Moore]

But.

[Co-host]

So this meeting is not the joyful reunion we might expect. And we have a lot of questions. So let's just keep going. Let's see if we can get it some answers as we get back into the story. As this new epoch dawns, as we're finally back in the inner circle with Walter, who is there with Marian and Laura. Let's see if we can figure out what on earth is happening here. And of course, don't forget to write to me. This book has so much more up its sleeve. I think I said that last time. There's so much more going on here, so write to me. Faithk moore.com Click on Contact or scroll down into the show notes and find the link there. I really hope that you'll get in touch.

[Faith Moore]

Alright, let's get started with Hartright's narrative.

[Co-host]

Chapters one and two of the Woman.

[Faith Moore]

In White by Wilkie Collins.

[Co-host]

It's story time.

[Faith Moore]

The third epoch. The story continued by Walter Hartright 1 I open a new page. I advance my narrative by one week. The history of the interval which I thus pass over must remain unrecorded. My heart turns faint. My mind sinks in darkness and confusion when I think of it. This must not be if I who write am to guide as I ought. You who read this must not be if the clue that leads through the windings of the story is to remain from end to end untangled in my hands. So he's advancing the story by one week without telling us what happened right after he saw Laura at the graveside, because that part of his memory is too confused and disturbed, and he wants to make sure that he tells everything clearly and with no confusion. A life suddenly changed, its whole purpose created afresh, its hopes and fears, its struggles, its interests and its sacrifices all turned at once and forever into a new direction. This is the prospect which now opens before me like the burst of view from a mountain's top. I left my narrative in the quiet shadow of Limmeridge Church. I resume it one week later in the stir and turmoil of a London street. The street is in a populous and poor neighborhood. The ground floor of one of the houses in it is occupied by a small news vendor's shop, and the first floor and the second are let as furnished lodgings of the humblest kind, meaning the two floors above the shop are rented out as a small furnished apartment. I have taken those two floors in an assumed name. On the upper floor I live with a room to work in, a room to sleep in. On the lower floor, under the same assumed name, two women live who are described as my sisters. I get my bread by drawing and engraving on wood for the cheap periodicals. My sisters are supposed to help me by taking in a little needlework. Our poor place of abode, our humble calling, our assumed relationship and our assumed name are all used alike as a means of hiding us in the house Forest of London. We are numbered no longer with the people whose lives are open and known. I am an obscure, unnoticed man without patron or friend to help me. Marion Halcombe is nothing now but my eldest sister, who provides for our household wants by the toil of her own hands. We too, in the estimation of others, are at once the dupes and the agents of a daring imposture. We are supposed to be the accomplices of mad Anne Catherick, who claims the name, the place, and the living personality of dead Lady Glyde. That is our situation. That is the changed aspect in which we three must appear henceforth in this narrative for many and many a page to come. So Walter is living in an apartment with Marian and the woman that everyone thinks is Anne Catherick. They've taken on a new name and they claim to be siblings, and they do menial work to earn a living.

[Co-host]

The woman who everyone thinks is Anne.

[Faith Moore]

Catherick claims to be Lady Glyde, and Walter is saying that he and Marian believe her in the eye of reason and of law. In the estimation of relatives and friends, according to every received formality of civilized society, Laura, Lady Glyde lay buried with her mother in Limmeridge churchyard, torn in her own lifetime from the list of the living. The daughter of Philip Fairlie and the wife of Percival Glyde might still exist for her sister, might still exist for me, but to all the world besides, she was dead. Dead to her uncle, who had renounced her, Dead to the servants of the house who had failed to recognize her. Dead to the persons in authority who had transmitted her fortune to her husband and her aunt. Dead to my mother and my sister, who believed me to be the dupe of an adventuress and the victim of a fraud, socially, morally, legally dead. And yet alive. Alive in poverty and in hiding. Alive with the poor drawing master to fight her battle and to win the way back for her to her place in the world of living beings. So Walter is saying that this woman is Laura, but according to everyone else, this is Ann. And he, Walter, is the one who's.

[Co-host]

Going to somehow prove that she really is Laura.

