Sir Michael proposes to Lucy Graham; she accepts while admitting the wealth and lifestyle he offers are her main attraction.

George Talboys arrives in England after years working in Australia and is devastated to read that his wife Helen has died.

Robert and George travel to Ventnor and visit the grave where Helen Talboys is buried.

Robert is appointed guardian of George's young son before George misses his ship back to Australia.

Robert brings a grief-stricken George to Audley, where Lady Audley repeatedly avoids meeting him using a false illness ruse.

George and Robert finally meet Lady Audley when her carriage returns at night, just before a violent storm breaks.

George disappears after going alone to visit Lady Audley at Audley Court, leaving Robert worried and confused.

Robert finds a half-burnt telegraph at Mr. Maldon's home suggesting George's departure from England was fabricated.

Robert travels to Liverpool and confirms that no record exists of George boarding any departing ship.

Robert presents his evidence and suspicions directly to Lady Audley in conversation; the color drains from her face.

Lady Audley locks Robert in his room at the Castle Inn and sets the building on fire to silence him.

Robert appears at Audley Court having survived the fire and demands Lady Audley confess everything to Sir Michael.

Lady Audley reveals her true identity as Helen Talboys and confesses her full life story to Sir Michael and Robert.

Sir Michael is devastated by Lady Audley's confession and entrusts her future care entirely to Robert.

Lady Audley is committed to a Belgian mental institution and tells Robert that George's body lies at the bottom of the well.

Sir Michael Audley marries Lucy Graham, a charming governess with a mysterious past, while his nephew Robert befriends the grieving George Talboys, who has just learned his wife died. Robert brings George to Audley Court, where Lady Audley's repeated efforts to avoid meeting him raise the first shadows of suspicion. George mysteriously disappears, and Robert mounts a careful investigation that points steadily toward Lady Audley's hidden identity and guilt. As Robert closes in, Lady Audley attempts to kill him in a fire at the Castle Inn, but he survives and forces a confrontation. Lady Audley confesses to Sir Michael that she is Helen Talboys, George's first wife, who faked her own death and committed bigamy to secure a wealthy marriage. She is committed to a Belgian asylum, where she finally admits to pushing George into the well at Audley Court.

The headline events of Lady Audley's rise and downfall.

A governess aboard George's ship raises his anxiety about what may have changed during his long absence from England.

Phoebe Marks and Luke secretly tour Lady Audley's rooms and find a hidden drawer in the jewelry box containing baby shoes and a lock of hair; Phoebe declares Luke will have his public house.

Robert Audley, an idle barrister who takes no cases, runs into his childhood friend George Talboys by chance on a London street.

A landlady gives George a lock of Helen's hair at Ventnor, which George notices is straighter than he remembers.

Robert and George find Mr. Maldon at the beach with George's young son, who does not recognize his own father.

Lady Audley enlists Phoebe's help in a private scheme and then leaves Audley Court under cover of a fake telegram about an ill schoolmistress.

Robert falls under Lady Audley's spell upon their first meeting and returns to the inn declaring he is falling in love with his aunt.

Robert and George view Lady Audley's portrait in her private rooms while she is absent; Robert finds its features strangely sinister.

Robert notices finger-like bruise marks on Lady Audley's wrist during dinner at Audley Court, which she claims were caused by a tight ribbon.

Robert posts missing person advertisements for George in several newspapers, but no one at Audley Court seems concerned.

Lady Audley discovers Phoebe has revealed her secret to Luke and agrees to fund Luke and Phoebe's Castle Inn to buy their silence.

Lady Audley persuades Sir Michael that Robert is dangerously mad to deflect suspicion from herself and her secrets.

Robert visits Mrs. Vincent, Lady Audley's former schoolteacher, and confirms the illness telegram was a deliberate fabrication.

Robert traces Helen Talboys' history to Wildernsea and obtains a letter written in Helen's hand that matches Lady Audley's distinctive script.

Luke Marks reveals on his deathbed that he found George alive and injured in the gardens of Audley Court.

From the anxious Atlantic crossing of George Talboys to the scheming minds of maid Phoebe and her husband Luke, this pool traces the secondary threads that enrich the novel's central mystery. Phoebe discovers Lady Audley's hidden relics and immediately senses an opportunity for blackmail, while Robert is bewitched by Lady Audley and begins to notice unsettling clues such as her bruised wrist and the sinister quality of her portrait. Robert methodically investigates by posting missing person advertisements, exposing a forged telegram, and tracing Helen Talboys' history to the seaside town of Wildernsea. Luke and Phoebe secure their Castle Inn through extortion, and Lady Audley works to control the damage by persuading Sir Michael that Robert is dangerously mad. The pool ends on a deathbed revelation from Luke confirming that George Talboys did not die in the well as everyone had believed.

The supporting events that build Lady Audley's web of secrets.

Sir Michael notices Lucy Graham clutching the ribbon at her throat and laughing strangely as she accepts his marriage proposal.

Lucy Graham secretly keeps a wedding ring wrapped in paper hidden at her throat after her marriage to Sir Michael.

George Talboys collapses upon reading his wife's obituary in a newspaper at a London coffee house.

George's young son tells Robert about a pretty lady who visited him at night, cried, and left a gold watch under his pillow.

Robert opens George's trunk and finds an inscription in an annual written in Helen Talboys' hand, which matches Lady Audley's handwriting.

Robert draws up a formal list of facts about George's disappearance and resolves to resume his investigation at Audley.

Robert visits George's father Harcourt Talboys, who coldly dismisses his son's disappearance as a self-serving attention-seeking trick.

Clara Talboys chases Robert's departing carriage and passionately begs him to find her brother's murderer and seek justice.

Robert stays at the Castle Inn instead of returning to London and extracts pointed clues from Luke and Phoebe about Lady Audley.

Robert confronts Lady Audley in the lime-tree walk, declaring George is buried in the garden; she threatens to kill him.

Phoebe reveals to Lady Audley that the Castle Inn nearly burned down due to Luke's drunken carelessness, planting an idea.

Robert meets Clara in Audley church and hears a description of Lady Audley that matches George's own letters describing his wife.

Dr. Mosgrave examines Lady Audley, concludes she is dangerous rather than genuinely mad, and provides the address of a Belgian institution.

Robert confesses his love to Clara Talboys and proposes marriage; Harcourt Talboys gives his permission for the match.

George Talboys appears at Robert's London chambers, having returned from lonely exile in New York to seek the company of friends.

This pool gathers the pivotal moments of revelation and decision that drive the novel's suspense, beginning with Sir Michael's uneasy sense that his charming new bride is concealing something dark. Robert's investigation gains momentum through a series of startling finds: an inscription in an annual matching Lady Audley's handwriting, a child's account of a mysterious night visitor, and a description of Lady Audley that matches George's own letters describing his wife. Clara Talboys emerges as a crucial turning point, transforming Robert from a reluctant observer into a determined avenger. Lady Audley is examined by a doctor and committed to a Belgian institution, while the novel's emotional resolution arrives when Robert confesses his love to Clara and the presumed-dead George himself reappears. Together these moments mark every major shift in the contest of wills between Robert Audley and Lady Audley.