“Youhavehadverylittleexperienceoftheworld，“proceededSirPatrick。“Andyouhavejustacknowledgedthatyouhavehadreasontodistrustyourexperienceofyourfriend。Areyouquitesurethatyouareactingwiselyinkeepinghissecretfrom_me？_Areyouquitesurethatyouwillnotrepentthecourseyouaretakingto-night？“Helaidamarkedemphasisonthoselastwords。“Think，Arnold，“headded，kindly。“Thinkbeforeyouanswer。“
“Ifeelboundinhonortokeephissecret，“saidArnold。“Nothinkingcanalterthat。“
SirPatrickrose，andbroughttheinterviewtoanend。
“Thereisnothingmoretobesaid。“WiththosewordshegaveArnoldhishand，and，pressingitcordially，wishedhimgood-night。
Goingoutintothehall，ArnoldfoundBlanchealone，lookingatthebarometer。
“TheglassisatSetFair，mydarling，“hewhispered。“Good-nightforthelasttime!“
Hetookherinhisarms，andkissedher。AtthemomentwhenhereleasedherBlancheslippedalittlenoteintohishand。
“Readit，“shewhispered，“whenyouarealoneattheinn。“
Sotheypartedontheeveoftheirweddingday。
THEpromiseoftheweather-glasswasfulfilled。ThesunshoneonBlanche’smarriage。
Atnineinthemorningthefirstoftheproceedingsofthedaybegan。Itwasessentiallyofaclandestinenature。Thebrideandbridegroomevadedtherestraintsoflawfulauthority，andpresumedtomeettogetherprivately，beforetheyweremarried，intheconservatoryatHamFarm。
“Youhavereadmyletter，Arnold？“
“Ihavecomeheretoanswerit，Blanche。Butwhynothavetoldme？Whywrite？“
“BecauseIputofftellingyousolong；andbecauseIdidn’tknowhowyoumighttakeit；andforfiftyotherreasons。Nevermind!
I’vemademyconfession。Ihaven’tasinglesecretnowwhichisnotyoursecrettoo。There’stimetosayNo，Arnold，ifyouthinkIoughttohavenoroominmyheartforanybodybutyou。MyuncletellsmeIamobstinateandwronginrefusingtogiveAnneup。Ifyouagreewithhim，saytheword，dear，beforeyoumakemeyourwife。“
“ShallItellyouwhatIsaidtoSirPatricklastnight？“
“About_this？_“
“Yes。Theconfessionasyoucallitwhichyoumakeinyourprettynote，istheverythingthatSirPatrickspoketomeaboutinthedining-roombeforeIwentaway。HetoldmeyourheartwassetonfindingMissSilvester。AndheaskedmewhatImeanttodoaboutitwhenweweremarried。“
“Andyousaid——？“
ArnoldrepeatedhisanswertoSirPatrick，withfervidembellishmentsoftheoriginallanguage，suitabletotheemergency。Blanche’sdelightexpresseditselfintheformoftwounblushingoutragesonpropriety，committedinclosesuccession。
ShethrewherarmsroundArnold’sneck；andsheactuallykissedhimthreehoursbeforetheconsentofStateandChurchsanctionedherintakingthatproceeding。Letusshudder——butletusnotblameher。Thesearetheconsequencesoffreeinstitutions“Now，“saidArnold，“it’smyturntotaketopenandink。Ihavealettertowritebeforewearemarriedaswellasyou。Onlythere’sthisdifferencebetweenus——Iwantyoutohelpme。“
“Whoareyougoingtowriteto？“
“TomylawyerinEdinburgh。TherewillbenotimeunlessIdoitnow。WestartforSwitzerlandthisafternoon——don’twe？’
“Yes。“
“Verywell。Iwanttorelieveyourmind，mydarlingbeforewego。
Wouldn’tyouliketoknow——whileweareaway——thattherightpeopleareonthelook-outforMissSilvester？SirPatrickhastoldmeofthelastplacethatshehasbeentracedto——andmylawyerwillsettherightpeopleatwork。Comeandhelpmetoputitintheproperlanguage，andthewholethingwillbeintrain。“
“Oh，Arnold!canIeverloveyouenoughtorewardyouforthis!“
“Weshallsee，Blanche——inSwitzerland。“
Theyaudaciouslypenetrated，arminarm，intoSirPatrick’sownstudy——entirelyattheirdisposal，astheywellknew，atthathourofthemorning。WithSirPatrick’spensandSirPatrick’spapertheyproducedaletterofinstructions，deliberatelyreopeningtheinvestigationwhichSirPatrick’ssuperiorwisdomhadclosed。NeitherpainsnormoneyweretobesparedbythelawyerinatoncetakingmeasuresbeginningatGlasgowtofindAnne。ThereportoftheresultwastobeaddressedtoArnold，undercovertoSirPatrickatHamFarm。Bythetimetheletterwascompletedthemorninghadadvancedtoteno’clock。BlancheleftArnoldtoarrayherselfinherbridalsplendor——afteranotheroutrageonpropriety，andmoreconsequencesoffreeinstitutions。
Thenextproceedingswereofapublicandavowablenature，andstrictlyfollowedthecustomaryprecedentsonsuchoccasions。
Villagenymphsstrewedflowersonthepathtothechurchdoorandsentinthebillthesameday。Villageswainsrangthejoy-bellsandgotdrunkontheirmoneythesameevening。Therewastheproperandawfulpausewhilethebridegroomwaskeptwaitingatthechurch。Therewastheproperandpitilessstaringofallthefemalespectatorswhenthebridewasledtothealtar。
Therewastheclergyman’spreliminarylookatthelicense——whichmeantofficialcaution。Andtherewastheclerk’spreliminarylookatthebridegroom——whichmeantofficialfees。Allthewomenappearedtobeintheirnaturalelement；andallthemenappearedtobeoutofit。
Thentheservicebegan——rightly-considered，themostterrible，surely，ofallmortalceremonies——theservicewhichbindstwohumanbeings，whoknownexttonothingofeachother’snatures，toriskthetremendousexperimentoflivingtogethertilldeathpartsthem——theservicewhichsays，ineffectifnotinwords，Takeyourleapinthedark：wesanctify，butwedon’tinsure，it!