[Faith Moore]

Did no suspicion, excited by my own knowledge of Anne Catherick's resemblance to her, cross my mind when her face was first revealed to me. Not the shadow of a suspicion. From the moment when she lifted her veil by the side of the inscription which recorded her death. Before the sun of that day had set, before the last glimpse of the home which was closed against her had passed from our view, the farewell words I spoke when we parted at Limmeridge House had been recalled by both of us, repeated by me, recognized by her. If ever the time comes when the devotion of my whole heart and soul and strength will give you a moment's happiness or spare you a moment's sorrow, will you try to remember the poor drawing master who has taught you, she who now remembered so little of the trouble and terror of a later time, remembered those words and laid her poor head innocently and trustingly on the bosom of the man who had spoken them in that moment when she called me by my name, when she said. They have tried to make me forget everything, Walter. But I remember Marian. And I remember you. In that moment, I, who had long since given her my love, gave her my life and thanked God that it was mine to bestow on her. So Walter believes this is Laura because she knows what he said to her when they last parted, which Anne Catherick wouldn't know, and he is committed to her now for life. Even though no one else except Marian believes that she is Laura. Yes, the time had come from Thousands on, thousands of miles away, through forest and wilderness, where companions stronger than I had fallen by my side through peril of death, thrice renewed and thrice escaped. The hand that leads men on the dark road to the future had led me to meet that time, forlorn and disowned, sorely tried and sadly changed. Her beauty faded, her mind clouded, robbed of her station in the world, of her place among living creatures. The devotion I had promised, the devotion of my whole heart and soul and strength, might be laid blamelessly now at those dear feet. In the right of her calamity, in the right of her friendlessness. She was mine at last, mine to support, to protect, to cherish, to restore, mine to love and honor as father and brother both mine to vindicate through all risks and all sacrifices, through the hopeless struggle against rank and power, through the long fight with armed deceit and fortified success, through the waste of my reputation, through the loss of my friends, through the hazard of my life. 2. My position is defined. My motives are acknowledged. The story of Marian and the story of Laura must come next. I shall relate both narratives, not in the words, often interrupted, often inevitably confused, of the speakers themselves, but in the words of the brief, plain, studiously simple abstract, which I committed to writing for my own guidance and for the guidance of my legal adviser. So the tangled web will be most speedily and most intelligibly unrolled. The story of Marian begins where the narrative of the housekeeper at Blackwater park left off on Lady Glyde's departure from her husband's house. The fact of that departure and the necessary statement of the circumstances under which it had taken place were communicated to Miss Halcombe by the housekeeper. It was not till some days afterwards. How many days exactly? Mrs. Mickelson, in the absence of any written memorandum on the subject, could not undertake to say that a letter arrived from Madame Fosco announcing Lady Glyde's sudden death in Count Fosco's house. The letter avoided mentioning dates and left it to Mrs. Mickelson's discretion to break the news at once to Miss Halcombe, or to defer doing so until the lady's health should be more firmly established. Having consulted Mr. Dawson, who had been himself delayed by ill health in resuming his attendance at Blackwater Park, Mrs. Mickelson, by the doctor's advice and in the doctor's presence, communicated the news either on the day when the letter was received or on the day after. It is not necessary to dwell here upon the effect which the intelligence of Lady Glyde's sudden death produced on her sister, it is only useful to the present purpose to say that she was not able to travel for more than three weeks afterwards. @ the end of that time, she proceeded to London accompanied by the housekeeper. They parted there, Mrs. Mickelson previously informing Miss Halcombe of her address in case they might wish to communicate at a future period. On parting with the housekeeper, Miss Halcombe went at once to the office of Messrs. Gilmour and Curl to consult with the latter gentleman. In Mr. Gilmour's absence, she mentioned to Mr. Curl what she had thought it desirable to conceal from everyone else. Mrs. Mickelson included her suspicion of the circumstances under which Lady Glyde was said to have met her death. So Marian told the lawyer that she thought that Laura had been murdered. Mr. Curll, who had previously given friendly proof of his anxiety to serve Miss Halcombe, at once undertook to make such inquiries as the delicate and dangerous nature of the investigation proposed to him would permit. To exhaust this part of the subject before going farther. It may be mentioned that Count Fosco offered every facility to Mr. Cur on that gentleman's, stating that he was sent by Miss Halcombe to collect such particulars as had not yet reached her of Lady Glyde's decease, meaning Count Fosco seemed very willing to help Mr. Curll in any way. Mr. Curll was placed in communication with the medical man, Mr. Goodrick, and with the two servants. In the absence of any means of ascertaining the exact date of Lady Glyde's departure from Blackwater park, the result of the doctor's and the servants evidence and of the volunteered statements Fosco and his wife was conclusive to the mind of Mr. Curll. Meaning that Mr. Curll believes that Laura died of natural causes. He could only assume that the intensity of Miss Halcombe's suffering under the loss of her sister had misled her judgment in a most deplorable manner. And he wrote her word that the shocking suspicion to which she had alluded in his presence was, in his opinion, destitute of the smallest fragment of foundation in truth. Truth. Thus the investigation by Mr. Gilmour's partner began and ended. Meanwhile, Miss Halcombe had returned to Limmeridge House and had there collected all the additional information which she was able to obtain. Mr. Fairlie had received his first intimation of his niece's death from his sister, Madam Fosco. This letter also not containing any exact reference to dates, he had sanctioned his sister's proposal that the Deceased lady should be laid in her mother's grave in Limmeridge Church Yard. Count Fosco had accompanied the remains to Cumberland and had attended the funeral at Limmeridge, which took place on 30 July. It was followed as a mark of respect by all the inhabitants of the village