Hehadinterpretedhisfriend’sabsenceexactlyashisfriendhadanticipated：hecouldonlyassumethatGeoffreyhadgonetokeepaprivateappointmentwithAnne。MissSilvester’sappearanceatWindygatesalone，andMissSilvester’sanxietytohearthenamesofthegentlemenwhowerestayinginthehouse，seemed，underthesecircumstances，topointtotheplainconclusionthatthetwohad，insomeway，unfortunatelymissedeachother。Butwhatcouldbethemotiveofherflight？WhethersheknewofsomeotherplaceinwhichshemightmeetGeoffrey？orwhethershehadgonebacktotheinn？orwhethershehadactedundersomesuddenimpulseofdespair？——werequestionswhichArnoldwasnecessarilyquiteincompetenttosolve。TherewasnochoicebuttowaituntilanopportunityofferedofreportingwhathadhappenedtoGeoffreyhimself。
Afterthelapseofhalfanhour，thesoundofsomeapproachingvehicle——thefirstsoundofthesortthathehadheard——attractedArnold’sattention。Hestartedup，andsawthepony-chaiseapproachinghimalongtheroadfromthestation。SirPatrick，thistime，wascompelledtodrivehimself——Duncanwasnotwithhim。OndiscoveringArnold，hestoppedthepony。
“So!so!“saidtheoldgentleman。“Youhaveheardallaboutit，I
see？Youunderstandthatthisistobeasecretfromeverybody，tillfurthernotice？Verygood，Hasanythinghappenedsinceyouhavebeenhere？“
“Nothing。Haveyoumadeanydiscoveries，SirPatrick？“