The nurse was standing by, listening to the strange conversation.
"Did you hear that?" inquired Mole.
"Yes, sir," she replied.
"Pay particular attention to it if you please, as it is of the utmost importance to a friend of mine and you will be required possibly as a witness."
"Who is this first wife?" pursued Mole, "and what is her name?"
"A French woman, Adéle Bellefontaine, living with Madame Vesta Levine, the clairvoyant, in New York city!"
The heavy lids fell down over the eyes and the man lapsed into a state of semi-consciousness.
It was then about nine o'clock in the evening.
If the professor's leg had not been broken, he would have got up and hastened to the Continental Hotel to apprise Jack Harkaway of that which would have been amply sufficient to stop the impending marriage on the morrow between Lena Van Hoosen and Lord Maltravers.
The next day they were to be married and if ever that marriage took place, Jack's heart would be broken.