and the neighborhood on the next day. The inscription originally drawn out, it was said, by the aunt of the deceased lady and submitted for approval to her brother, Mr. Fairlie, was engraved on one side of the monument over the tomb. On the day of the funeral and for one day after it, Count Fosco had been received as a guest at Limmeridge House, but no interview had taken place between Mr. Fairlie and himself. By the former gentleman's desire they had communicated by writing, and through this medium, Count Fosco had made Mr. Fairley acquainted with the details of his niece's last illness and death. The letter presenting this information added no new facts to the facts already known. But one very remarkable paragraph was contained in the postscript. It referred to Anne Catherick. The substance of the paragraph in question was, as it first informed Mr. Fairlie, that Anne Catherick, of whom he might hear full particulars from Miss Halcombe when she reached Limmeridge, had been traced and recovered in the neighbourhood of Blackwater park, and had been for the second time placed under the charge of the medical man from whose custody she had once escaped. So, around the same time as Laura's supposed death, though no one is totally sure on dates, Anne Catherick was found again and placed back in the asylum. This was the first part of the postscript. The second part warned Mr. Fairlie that Anne Catherick's mental malady had been aggravated by her long freedom from control, and that the insane hatred and distrust of Ser Percival Glyde, which had been one of her most marked delusions in former times, still existed under a newly acquired form. The unfortunate woman's last idea in connection with Sir Percival was the idea of annoying and distressing him, and of elevating herself, as she supposed, in the estimation of the patients and nurses, by assuming the character of his deceased wife, the scheme of this personation having evidently occurred to her after a stolen interview, which she had succeeded in obtaining with Lady Glyde, and at which she had observ the extraordinary accidental likeness between the deceased lady and herself. So Count Fosco told Mr. Fairlie that Anne Catherick is now under the delusion that she is Laura, and that this delusion is part of her hatred of Sir Percival and her desire to get back at him. It was to the last degree improbable that she would succeed a second time in escaping from the asylum. But it was just possible she might find some means of annoying the late Lady Glyde's relative with letters, and in that case, Mr. Fairley was warned beforehand how to receive them. Meaning Mr. Fairley might get letters or something from Anne claiming to really be Laura, but according to Count Fosco, he should ignore them. The postscript expressed in these terms, was shown to Miss Halcombe when she arrived at Limmeridge. There were also placed in her possession the clothes Lady Glyde had worn born, and the other effects she had brought with her to her aunt's house. They had been carefully collected and sent to Cumberland by Madame Fosco. Such was the posture of affairs when Miss Halcombe reached Limmeridge in the early part of September. Shortly afterwards she was confined to her room by a relapse, her weakened physical energies giving way under the severe mental affliction from which she was now suffering. Suffering on getting stronger again in a month's time. Her suspicion of the circumstances described as attending her sister's death still remained unshaken. She had heard nothing in the interim of Sir Percival Glyde, but letters had reached her from Madame Fosco, making the most affectionate inquiries on the part of her husband and herself. Instead of answering these letters, Miss Halcombe caused the house in St. John's Wood and the proceedings of its inmates to be privately watched. Nothing doubtful was discovered. The same result attended the next investigations, which were secretly instituted on the subject of Mrs. Rubell. She had arrived in London about six months before with her husband. They had come from Lyon and they had taken a house in the neighborhood of Leicester Square to be fitted up as a boarding house for foreigners who were expected to visit England in large numbers to see the Exhibition of 1851. So this was an exhibition of works of industry from all nations. Nothing was known against husband or wife in the neighborhood. They were quiet people, and they had paid their way honestly up to the present time. The final inquiries related to Sir Percival Glyde. He was settled in Paris and living there quietly in a small circle of English and French friends, foiled at all points, but still not able to rest. Miss Halcombe next determined to visit the asylum in which she then supposed Anne Catherick to be for the second time confined. She had felt a strong curiosity about the woman in former days, and she was now doubly interested, first in ascertaining whether the report of Anne Catherick's attempted personation of Lady Glyde was true, and secondly, if it proved to be true, in discovering for herself what the poor creature's real motives were for attempting the deceit. Although Count Fosco's letter to Mr. Fairlie did not mention the address of the asylum, that important omission cast no difficulties in Miss halcombe's way. When Mr. Hartright had met Anne Catherick at Limmeridge, she had informed him of the locality in which the house was situated, and Miss Halcombe had noted down the direction in her diary, with all the other particulars of the interview exactly as she heard them from Mr. Hartright's own lips. Accordingly, she looked back at the entry and extracted the address, furnished herself with the count's letter to Mr. Fairlie as a species of credential which might be useful to her, and started by herself for the asylum on 11 October, she passed the night of the 11th in London. It had been her intention to sleep at the house inhabited by Lady Glyde's old governor. But Mrs. Vasey's agitation at the sight of her lost pupil's nearest and dearest friend was so distressing that Miss Halcombe considerately refrained from remaining in her presence, and removed to a respectable boarding house in the neighbourhood recommended by Mrs. Vasey's married sister. The next day she proceeded to the asylum, which was situated not far from London, on the northern side of the metropolis. She was immediately admitted to see the proprietor. At first he appeared to be decidedly unwilling to let her communicate with his patient, but on her showing him the postscript to Count Fosco's letter on her reminding him that she was the Miss Halcombe there referred to, that she was a near relative of the deceased Lady Glyde, and that she was therefore naturally interested, for family reasons, in observing for herself the extent of Anne Catherick's delusion in relation to her lady late sister. The tone and manner of the owner of the asylum altered, and