“I do not believe in mandrake, or in blood-stains that no time can efface. I believe rather that we may walk unconsciously in an atmosphere of crime, and breathe none the less freely. I believe that we may look into the smiling face of a murderer, and admire its tranquil beauty” (Braddon 144).
In this passage, Robert makes it pretty clear to Lady Audley what he really thinks about her, and more specifically, what he thinks happened to George Talboys. In a literal sense, he says that George could have been killed by someone you would never expect to be a murderer, and it could have happened in the room you were just in. In reality, he is alluding to Lady Audley; he uses the words “smiling face” and “tranquil beauty”, which have been used throughout the book (or similar variations) as descriptors of Lady Audley. Robert is basically telling Mrs. Audley that he knows she killed George, and that everyone else may have been fooled by her looks, but that he knows better – all the while admitting that he does not currently have the proof to make anything of it.
While Lady Audley keeps a mostly calm, confident demeanor during the conversation, she does seem to get nervous from some of the things Robert says. When he tells Lady Audley that he has letters from George’s wife, her initial laughter (at his mention of items George had left behind) turns to silence. She then simply asks the question, “Have you ever seen any of the letters written by the late Mrs. Talboys?” Clearly, the idea of George having seen Mrs. Talboys’ writing causes Lady Audley some distress, signaled by her sudden change in behavior. Personally, I have no doubt in my mind that Lady Audley is the same person as Mrs. Talboys, but even as obvious as it seems to me (and Robert), there is not enough evidence for Robert to mount a case against her. He and Lady Audley seem to be at a sort of standstill; she pretends like she knows nothing and acts confident, yet is worried about Robert being able to prove her guilt, while Robert seems to know for sure what the truth is, but is just as of yet unable to find the right evidence or crack Lady Audley’s facade.
I really enjoyed reading this because I totally agree with what you have written. I’ve found it so frustrating on how little evidence there is to prove Lady Audley guilty. To me, it has been pretty evident that she would be the killer of George because of the leads of evidence in the novel of her connection with Helen. Robert has been doing a great job digging for material on this case and with Lady’s Audley’s uneasiness Robert has the motivation to keep finding more evidence to prove her guilt.
It’s interesting how calm and collective Lady Audley is considering Robert has more to use against her then she does him. But then, her childlike behavior comes into play. She still believes that Sir Michael will protect her against anything and anyone, showing how innocent she really is. Lady Audley constantly takes advantage of Sir Michael by using her beauty and childlike emotions to influence and convince him as a form of manipulation. In a later passage Lady Audley says to Alicia, ““No, Alicia; he will believe anything that I tell him,” answered my lady, with a quiet smile”” (Braddon, 276). It seems as if Lady Audley hides under Sir Michael’s power, and toys with his emotions to get her way- it’s her safe heaven.
What if Lady Audley (Lucy/Helen) had not married Sir Michael, but was his servant or governess to Alicia instead? Would Lady Audley still have a safe heaven from Robert, or at least feel that she does?