Madeline Lester, at the age of eighteen, was the beauty and toast of the whole country; with a mind no less beautiful than her form was graceful, and a desire for study equalled only by her regard for those who possessed it, a regard which had extended secretly, if all but unacknowledged to herself, to the solitary scholar of whom I have been speaking.

Mrs. Lester was a pretty creature, birdlike, in her small daintiness, and a certain chirpy brightness.

And I'll say this, Mr. Lester, if this isn't suicide, it's the strangest case I ever had anything to do with.

"Lester is the man that has the complaint," said Lord Nick.

"Mr. Lester is Mr. Vantine's attorney," the coroner added, in explanation.