he withdrew his objections. He probably felt that a continued refusal under these circumstances would not only be an act of discourtesy in itself, but would also imply that the proceedings in his establishment were not of a nature to bear investigation by respectable strangers. Miss Halcombe's own impression was that the owner of the asylum had not been received into the confidence of Sir Percival, and the count account his consenting at all to let her visit his patient seemed to afford one proof of this, and his readiness in making Admissions which could scarcely have escaped the lips of an accomplice certainly appeared to furnish another. For example, in the course of the introductory conversation which took place, he informed Miss Halcombe that Anne Catherick had been brought back to him with the necessary order and certificates by Count fauna Moscow on 27 July, the count also producing a letter of explanations and instructions signed by Sir Percival Glide on receiving his inmate again, the proprietor of the asylum acknowledged that he had observed some curious personal changes in her. Such changes, no doubt were not without precedent in his experience of persons mentally afflicted. Insane people were often at one time outwardly as well as inwardly, unlike what they were at another. The change from better to worse, or from worse to better in the madness having a necessary tendency to produce alterations of appearance externally, he allowed for these, and he allowed also for the modification in the form of Anne Catherick's delusion, which was reflected, no doubt, in her manner and expression. But he was still perplexed at times by certain differences between his patient before she had escaped escaped, and his patience since she had been brought back. Those differences were too minute to be described. He could not say, of course, that she was absolutely altered in height or shape or complexion, or in the color of her hair and eyes, or in the general form of her face. The change was something that he felt more than something that he saw. In short, the case had been a puzzle from the first, and one more perplexity was added to it. Now. Now, it cannot be said that this conversation led to the result of even partially preparing Miss Halcombe's mind for what was to come, but it produced, nevertheless, a very serious effect upon her. She was so completely unnerved by it that some little time elapsed before she could summon composure enough to follow the proprietor of the asylum to that part of the house in which the inmates were confined. On inquiry, it turned out that the supposed Anne Catherick was then taking exercise in the grounds attached to the establishment. One of the nurses volunteered to conduct Miss Halcombe to the place, the proprietor of the asylum remaining in the house for a few minutes to attend to a case which required his services, and then, engaging to join his visitor in the grounds, the nurse led Miss Halcombe to a distant part of the property which was prettily laid out, and after looking about her a little, turned into a turf walk shaded by a shrubbery on either side. About halfway down this walk, two women were slowly approaching. The nurse pointed to them and said, there is Anne Catherick, ma'am. With the attendant who waits on her. The attendant will answer any questions you wish to put. With those words, the nurse left her to return to the duties of the house. Miss Halcombe advanced on her side and the women advanced on theirs. When they were within a dozen paces of each other, one of the women stopped for an instant, looked eagerly at the strange lady, shook off the nurse's grasp on her hand, and the next moment rushed into Miss Halcombe's arms. In that moment, Miss Halcombe recognized her sister, recognized the dead alive. Fortunately for the success of the measures taken subsequently, no one was present at that moment but the nurse. She was a young woman, and she was so startled that she was at first quite incapable of interfering. When she was able to do so. Her whole services were required by Miss Halcombe, who had for the moment sunk altogether in the effort to keep her own senses under the shock of the discovery. After waiting a few minutes in the fresh air and the cool shade, her natural energy encouraged. Courage helped her a little, and she became sufficiently mistress of herself to feel the necessity of recalling her presence of mind. For her unfortunate sister's sake, she obtained permission to speak alone with the patient, on condition that they both remained well within the nurse's view. There was no time for questions. There was only time for Miss Halcombe to impress on the unhappy lady the necessity of controlling herself and to assure assure her of immediate help and rescue if she did so. The prospect of escaping from the asylum by obedience to her sister's directions was sufficient to quiet Lady Glyde and to make her understand what was required of her. Miss Halcombe next returned to the nurse, placed all the gold she then had in her pocket, three sovereigns in the nurse's hands, and asked when and where she could speak to her alone. The woman was at first surprised and distrustful, but on Miss Halcombe's declaring that she only wanted to put some questions which she was too much agitated to ask at that moment, and that she had no intention of misleading the nurse into any dereliction of duty. The woman took the money and proposed 3 o'clock on the next day as the time for the interview. She might then slip out for half an hour after the patients had dined, and she would meet the lady in a retired place, place outside the high north wall which screened the grounds of the house. Miss Halcombe had only time to assent and to whisper to her sister that she should hear from her on the next day. When the proprietor of the asylum joined them, he noticed his visitor's agitation, which Miss Halcombe accounted for by saying that her interview with Anne Catherick had a little startled her at first. She took her leave as soon after as possible. That is to say, as soon as she could summon courage to force herself from the presence of her unfortunate sister. A very little reflection, when the capacity to reflect returned, convinced her that any attempt to identify Lady Glyde and to rescue her by legal means would, even if successful, involve a delay that might be fatal to her sister's intellects, which were shaken already by the horror of the situation to which she had been consigned. So the lady in the asylum is not Anne Catherick. It is Laura. But trying to get Laura out by claiming that she's really Lady Glyde would take a really long time to prove it, if they ever could prove it. And that would be bad for Laura, whose mind is already at risk because of what has been done to her. By the time Miss Halcombe had got back to London, she had determined to affect Lady Glyde's escape privately by means of the