Meanwhile, Lady Byron, who had lately acquired some documents, which were unknown to her when she left her husband on January 15,[64] came to London on February 22, and had a long private conversation with Dr. Lushington. She then showed him two packets of letters which Mrs. Clermont had abstracted from Byron's writing-desk. Lady Byron received those letters some time between February 14 and 22, 1816. One packet contained missives from a married lady, with whom Byron had been intimate previous to his marriage. It appears that Lady Byron--whose notions of the ordinary code of honour were peculiar--sent those letters to that lady's husband, who, like a sensible man, threw them into the fire. Of the other packet we cannot speak so positively. It probably comprised letters from Augusta Leigh, referring to the child Medora.[65] Such expressions as 'our child' or 'your child' would have fallen quite naturally from her pen under the circumstances. It is easy to imagine the effect of some such words upon the suspicious mind of Lady Byron. By Mrs. Clermont's masterful stroke of treachery, strong presumptive evidence was thus brought against Augusta Leigh. The letters undoubtedly convinced Dr. Lushington that incest had taken place, and he warned Lady Byron against any personal intercourse with Mrs. Leigh. He at the same time advised her to keep her lips closed until Augusta had of her own free will confessed; and pointed out to Lady Byron that, 'while proofs and impressions were such as left no doubt on _her_ mind, _they were decidedly not such as could have been brought forward to establish a charge of incest, in the event of Lady Byron being challenged to bring forward the grounds of her imputation_.'[66] From that moment all Lady Byron's wiles were employed to extract a confession from Augusta Leigh, which would have gone far to justify Lady Byron's conduct in leaving her husband. Soon after this momentous interview with Dr. Lushington, an ugly rumour was spread about town affecting Mrs. Leigh's character. Lord Lovelace says: 'When Augusta's friends vehemently and indignantly resented such a calumny, they were met with the argument that _Lady Byron's refusal to assign a reason for her separation confirmed the report_, and that no one but Augusta could deny it with any effect.' This, by the nature of her agreement with Byron, was impossible, and Mrs. Clermont's treachery held her in a vice. During January and February, 1816, Lady Byron, who strongly suspected Mrs. Leigh's conduct to have been disloyal to herself, wrote the most affectionate letters to that lady. 'KIRKBY MALLORY. 'MY DEAREST A., 'It is my great comfort that you are in Piccadilly.' 'KIRKBY MALLORY, '_January 23, 1816_. 'DEAREST A.,