The trouble was made by Iris herself.
In this way-She saw Fanny's advertisement. Her first impulse was to take her back
into her service. But she remembered the necessity for concealment. She
must not place herself--she realised already the fact that she had done
a thing which would draw upon her the vengeance of the law--and her
husband in the power of this woman, whose fidelity might not stand the
shock of some fit of jealousy, rage, or revenge for fancied slight. She
must henceforth be cut off altogether from all her old friends.
She therefore answered the letter by one which contained no address,
and which she posted with her own hand at the General Post Office. She
considered her words carefully. She must not say too much or too
little.
"I enclose," she said, "a bank note for ten pounds to assist you. I am
about to travel abroad, but must, under existing circumstances,
dispense with the services of a maid. In the course of my travels I
expect to be in Brussels. If, therefore, you have anything to tell me
or to ask of me, write to me at the Poste Restante of that city, and in
the course of six mouths or so I am tolerably sure to send for the
letter. In fact, I shall expect to find a letter from you. Do not think
that I have forgotten you or your faithful services, though for a
moment I am not able to call you to my side. Be patient."
There was no address given in the letter. This alone was mysterious. If
Lady Harry was in London and the letter was posted at the General Post
Office--why should she not give her address? If she was abroad, why
should she hide her address? In any case, why should she do without a
maid--she who had never been without a maid--to whom a maid was as
necessary as one of her hands? Oh! she could never get along at all
without a maid. As for Iris's business in London and her part in the
conspiracy, of course Fanny neither knew nor suspected.
She had recourse again to her only friend--Mrs. Vimpany--to whom she
sent Lady Harry's letter, and imploring her to lay the whole before Mr.
Mountjoy.
"He is getting so much stronger," Mrs. Vimpany wrote back, "that I
shall be able to tell him every thing before long. Do not be in a
hurry. Let us do nothing that may bring trouble upon her. But I am sure
that something is going on--something wicked. I have read your account
of what has happened over and over again. I am as convinced as you
could possibly be that my husband and Lord Harry are trading on the
supposed death of the letter. We can do nothing. Let us wait."