nurse source. She went at once to her stockbroker and sold out of the funds all the little property she possessed, amounting to rather less than £700. Determined, if necessary, to pay the price of her sister's liberty with every farthing she had in the world. She repaired the next day, having the whole sum about her in banknotes to the appointment outside the asylum wall. The nurse was there. Miss Halcomb approached the subject cautiously. By many preliminary questions, she discovered, among other particulars, that the nurse, who had in former times attended on the true Anne Catherick, had been held responsible, although she was not to blame for it, for the patient's escape, and had lost her place in consequence. The same penalty, it was added, would attach to the person then speaking to her if the supposed Anne Catherick was missing a second time. Meaning this nurse would be fired if. If the person that everyone thinks is Anne Catherick escaped again. And moreover, the nurse in this case had an especial interest in keeping her place. She was engaged to be married and she and her future husband were waiting till they could save together between 2 and 300 pounds to start in business. The nurse's wages were good, and she might succeed by strict economy and contributing her small share towards. Towards the sum required in two years time. On this hint, Miss Halcombe spoke. She declared that the supposed Anne Catherick was nearly related to her, that she had been placed in the asylum under a fatal mistake, and that the nurse would be doing a good And a Christian action in being the means of restoring them to one another. Before there was time to start a single objection, Miss Halcomb took four bank names, notes of 100 pounds each from her pocketbook and offered them to the woman as a compensation for the risk she was to run and for the loss of her place. The nurse hesitated. Through sheer incredulity and surprise, Miss Halcombe pressed the point on her firmly. You will be doing a good action, she repeated. You will be helping the most injured and unhappy woman alive. There is your marriage portion for a reward. Bring her safely to me here, and I will put these four banknotes into your hand. Before I claim her, will you give me a letter saying those words which I can show to my sweetheart when he asks how I got the money? Inquired the woman. I will bring the letter with me. Ready, written and signed, answered Miss Halcombe. Then I'll risk it, said the nurse. When? Tomorrow. It was hastily agreed between them that Miss Halcombe should return early the next morning and wait out of sight among the trees. Always, however, keeping near the quiet spot of ground under the north wall, the nurse could fix no time for her appearance, caution requiring that she should wait and be guided by circumstances. On that understanding, they separated. Miss Halcombe was at her place with the promised letter and the promised banknotes before 10 the next morning. She waited more than an hour and a half. At the end of that time, the nurse came quickly round the corner of the wall, holding Lady Glyde by the arm. The moment they met, Miss Halcombe put the banknotes and the letter into her hand, and the sisters were united again. The nurse had dressed Lady Glyde with excellent forethought, in a bonnet, veil and shawl of her own. Miss Halcombe only detained her to suggest a means of turning the pursuit in a false direction. When the escape was discovered at the asylum, she was to go back to the house to mention in the hearing of the other nurses that Anne Catherick had been inquiring latterly about the distance from London to Hampshire, to wait till the last moment before discovery was inevitable, and then to give the alarm that Ann was missing. So the nurse is supposed to wait until the last minute before telling anyone that her patient is missing, and then alert them that she probably went to Hampshire. The supposed inquiries about Hampshire, when communicated to the owner of the asylum, would lead him to imagine that his patient had returned to Blackwater park under the influence of the delusion which made her persist in asserting herself to be Lady Glyde and the first pursuit would in all probability be turned in that direction. The nurse consented to follow these suggestions the more readily as they offered her the means of securing herself against any worse consequences than the loss of her place. Place. By remaining in the asylum and so maintaining the appearance of innocence at least, she at once returned to the house. And Miss Halcombe lost no time in taking her sister back with her to London. They caught the afternoon train to Carlisle the same afternoon, and arrived at Limmeridge without accident or difficulty of any kind. That night, during the latter part of their journey, they were alone in the carriage, and Miss Halcombe was able to collect such remembrances of the past as her sister's confused and weakened memory was able to recall. The terrible story of the conspiracy so obtained was presented in fragments, sadly incoherent in themselves and widely detached from each other. Imperfect as the revelation was, it must nevertheless be recorded here before this explanatory narrative closes with the events of the next day at Limmeridge House. So Laura doesn't exactly remember what happened to her, and her mind is confused and kind of wandering. But she told Maren what she could about what happened to her, and Walter will tell us what he can. Lady Glyde's recollection of the events which followed her departure from Blackwater park began with her arrival at the London terminus of the Southwestern Railway. She had omitted to make a memorandum beforehand of the day on which she took the journey. All hope of fixing that important date by any evidence of hers or of Mrs. Mickelson's must be given up for lost. On the arrival of the train at the platform, Lady Glyde found Count Fosco waiting for her. He was at the carriage door as soon as the porter could open it. The train was unusually crowded, and there was great confusion in getting the luggage. Some person whom Count Fosco brought with him procured the luggage, which belonged to Lady Glyceri. It was marked with her name. She drove away alone with the count in a vehicle which she did not particularly notice at the time. Her first question on leaving the terminus referred to Miss Halcombe. The count informed her that Miss Halcombe had not yet gone to Cumberland, after consideration having caused him to doubt the prudence of her taking so long a journey without some days previous rest. Lady Glyde next inquired whether her sister was then staying in the count's house. House. Her recollection of the answer was confused, her only distinct impression in relation to it being that the count declared he was then taking her to see Miss Halcombe. Lady Glyde's experience of London was so limited that she could not tell at.

