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This week's section contains the third chapter of the Fifth Scene, Between the Scenes and the Sixth Scene.

(view spoiler)[
Mrs Lecount gets Noel to write the new will and a letter to Admiral Bartram which complete her scheme to thwart Magdalen. Noel dies. Magdalen enlists her maid Louisa's help in a new scheme to find a way into the admiral's household at St Crux.

Full chapter summaries (these are full of spoilers)

3. Mrs Lecount opens and reads the second of her papers. She addresses Noel again, mentioning his wife’s cunning and boldness. She says that if he dies, she may target George Bartram the way she has targeted him. She advises him to leave the money to the admiral. She dictates the rest of the will. She tells him that he should send the will to the admiral with a letter saying that the money should go to his son George, on condition that he marries within a certain time, or else it will go to George’s married sister. Noel expresses his admiration of her cunning. She starts to dictate the letter. They discuss how long George should be given to marry. Noel suggests a year, but Mrs Lecount says this is too long. They agree on six months. She dictates that George’s wife must not be a widow, and that the marriage must take place by banns at the church in Ossary. She also says the admiral must tell George of the conditions. She asks if he has signed and reads the letter. She gives in back and asks him to seal and address it. Noel mentions packing up, but Mrs Lecount insists that the will must be signed and witnessed by two people. She suggests the coachman and the cook. They are summoned. The coachman, who has been drinking whisky, asks what the document is, but he is satisfied when he is told it is Noel’s will. They sign the document. Mrs Lecount tells the coachman to be ready to leave in half an hour. Noel complains, saying that the coachman is drunk. Mrs Lecount asks him to compose himself. She asks him to put the documents together and address the letter. He does this, but refuses to seal it, so Mrs Lecount seals it and puts it in her travelling bag. Noel summons Louisa and asks her to prepare a room for Mrs Lecount. Noel asks Mrs Lecount for a gossip by the fire. He worries about what will happen next, falls asleep but wakes for dinner. After dinner he sleeps but looks disturbed, and Mrs Lecount wakes him. He considers writing to his wife. Mrs Lecount persuades him to go to bed, and he mentions a drink she used to prepare for him. She starts making it and hears him pacing upstairs. She goes up, but Noel hears her and opens the door. She sees his writing things and tries to take them away. She returns with the mixture to find him writing. She asks him what he is writing but he does not reply. He is dead.

BETWEEN THE SCENES

Mrs Noel Vanstone to Loscombe: Her maid has written to her from Baliol Cottage telling her Mrs Lecount has visited. The letter mentions Noel and Mrs Lecount’s departure, and she asks Loscombe for his advice. The letter is signed Magdalen Vanstone.
Loscombe to Magdalen: He agrees to meet the next day and says he expects further news.
Magdalen to Miss Garth: She has been to Miss Garth’s house but has not seen her. She explains she is in London to see Norah, but can’t find her without Miss Garth’s help. She explains that when she called on Miss Garth she was out, and was shown into an ante-room after declining a meeting with Miss Garth’s sister. While there she admits overhearing Miss Garth talking to another woman, and has discovered her sister’s part in leading Mrs Lecount to Noel. She asks Miss Garth not to pity her and says she has no hard feelings towards Norah. She warns Miss Garth not to interfere again.
Loscombe to Magdalen: He has heard about her husband’s death. He says he will go to Dumfries but asks her not to follow.
Pendril to Miss Garth: He is returning Magdalen’s letter. Pendril believes that Magdalen is reckless, desperate and perverted, and any estrangement from Norah is welcome. He says he will try to stop Norah searching for Magdalen.
Loscombe to Magdalen: He has seen Noel’s last will and is convinced it is genuine. He has considered challenging it on the grounds of Noel’s state of mind, but has insufficient evidence. He says that since he has left her nothing there may be grounds for contesting it. He asks her if she believes Noel had good reasons.
Magdalen to Loscombe: It is impossible to go to law.
Loscombe to Magdalen: The wording of the will is unusual, and suggests a deliberate snare. He believes that the admiral’s legacy may be subject to secret conditions. He also explains that the Scottish law under which Magdalen would be protected would not apply because Noel has not established permanent residence there.
Magdalen to Loscombe: She believes there is a secret letter and is determined to find it, but will not involve him.