Theceremonywenton，withouttheslightestobstacletomaritseffect。Therewerenounforeseeninterruptions。Therewerenoominousmistakes。
Thelastwordswerespoken，andthebookwasclosed。Theysignedtheirnamesontheregister；thehusbandwascongratulated；thewifewasembraced。Theywentbackagaintothehouse，withmoreflowersstrewnattheirfeet。Thewedding-breakfastwashurried；
thewedding-speecheswerecurtailed：therewasnotimetobewasted，iftheyoungcoupleweretocatchthetidaltrain。
Inanhourmorethecarriagehadwhirledthemawaytothestation，andtheguestshadgiventhemthefarewellcheerfromthestepsofthehouse。Young，happy，fondlyattachedtoeachother，raisedsecurelyaboveallthesordidcaresoflife，whatagoldenfuturewastheirs!MarriedwiththesanctionoftheFamilyandtheblessingoftheChurch——whocouldsupposethatthetimewascoming，nevertheless，whentheblightingquestionwouldfallonthem，inthespring-timeoftheirlove：AreyouManandWife？
Twodaysafterthemarriage——onWednesday，theninthofSeptemberapacketofletters，receivedatWindygates，wasforwardedbyLadyLundie’sstewardtoHamFarm。
Withoneexception，theletterswerealladdressedeithertoSirPatrickortohissister-in-law。Theoneexceptionwasdirectedto“ArnoldBrinkworth，Esq。，careofLadyLundie，WindygatesHouse，Perthshire“——andtheenvelopewasspeciallyprotectedbyaseal。
Noticingthatthepost-markwas“Glasgow，“SirPatricktowhomtheletterhadbeendeliveredlookedwithacertaindistrustatthehandwritingontheaddress。Itwasnotknowntohim——butitwasobviouslythehandwritingofawoman。LadyLundiewassittingoppositetohimatthetable。Hesaid，carelessly，“AletterforArnold“——andpusheditacrosstoher。Herladyshiptookuptheletter，anddroppedit，theinstantshelookedatthehandwriting，asifithadburnedherfingers。
“ThePersonagain!“exclaimedLadyLundie。“ThePerson，presumingtoaddressArnoldBrinkworth，atMyhouse!“
“MissSilvester？“askedSirPatrick。
“No，“saidherladyship，shuttingherteethwithasnap。“ThePersonmayinsultmebyaddressingalettertomycare。ButthePerson’snameshallnotpollutemylips。Noteveninyourhouse，SirPatrick。Noteventoplease_you。_“
SirPatrickwassufficientlyanswered。Afterallthathadhappened——afterherfarewelllettertoBlanche——herewasMissSilvesterwritingtoBlanche’shusband，ofherownaccord!Itwasunaccountable，tosaytheleastofit。Hetooktheletterback，andlookedatitagain。LadyLundie’sstewardwasamethodicalman。HehadindorsedeachletterreceivedatWindygateswiththedateofitsdelivery。TheletteraddressedtoArnoldhadbeendeliveredonMonday，theseventhofSeptember——onArnold’sweddingday。
Whatdiditmean？
Itwaspurewasteoftimetoinquire。SirPatrickrosetolocktheletterupinoneofthedrawersofthewriting-tablebehindhim。LadyLundieinterferedintheinterestofmorality。
“SirPatrick!“
“Yes？“
“Don’tyouconsiderityourdutytoopenthatletter？“
“Mydearlady!whatcanyoupossiblybethinkingof？“
Themostvirtuousoflivingwomenhadheranswerreadyonthespot。
“Iamthinking，“saidLadyLundie，“ofArnold’smoralwelfare。“
SirPatricksmiled。Onthelonglistofthoserespectabledisguisesunderwhichweassertourownimportance，orgratifyourownloveofmeddlinginourneighbor’saffairs，amoralregardforthewelfareofothersfiguresintheforemostplace，andstandsdeservedlyasnumberone。
“WeshallprobablyhearfromArnoldinadayortwo，“saidSirPatrick，lockingtheletterupinthedrawer。“HeshallhaveitassoonasIknowwheretosendittohim。“
Thenextmorningbroughtnewsofthebrideandbridegroom。
Theyreportedthemselvestobetoosupremelyhappytocarewheretheylived，solongastheylivedtogether。EveryquestionbutthequestionofLovewasleftinthecompetenthandsoftheircourier。Thissensibleandtrust-worthymanhaddecidedthatPariswasnottobethoughtofasaplaceofresidencebyanysanehumanbeinginthemonthofSeptember。HehadarrangedthattheyweretoleaveforBaden——ontheirwaytoSwitzerland——onthetenth。Letterswereaccordinglytobeaddressedtothatplace，untilfurthernotice。IfthecourierlikedBaden，theywouldprobablystaythereforsometime。Ifthecouriertookafancyforthemountains，theywouldinthatcasegoontoSwitzerland。
InthemeanwhilenothingmatteredtoArnoldbutBlanche——andnothingmatteredtoBlanchebutArnold。