[Co-host]

The time through what streets they were driving.

[Faith Moore]

But they never left the streets, and they never passed any gardens or trees. When the carriage stopped, it stopped in a small street behind a square square, A square in which there were shops and public buildings and many people. From these recollections, of which Lady Glyde was certain, it seems quite clear that Count Fosco did not take her to his own residence in the suburb of St. John's Wood. They entered the house and went upstairs to a back room, either on the first or second floor. The luggage was carefully brought in. A female servant opened the door, and a man with a dark beard, apparently a foreigner, met them in the hall and with great politeness showed them the way upstairs. In answer to Lady Glyde's inquiries, the count assured her that Miss Halcombe was in the house and that she should be immediately informed of her sister's arrival. He and the foreigner then went away and left her by herself in the room. It was poorly furnished as a sitting room, and it looked out on the backs of houses. The place was remarkably quiet. No footsteps went up or down the stairs. She only heard in the room beneath her a dull, rumbling sound of men's voices talking. Before she had been long left alone, the count returned to explain that Miss Halcombe was then taking rest and could not be disturbed for a little while. He was accompanied into the room by a gentleman, an Englishman, whom he begged to present as a friend of his. After this singular introduction, in the course of which no names to the best of Lady Glyde's recollection had been mentioned, she was left alone with the stranger. He was perfectly civil, but he startled and confused her by some odd questions about herself, and by looking at her while he asked them in a strange manner. After remaining a short time, he went out, and a minute or two afterwards a second stranger, also an Englishman, came in. This person introduced himself as another friend of Count Fosco's, and he in his.

[Co-host]

Turn looked at her very oddly and.

