Lady Audley's Secret

When Lady Audley and Alicia return to the Court, Robert and Alicia engage in more squabbling. He sees her as a nice, generous girl, but . . . at this point, Robert experiences “some hitch in his mind” (224) that is unconnected with George’s disappearance.

When Lady Audley asks Robert where he has been, he tells her that he has been to the town where George was married. She tells him that she is nervous, and he replies that this is because the house is “haunted by the ghost of George Talboys” (226). Lady Audley insists that George is a stranger to her. Nevertheless, Robert proceeds to tell her how George returned from Australia only to learn that his wife was dead. He has since grown to believe that the announcement was a lie. He supposes that she had married a richer man while George was away and wanted to throw her first husband off the scent. 

If George’s wife didn’t die, Lady Audley asks, who is lying in the churchyard at Ventnor? Robert replies that only three people can answer that—one of whom is a woman called Mrs. Plowson. He tells Lady Audley to heed his warning and flees, assuring her that if she does so, he will not pursue his investigations.