Seethepointsintheirorderastheycome。Youaregoingtobemarried；youstatetowhom，youaddthatIamthelady’sguardian；yougivethenameandaddressofmylawyerinEdinburgh；youwriteyourinstructionsplainlyinthefewestwords，andleavedetailstoyourlegaladviser；youreferthelawyerstoeachother；yourequestthatthedraftsettlementsbepreparedasspeedilyaspossible，andyougiveyouraddressatthishouse。Therearetheheads。Can’tyoudoitnow？Oh，therisinggeneration!Oh，theprogresswearemakingintheseenlightenedmoderntimes!There!there!youcanmarryBlanche，andmakeherhappy，andincreasethepopulation——andallwithoutknowinghowtowritetheEnglishlanguage。OnecanonlysaywiththelearnedBevorskius，lookingoutofhiswindowattheillimitablelovesofthesparrows，’HowmercifulisHeaventoitscreatures!’Takeupthepen。I’lldictate!I’lldictate!“
SirPatrickreadtheletterover，approvedofit，andsawitsafeintheboxforthepost。Thisdone，heperemptorilyforbadeArnoldtospeaktohisnieceonthesubjectofthemarriagewithouthisexpresspermission。“There’ssomebodyelse’sconsenttobegot，“hesaid，“besidesBlanche’sconsentandmine。“
“LadyLundie？“
“LadyLundie。Strictlyspeaking，Iamtheonlyauthority。Butmysister-in-lawisBlanche’sstep-mother，andsheisappointedguardianintheeventofmydeath。Shehasarighttobeconsulted——incourtesy，ifnotinlaw。Wouldyouliketodoit？“
Arnold’sfacefell。HelookedatSirPatrickinsilentdismay。
“What!youcan’tevenspeaktosuchaperfectlypliablepersonasLadyLundie？Youmayhavebeenaveryusefulfellowatsea。A
morehelplessyoungmanInevermetwithonshore。Getoutwithyouintothegardenamongtheothersparrows!Somebodymustconfrontherladyship。Andifyouwon’t——Imust。“
HepushedArnoldoutofthelibrary，andappliedmeditativelytotheknobofhiscane。Hisgayetydisappeared，nowthathewasalone。HisexperienceofLadyLundie’scharactertoldhimthat，inattemptingtowinherapprovaltoanyschemeforhurryingBlanche’smarriage，hewasundertakingnoeasytask。“Isuppose，“
musedSirPatrick，thinkingofhislatebrother——“IsupposepoorTomhadsomewayofmanagingher。Howdidhedoit，Iwonder？Ifshehadbeenthewifeofabricklayer，sheisthesortofwomanwhowouldhavebeenkeptinperfectorderbyavigorousandregularapplicationofherhusband’sfist。ButTomwasn’tabricklayer。IwonderhowTomdidit？“AfteralittlehardthinkingonthispointSirPatrickgaveuptheproblemasbeyondhumansolution。“Itmustbedone，“heconcluded。“Andmyownmother-witmusthelpmetodoit。“
InthatresignedframeofmindheknockedatthedoorofLadyLundie’sboudoir。
SIRPATRICKfoundhissister-in-lawimmersedindomesticbusiness。Herladyship’scorrespondenceandvisitinglist，herladyship’shouseholdbillsandledgers；herladyship’sDiaryandMemorandum-bookboundinscarletmorocco；herladyship’sdesk，envelope-case，match-box，andtapercandlestickallinebonyandsilver；herladyshipherself，presidingoverherresponsibilities，andwieldinghermaterials，equaltoanycallsofemergency，beautifullydressedincorrectmorningcostume，blessedwithperfecthealthbothofthesecretionsandtheprinciples；absolutelyvoidofvice，andformidablyfullofvirtue，presented，toeveryproperly-constitutedmind，themostimposingspectacleknowntohumanity——theBritishMatrononherthrone，askingtheworldingeneral，WhenwillyouproducethelikeofMe？
“IamafraidIdisturbyou，“saidSirPatrick。“Iamaperfectlyidleperson。ShallIlookinalittlelater？“
LadyLundieputherhandtoherhead，andsmiledfaintly。
“Alittlepressure_here，_SirPatrick。Praysitdown。Dutyfindsmeearnest；Dutyfindsmecheerful；Dutyfindsmeaccessible。
Fromapoor，weakwoman，Dutymustexpectnomore。Nowwhatisit？“Herladyshipconsultedherscarletmemorandum-book。“I
havegotithere，underitsproperhead，distinguishedbyinitialletters。P——the。poor。No。H。M——heathenmissions。No。
V。T。A——Visitorstoarrive。No。P。I。P——Hereitis：privateinterviewwithPatrick。Willyouforgivemethelittleharmlessfamiliarityofomittingyourtitle？Thankyou!Youarealwayssogood。Iamquiteatyourservicewhenyouliketobegin。Ifit’sanythingpainful，praydon’thesitate。Iamquiteprepared。“
Withthatintimationherladyshipthrewherselfbackinherchair，withherelbowsonthearms，andherfingersjoinedatthetips，asifshewasreceivingadeputation。“Yes？“shesaid，interrogatively。SirPatrickpaidaprivatetributeofpitytohislatebrother’smemory，andenteredonhisbusiness。
“Wewon’tcallitapainfulmatter，“hebegan。“Letussayit’samatterofdomesticanxiety。Blanche——“
LadyLundieemittedafaintscream，andputherhandoverhereyes。
“_Must_you？“criedherladyship，inatoneoftouchingremonstrance。“Oh，SirPatrick，_must_you？“
“Yes。Imust。“
LadyLundie’smagnificenteyeslookedupatthathiddencourtofhumanappealwhichislodgedintheceiling。ThehiddencourtlookeddownatLadyLundie，andsaw——Dutyadvertisingitselfinthelargestcapitalletters。
“Goon，SirPatrick。ThemottoofwomanisSelf-sacrifice。Yousha’n’tseehowyoudistressme。Goon。“
SirPatrickwentonimpenetrably——withoutbetrayingtheslightestexpressionofsympathyorsurprise。
“IwasabouttorefertothenervousattackfromwhichBlanchehassufferedthismorning，“hesaid。“MayIaskwhetheryouhavebeeninformedofthecausetowhichtheattackisattributable？“
“There!“exclaimedLadyLundiewithasuddenboundinherchair，andasuddendevelopmentofvocalpowertocorrespond。“TheonethingIshrankfromspeakingof!thecruel，cruel，cruelbehaviorIwaspreparedtopassover!AndSirPatrickhintsonit!