[Faith Moore]

Asked some curious questions, never as well as she could remember, addressing her by name and going out again after a little while, like the first man. By this time she was so frightened about herself and so uneasy about her sister, that she had thoughts of venturing downstairs again and claiming the protection and assistance of the only woman she had seen in the house, the servant who answered the door. Just as she had risen from her chair. The count came back into the room. The moment he Appeared, she asked anxiously how long the meeting between her sister and herself was to be still delayed. At first he returned an evasive answer, but on being pressed, he acknowledged with great apparent reluctance that Miss Halcombe was by no means so well as he had hitherto represented her to be be. His tone and manner in making this reply so alarmed Lady Glyde, or rather so painfully increased the uneasiness which he had felt in the company of the two strangers, that a sudden faintness overcame her, and she was obliged to ask for a glass of water. The count called from the door for water and for a bottle of smelling salts. Both were brought in by the foreign looking man with the beard. The water, when Lady Glyde attempted to drink it, had so strange a taste that it increased her faintness, and she hastily took the bottle of salts from Count Fosco and smelt at it. Her head became giddy on the instant the count caught the bottle as it dropped out of her hand, and the last impression of which she was conscious was that he held it to her nostrils again. From this point her recollections were found to be confused, fragmentary, and difficult to reconcile with any reasonable probability. Her own impression was that she recovered her senses later in the evening, that she then left the house, that she went, as she had previously arranged, to go at Blackwater park to Mrs. Vacy's, that she drank tea there, and that she passed the night under Mrs. Vesey's roof. She was totally unable to say how or when or in what company she left the house to which Count Fosco had brought her. But she persisted in asserting that she had been to Mrs. Vasey Vasey's, and still more extraordinarily, that she had been helped to undress and get to bed by Mrs. Rubell. She could not remember what the conversation was at Mrs. Vacy's, or whom she saw there besides that lady, or why Mrs. Rubell should have been present in the house to help her. Her recollection of what happened to her the next morning was still more vague and unreliable. She had some dim idea of driving out, at what hour she could not say, with Count Fosco and with Mrs. Rubelle again for a female attendant. But when and why she left Mrs. Vesey, she could not tell. Neither did she know what direction the carriage drove in, or where it set her down, or whether The Count and Mrs. Rubelle did or did not remain with her all the time she was out. At this point in her sad story there was a total blank. She had no Impressions of the faintest kind to communicate. Kate. No idea whether one day or more than one day had passed until she came to herself suddenly in a strange place, surrounded by women who were all unknown to her. This was the asylum. Here she first heard herself called by Anne Catherick's name. And here, as a last remarkable circumstance in the story of the conspiracy, her own eyes informed her that she had Anne Catherick clothes on. The nurse on the first night in the asylum had shown her the marks on each article of her underclothing as it was taken off, and had said, not at all irritably or unkindly, look at your own name on your own clothes, and don't worry us all any more about being Lady Glyde. She is dead and buried and you're alive and hearty. Do look at your clothes now. There it is in good marking ink. And there you will find it on all your old things, things which we have kept in the house. Anne Catherick as plain as print. And there it was. When Miss Halcombe examined the linen her sister wore on the night of their arrival at Limmeridge House, these were the only recollections, all of them uncertain and some of them contradictory, which could be extracted from Lady Glyde by careful questioning. On the journey to Cumberland, Miss Halcombe abstained from pressing her with any inquiries relating to events in the asylum emblem, her mind being but too evidently unfit to bear the trial of reverting to them. It was known by the voluntary admission of the owner of the madhouse that she was received there on the 27th of July. From that date until the 15th of October, the day of her rescue, she had been under restraint, her identity with Anne Catherick systematically asserted, and her sanity from first to last practically denied. Faculties less delicately balanced, constitutions less tenderly organized, must have suffered under such an ordeal as this. No man could have gone through it and come out of it unchanged. Arriving at Limmeridge late on the Evening of the 15th, Ms. Halcombe wisely resolved not to attempt the assertion of Lady Glyde's identity until the next day. The first thing in the morning, she went to Mr. Fairlie's room. Room. And using all possible cautions and preparations beforehand, at last told him in so many words what had happened. As soon as his first astonishment and alarm had subsided, he angrily declared that Miss Halcombe had allowed herself to be duped by Anne Catherick. He referred her to Count Fosco's letter and to what she had herself told him of the personal Resemblance between Anne and his deceased niece.

[Co-host]

Niece.