SIXTH SCENE
1. A fortnight before Christmas, Magdalen sits alone in her London lodgings. Her dress hangs loosely and her appearance has deteriorated. She has been feeling remorse ever since Noel signed the will that promised her the Combe-Raven inheritance. She wants to seek Norah’s pardon. She has been trying to find out more about the secret letter. She can’t enlist Wragge’s help because he has disappeared. She decides to ask Louisa. She asks the landlady what her notice period is and is told it is a week. Louisa comes in, and Magdalen insists they should talk as equals. She says she has been impressed by Louisa’s loyal service, but can’t afford to keep her. Louisa offers to stay, and wait for the money. Louisa says that she thinks Magdalen suspects her, and that she is right to. She says that she can’t take a reference from Magdalen until she has told her the truth. She asks Magdalen if she knows how Noel engaged her, and tells Magdalen that the character reference she used was false. Magdalen guesses the reason, and asks “if he has deserted you� to which she says no, and admits she loves the man. Magdalen says that she is the degraded one herself. She asks about Louisa’s child and is told she is with a nurse. Louisa tells her that the baby’s father wants to support her, but works as a carpenter for his father, who will not let him marry her. Magdalen says she feels for her with all her heart. She asks Louisa how much her fiancé and she would need to start a new life in Australia. She offers to help, and asks Louisa what she would be prepared to do in return. Louisa says there is nothing she would not do. Magdalen says they are serving each other. She asks Louisa to tell the servant boy she is going out, and asks Louisa to wait for her return.

2. Louisa lets her mistress Magdalen in. Magdalen asks her to listen. She explains that she has been to see Mr Loscombe’s old housekeeper Mrs Attwood. Magdalen explains that Mrs Atwood has several daughters in service, and one is an under-housemaid for Admiral Bartram at St Crux. Magdalen talks about her curiosity about affairs at St Crux. She has information from Mrs Attwood’s daughter � the admiral is an eccentric old man who prefers to be served by women. A parlour maid is about to leave to get married, and the housekeeper is finding it hard to find a replacement, and is intending to place an advertisement in The Times in three weeks. Magdalen asks Louisa if she has worked as a parlour maid, and knows what duties are involved. Louisa says yes, about two years ago. She is uneasy. Magdalen asks her if she could teach somebody a parlour maid’s duties, then says she will be the pupil. She tells Louisa about Noel’s will, and that her prospects depend on finding the admiral’s secret letter, so she wants to find a way into the admiral’s household. Louisa objects, saying Magdalen is a lady and will soon be found out by the other servants. Magdalen asks her if she can make a servant’s gown, and if a week is long enough. She tells Louisa she will give the landlady a week’s notice, and after a week they will find new lodgings in which Louisa will be the mistress and Magdalen the servant. Louisa worries that she will easily be found out, but Magdalen tells her that a lady is just a woman with a gown and a sense of her own importance. She tells Louisa all she needs to do is to conquer her own timidity. Magdalen tells her there will be enough time for Louisa to make a second servant’s gown and her own wedding dress, which Magdalen will pay for. Magdalen will answer the advertisement and ask Louisa to act as a character witness. She tells Louisa that by the time she is in St Crux Louisa will be married and on the way to her new life. She tells Louisa she owes her no thanks, and that they are both helping each other. Louisa says she is tempted but afraid. Magdalen says she should sleep on the decision. Next morning Louisa agrees, Magdalen gives the landlady her notice and Louisa starts making the gown.
(hide spoiler)]

Some comments:

1) When I mentioned last section that I didn't expect Noel to last to the end, I didn't realize that Collins would so quickly act on my prediction. That was really quick work for the writer of a 700+ page novel with a single storyline.

2) After not getting along at all at first, Wragge and I have since become close and I did miss his presence during this section. Not so, Mrs. Wragge, so I guess it's almost a wash. However, I do realize the plot is better off developing at this point without him. Also, I still presume that the savvy Collins realizes his readers are eagerly awaiting a concluding round in the Wragge/Lecount match. I hope he doesn't disappoint.

3) Lecount's explanation for her proposed change in Noel's will beneficiary was so convoluted it gave me a headache. It reminded me of Wallace Shawn deciding which glass of wine has the poison in it in the Princess Bride. I may have gotten lost, but I don't think her ultimate advisory conclusion served her stated purpose much better than just giving it to George directly. It also gives the Admiral a chance to just keep it all anyway- I don't see why he doesn't have that right. That's probably because behind Lecount's advise was her favoritism to the Admiral over George. She certainly maneuvered Noel to act more in her interests rather than Noel's interest as, by this time, she has more motive and desire for revenge against Magdalen and Wragge than Noel does, or did.

4) I hope this story ends with Magdalen returning to an acting career as she certainly takes every opportunity to perform as an actress in her off-stage real life. She must have a need to act to always craft her plans so as to require such acting ability. If I'm not mistaken, this upcoming role as a maid will be her third real life acting role.

5) I did empathize with Magdalen more in this section and I hope my empathy for her continues in the growth mode. As I have said, this book is more enjoyable when you can root for Magdalen and just be a bit frustrated when she gets into her own way as she is wont to do. I am trying to get there but I won't force it.

6) The will-changing and Magdalen's plans seem to indicate that the resolution may include Linda's prediction of George and Norah becoming a wealthy married couple.

I found Lecount's lengthy spiel reminiscent of Pendril in the First Scene (and some of Wragge's). Collins clearly couldn't resist demonstrating his knowledge of legal subtleties.

I struggled a little to work out how Loscombe became so willing to help Magdalen when he was Noel's lawyer, and I didn't understand why Magdalen used her real forename when corresponding with him when she must have been married using the alias Wragge gave her...

