Lady Audley's Secret

Lady Audley is packing in preparation for her exile, and her maid notices that she seems to enjoy this task: like her beauty, no one is going to rob her of these possessions.

Once they are in Belgium, Lady Audley asks where Robert is taking her and he replies that it is somewhere where she will have “ample leisure to repent the past” (328). When they reach their destination, Lady Audley realizes it is a madhouse. She is led away to her rooms, which have been sumptuously furnished. Still, they are dark and dreary, and Lady Audley sinks into an armchair in a state of anger and despair.

Robert’s story is that this woman is a relative called Mrs. Taylor who has inherited the seeds of madness from her mother, though she is not to be called mad. He asks that she be treated with compassion but warns that she is not to be allowed outside the premises unattended. The proprietor, Monsieur Val assures Lady Audley that every effort will be made to make her stay agreeable, but she orders him to leave her alone with Robert.

Lady Audley rebukes Robert for his cruelty, but Robert says that he has been merciful. Had he let her go free, she would be a menace.