[Faith Moore]

And he positively declined to admit to his presence, even for one minute. Only a mad woman, whom it was an insult and an outrage to have brought into his house at all. Miss Halcombe left the room, waited till the first heat of her indignation had passed away, decided, on reflection, that Mr. Fairlie should see his niece in the interests of common humanity before he closed his doors on her as a stranger, and thereupon, without a word of previous warning, took Lady Glyde with her to his room. The servant was posted at the door to prevent their entrance, but Miss Halcombe insisted on passing him and made her way into Mr. Fairlie's presence, leading her sister by the hand. The scene that followed, though it only lasted for a few minutes, was too painful to be described. Miss Halcombe herself shrank from referring to it. Let it be enough to say that Mr. Fairlie declared in the most positive terms that he did not recognize the woman who had been brought into his room, that he saw nothing in her face and manner to make him doubt for a moment that his niece lay buried in Limmeridge churchyard, and that he would call on the law to protect him if, before the day was over, she was not removed from the house. Taking the very worst view of Mr. Fairlie's selfishness, indolence and habitual want of feeling, it was manifestly impossible to suppose that he was capable of such infamy as secretly recognizing and openly disowning his brother's child. Meaning Walter doesn't think that Mr. Fairlie knew it was Laura, but for some reason insisted it was Anne, he thinks he actually believed she was Anne and therefore didn't recognize her as Laura. Miss Halcombe humanely and sensibly allowed all due force to the influence of prejudice and alarm in preventing him from fairly exercising his perceptions and accounted for what had happened in that way. But when she next put the servants to the test and found that they too were in every case uncertain, to say the least of it, whether the lady presented to them was their young mistress, or Anne Catherick, of whose resemblance to her they had all heard the sad conclusion was inevitable. That the change produced in Lady Glyde, face and manner by her imprisonment in the asylum was far more serious than Miss Halcombe had at first supposed. The vile deception which had asserted her death defied exposure even in the house where she was born and among the people with whom she had lived. So Laura now looks exactly like Ann, because she's worn and haggard and nervous, looking so no One can be sure that she is really Laura. In a less critical situation, the effort need not have been given up as hopeless even yet. For example, the maid Fanny, who happened to be then absent from Limmeridge, was expected back in two days, and there would be a chance of gaining her recognition to start with, seeing that she had been in much more constant communication with her mistress and had been much more heartily attached to her than the other servants. Again, Lady Glyde might have been privately kept in the house or in the village, to wait until her health was a little recover and her mind was a little steadied again, when her memory could be once more trusted to serve her, she would naturally refer to persons and events in the past with a certainty and a familiarity which no impostor could simulate. And so the fact of her identity, which her own appearance had failed to establish, might subsequently be proved with time to help her, by the surer test of her own words. But the circumstances under which she had regained her freedom rendered all recourse to such means as these simply impracticable. The pursuit from the asylum, diverted to Hampshire for the time only, would infallibly next take the direction of Cumberland. The persons appointed to seek the fugitive might arrive at Limmeridge House at a few hours notice, and in Mr. Fairlie's present temper of mind, they might count on the immediate exertion of his local influence and authority to assist them. The commonest consideration for Lady Glyde's safety forced on Miss Halcombe the necessity of resigning the struggle to do her justice and of removing her at once from the place of all others that was now most dangerous to her. The neighbourhood of her own home. So the people from the asylum are going to come looking for Laura because they think she's Anne and that she escaped. And if Marian can't prove her identity, then she.

[Co-host]

She has to help her to run away.

[Faith Moore]

An immediate return to London was the first and wisest measure of security which suggested itself. In the great city, all traces of them might be most speedily and most surely effaced. There were no preparations to make, no farewell words of kindness to exchange with anyone. On the afternoon of that memorable day of the 16th, Ms. Halcombe roused her sister to a last exertion of courage. Courage. And without a living soul to wish them well at parting, the two took their way into the world alone and turned their backs forever on Limmeridge House. They had passed the hill above the churchyard when Lady Glyde insisted on turning back to look her last at her mother's grave. Ms. Halcombe tried to shake her resolution, but in this one instance tried in vain. She was immovable. Her dim eyes lit with a sudden fire and flashed through the veil that hung over them, her wasted fingers strengthened moment by moment round the friendly arm by which they had held so listlessly till this time. I believe in my soul that the hand of God was pointing their way back to them, and that the most innocent and the most afflicted of his creatures was chosen in that dread moment to see it. They retraced their steps to the burial ground, and by that act sealed the future of our three lives. Thank you so much for listening. I'd love to know what you thought of the chapters. Is there anything you'd like me to clarify? Did something particularly interest you? Please go to my website, faithkmoore.com click on contact and send me your questions and thoughts. Or you can click on the link in the Show Notes to contact me. I'll feature one or two of your entries at the start of the next episode. Speaking of links, don't forget to take a look at the other links in the Show Notes. You can learn more about me, check out our merch store or pick up one of my books. Before I go, I'd like to ask a quick favorite. This is an independent podcast. It's produced, recorded and marketed by me, so I need your help. Spread the word about the show by posting about it on social media or texting a link to your friends. Subscribe, tap those five stars and leave a positive review wherever you're listening. If you are able to support the show financially, there's a link in the Show Notes to make a donation. I would really, really appreciate it. Alright everyone, storytime is over. To be continued.