Hugh wrote: "I struggled a little to work out how Loscombe became so willing to help Magdalen when he was Noel's lawyer, ."

I did too, but it was a very small struggle. With Pendril so anti-Magdalen, she was up against it on two prongs - from Lecount and from Pendril. With Wragge out of the picture, Magdalen needs some other support to make it something close to a fair fight. She needs Loscombe so I decided to accept and not question why he so readily adapted to acting on her behalf.

Brian E wrote: "Some comments:

1) When I mentioned last section that I didn't expect Noel to last to the end, I didn't realize that Collins would so quickly act on my prediction. That was really quick work for th..."

Brian, your comments are hilarious and spot on! Definitely missed Wragge, when it was noted that Magdalen would handle this herself. I was thinking, oh dear. I don't empathize much with her much,she seems a bit absurd at this point with her contrived acting jobs and maneuvering. Speaking of absurd, Noel's practically instant death immediately after the will was finished was ridiculous! I also found it unlikely that Lecount would develop such an elaborate scheme for the will, and also that the scheme would be suspected. Still enjoying the story, about as much for its comedy as its mystery.

Hugh wrote: "I found Lecount's lengthy spiel reminiscent of Pendril in the First Scene (and some of Wragge's). Collins clearly couldn't resist demonstrating his knowledge of legal subtleties.

I struggled a li..."

Excellent observations Hugh!

Noel's quick death also took me by surprise. I certainly expected something more drawn out with the anticipation of the possibility of his dying with the new will in place while Magdalen and Lecount had some sort of confrontation. I was also surprised that his death wasn't investigated as suspect after just having made a new will. It crossed my mind that Lecount might have had something to do with his death and that I had missed it. Didn't she have the servants bring up the ingredients to her so that she could prepare a drink for him? Wouldn't any of them suspect her of maliciousness after Noel's death, especially after a couple of them were used as witnesses to change his will?

I didn't realize I missed Wragge in this section until Magdalen brought him up, that he was nowhere to be found and that she would be all on her own going forward. I certainly wasn't expecting her to take yet another acting gig in order to right this new wrong. I'm wondering how she will pull this off since the admiral is specifically looking for a young pretty woman, and so she won't have the ability to disguise herself as an older woman with a disfigured face. And who will she be presented as, what name will she use?

That's a great point that Hugh brings up about Loscombe and Magdalen's correspondence with him. I had taken a break from reading this section, so when Loscombe's name came up, I struggled to remember who he was, exactly.

Like Brian, I also found myself with more empathy towards Magdalen in this section. I do prefer to root for her, so I enjoyed seeing her hatch a new plan. It just seems a bit far fetched, though, to devise yet another plan like this, and so late in the book as well. But I guess if Noel's death can be comprised of only a single short sentence at the end of the chapter, I suppose Magdalen's new plan can be put into play in a shortened section. I assume she'll make it into the house according to plan, but from there, we'll see what happens. My original hypothesis was that Norah and George would marry without any knowledge of the money coming to them, but now I wonder if Magdalen will find the letter and convince Norah to marry. I actually don't see that second hypothesis as actually happening because I don't think Norah would want to be a part of that sort of plan. Maybe Norah and George will marry not knowing about the money, while at the same time Magdalen will find the letter and have knowledge of it, but not act upon having that knowledge.

Linda, how much does Magdalen know of George's attachment to Norah? It was my assumption that she was unaware that it had developed as far as it has and so would not necessarily be thinking money going to George would also end up on Norah's hands. This lack of knowledge of the extent of the relationship could affect her choice of actions.

I agree, Brian. I don’t think Magdalen has any knowledge of Norah and George’s budding relationship. I just thought that Magdalen might see an opportunity to match up the two after learning from the letter that the money is meant to go to George. And that George’s wife can not be a widow (so not Magdalen, although her going by a different name confuses the matter). But that Norah and George might marry without any influence from Magdalen, Magdalen won’t see that coming.

Well, being at home and snowed/iced inside for the past couple of days, I went ahead and finished the book. 😬 I usually have a hard time not racing to the end of a book by this point anyway. I’ll remember where my thoughts were at the end of week 11 in order to still comment.

Linda wrote: ".I’ll remember where my thoughts were at the end of week 11 in order to still comment."

I plan to finish early too but really just to make sure I finish the book in this calendar year so I can count all of No Name;s pages as pages read this year. When I do that with other reads with weekly discussion threads, I skip commenting until the end to make sure I don't accidently give spoilers. In this read, I had originally planned on just not commenting on Week 11 and waiting until Week 12 and comment on them all.

However, now that I've experienced Hugh's extensive chapter reviews, my usual cautious approach to accidental spoilers will likely not be necessary. I can check Hugh's summaries to make sure that what I'm revealing actually did occur in one of that section's chapters. So, now, I too may comment in Week 11 even if I am already far into Week 12's reading.

I am only a couple of chapters into week 11/the 7th scene so far - making notes limits when and where I can read so I have not been giving it exclusive attention. I will finish before the end of the year but typing the notes up may take longer.