"Ellen Monroe," replied the rector.
"I thought so," exclaimed the old woman.
"You know her, then?" cried Reginald Tracy in astonishment. "Are you sure she is the same whom you imagine her to be?"
"She resides at the house of Mr. Markham in Holloway—does she not?"
"She does. But how came you to be acquainted with her? what cause of intimacy could exist between you and her?" demanded the rector.
"My left hand never knows what my right hand does," said the hag. "If I reveal to you the affairs of another, how could you put confidence in me when I declare that your own secrets shall not be communicated to Lady Harborough or any one else who might question me?"
"True!" said the rector: "I cannot blame your discretion. "But tell me—have you any hope that I may succeed?"
"The business is a difficult one," answered the hag. "And yet greater obstacles than I can here see have been overcome—aye, and by me, too. Did I not tell Lady Harborough that I would bring you back to her arms? and did I not succeed? Am I then to be foiled now. Show me the weakness of a human being, and I direct all my energies against that failing. Ellen Monroe has two vulnerable points——"
"Which are they?" asked the rector eagerly.
"Her vanity and her love for her father," replied the harridan. "Leave her to me: when I am ready for you I will call upon you."