Until she had seen Noel Vanstone with her own eyes, and had discovered the worst there was to fear from Mrs.
Lecount--until she had achieved t his double object, with the needful precaution of keeping her own identity carefully in the dark--not a step could she advance toward the accomplishment of the purpose which had brought her to London.
One after another the minutes of the night passed away; one after another the thronging thoughts followed each other over her mind--and still she reached no conclusion; still she faltered and doubted, with a hesitation new to her in her experience of herself.

At last she crossed the room impatiently to seek the trivial relief of unlocking her trunk and taking from it the few things that she wanted for the night.

Captain Wragge's suspicions had not misled him.

There, hidden between two dresses, were the articles of costume which he had missed from her box at Birmingham.

She turned them over one by one, to satisfy herself that nothing she wanted had been forgotten, and returned once more to her post of observation by the window.
The house opposite was dark down to the parlor.