Innocently——don’tletmedoaninjustice——innocentlyhintsonit!“
“Hintsonwhat，mydearMadam？“
“Blanche’sconducttomethismorning。Blanche’sheartlesssecrecy。Blanche’sundutifulsilence。Irepeatthewords：
Heartlesssecrecy。Undutifulsilence。“
“Allowmeforonemoment，LadyLundie——“
“Allow_me，_SirPatrick!HeavenknowshowunwillingIamtospeakofit。Heavenknowsthatnotawordofreferencetoitescaped_my_lips。Butyouleavemenochoicenow。Asmistressofthehousehold，asaChristianwoman，asthewidowofyourdearbrother，asamothertothismisguidedgirl，Imuststatethefacts。Iknowyoumeanwell；Iknowyouwishtospareme。Quiteuseless!Imuststatethefacts。“
SirPatrickbowed，andsubmitted。Ifhehadonlybeenabricklayer!andifLadyLundiehadnotbeen，whatherladyshipunquestionablywas，thestrongestpersonofthetwo!
“Permitmetodrawaveil，foryoursake，“saidLadyLundie，“overthehorrors——Icannot，withthebestwishtospareyou，conscientiouslycallthembyanyothername——thehorrorsthattookplaceupstairs。ThemomentIheardthatBlanchewasillI
wasatmypost。Dutywillalwaysfindmeready，SirPatrick，tomydyingday。Shockingasthewholethingwas，Ipresidedcalmlyoverthescreamsandsobsofmystep-daughter。Iclosedmyearstotheprofaneviolenceofherlanguage。Isetthenecessaryexample，asanEnglishgentlewomanattheheadofherhousehold。
ItwasonlywhenIdistinctlyheardthenameofaperson，nevertobementionedagaininmyfamilycircle，issueifImayusetheexpressionfromBlanche’slipsthatIbegantobereallyalarmed。Isaidtomymaid：’Hopkins，thisisnotHysteria。Thisisapossessionofthedevil。Fetchthechloroform。’“
Chloroform，appliedinthecapacityofanexorcism，wasentirelynewtoSirPatrick。Hepreservedhisgravitywithconsiderabledifficulty。LadyLundiewenton：
“Hopkinsisanexcellentperson——butHopkinshasatongue。Shemetourdistinguishedmedicalguestinthecorridor，andtoldhim。Hewassogoodastocometothedoor。Iwasshockedtotroublehimtoactinhisprofessionalcapacitywhilehewasavisitor，anhonoredvisitor，inmyhouse。Besides，Iconsidereditmoreacaseforaclergymanthanforamedicalman。However，therewasnohelpforitafterHopkins’stongue。Irequestedoureminentfriendtofavoruswith——Ithinktheexactscientifictermis——aPrognosis。Hetookthepurelymaterialviewwhichwasonlytobeexpectedfromapersoninhisprofession。Heprognosed——_am_Iright？Didheprognose？ordidhediagnose？A
habitofspeakingcorrectlyis_so_important，SirPatrick!andI
shouldbe_so_grievedtomisleadyou!“
“Nevermind，LadyLundie!Ihaveheardthemedicalreport。Don’ttroubleyourselftorepeatit。“
“Don’ttroublemyselftorepeatit？“echoedLadyLundie——withherdignityupinarmsatthebareprospectoffindingherremarksabridged。“Ah，SirPatrick!thatlittleconstitutionalimpatienceofyours!——Oh，dearme!howoftenyoumusthavegivenwaytoit，andhowoftenyoumusthaveregrettedit，inyourtime!“
“Mydearlady!ifyouwishtorepeatthereport，whynotsayso，inplainwords？Don’tletmehurryyou。Letushavetheprognosis，byallmeans。“