SHEtookhishand，andbeganwithalltheartofpersuasionthatshepossessed。
“Onequestion，Geoffrey，beforeIsaywhatIwanttosay。LadyLundiehasinvitedyoutostayatWindygates。Doyouacceptherinvitation？ordoyougobacktoyourbrother’sintheevening？“
“Ican’tgobackintheevening——they’veputavisitorintomyroom。I’mobligedtostayhere。Mybrotherhasdoneitonpurpose。JuliushelpsmewhenI’mhardup——andbulliesmeafterward。Hehassentmehere，ondutyforthefamily。SomebodymustbeciviltoLadyLundie——andI’mthesacrifice。“
Shetookhimupathislastword。“Don’tmakethesacrifice，“shesaid。“ApologizetoLadyLundie，andsayyouareobligedtogoback。“
“Why？“
“Becausewemustbothleavethisplaceto-day。“
Therewasadoubleobjectiontothat。IfheleftLadyLundie’s，hewouldfailtoestablishafuturepecuniaryclaimonhisbrother’sindulgence。AndifheleftwithAnne，theeyesoftheworldwouldseethem，andthewhispersoftheworldmightcometohisfather’sears。
“Ifwegoawaytogether，“hesaid，“good-bytomyprospects，andyourstoo。“
“Idon’tmeanthatweshallleavetogether，“sheexplained。“Wewillleaveseparately——andIwillgofirst。“
“Therewillbeahueandcryafteryou，whenyouaremissed。“
“Therewillbeadancewhenthecroquetisover。Idon’tdance——andIshallnotbemissed。Therewillbetime，andopportunitytogettomyownroom。IshallleavealetterthereforLadyLundie，andaletter“——hervoicetrembledforamoment——“andaletterforBlanche。Don’tinterruptme!Ihavethoughtofthis，asIhavethoughtofeverythingelse。TheconfessionIshallmakewillbethetruthinafewhours，ifit’snotthetruthnow。MyletterswillsayIamprivatelymarried，andcalledawayunexpectedlytojoinmyhusband。Therewillbeascandalinthehouse，Iknow。Buttherewillbenoexcuseforsendingafterme，whenIamundermyhusband’sprotection。Sofarasyouarepersonallyconcernedtherearenodiscoveriestofear——andnothingwhichitisnotperfectlysafeandperfectlyeasytodo。WaithereanhourafterIhavegonetosaveappearances；andthenfollowme。“
“Followyou？“interposedGeoffrey。“Where？“Shedrewherchairnearertohim，andwhisperedthenextwordsinhisear。
“Toalonelylittlemountaininn——fourmilesfromthis。“
“Aninn!“
“Whynot？“
“Aninnisapublicplace。“
Amovementofnaturalimpatienceescapedher——butshecontrolledherself，andwentonasquietlyasbefore：
“TheplaceImeanistheloneliestplaceintheneighborhood。Youhavenopryingeyestodreadthere。Ihavepickeditoutexpresslyforthatreason。It’sawayfromtherailway；it’sawayfromthehigh-road：it’skeptbyadecent，respectableScotchwoman——“
“Decent，respectableScotchwomenwhokeepinns，“interposedGeoffrey，“don’tcottontoyoungladieswhoaretravelingalone。
Thelandladywon’treceiveyou。“
Itwasawell-aimedobjection——butitmissedthemark。Awomanbentonhermarriageisawomanwhocanmeettheobjectionsofthewholeworld，single-handed，andrefutethemall。
“Ihaveprovidedforeverything，“shesaid，“andIhaveprovidedforthat。IshalltellthelandladyIamonmywedding-trip。I
shallsaymyhusbandissight-seeing，onfoot，amongthemountainsintheneighborhood——“
“Sheissuretobelievethat!“saidGeoffrey。
“Sheissureto_dis_believeit，ifyoulike。Lether!Youhaveonlytoappear，andtoaskforyourwife——andthereismystoryprovedtobetrue!Shemaybethemostsuspiciouswomanliving，aslongasIamalonewithher。Themomentyoujoinme，yousethersuspicionsatrest。Leavemetodomypart。Mypartisthehardone。Willyoudoyours？“
ItwasimpossibletosayNo：shehadfairlycutthegroundfromunderhisfeet。Heshiftedhisground。AnythingratherthansayYes!
“Isuppose_you_knowhowwearetobemarried？“heasked。“AllI
cansayis——_I_don’t。“
“Youdo!“sheretorted。“YouknowthatweareinScotland。Youknowthatthereareneitherforms，ceremonies，nordelaysinmarriage，here。TheplanIhaveproposedtoyousecuresmybeingreceivedattheinn，andmakesiteasyandnaturalforyoutojoinmethereafterward。Therestisinourownhands。AmanandawomanwhowishtobemarriedinScotlandhaveonlytosecurethenecessarywitnessesandthethingisdone。Ifthelandladychoosestoresentthedeceptionpracticedonher，afterthat，thelandladymaydoasshepleases。Weshallhavegainedourobjectinspiteofher——and，whatismore，weshallhavegaineditwithoutriskto_you。_“
“Don’tlayitallonmyshoulders，“Geoffreyrejoined。“Youwomengoheadlongateverything。Saywearemarried。Wemustseparateafterward——orhowarewetokeepitasecret？“
“Certainly。Youwillgoback，ofcourse，toyourbrother’shouse，asifnothinghadhappened。“
“Andwhatistobecomeof_you？_“
“IshallgotoLondon。“
“WhatareyoutodoinLondon？“
“Haven’tIalreadytoldyouthatIhavethoughtofeverything？
WhenIgettoLondonIshallapplytosomeofmymother’soldfriends——friendsofhersinthetimewhenshewasamusician。
EverybodytellsmeIhaveavoice——ifIhadonlycultivatedit。
I_will_cultivateit!Icanlive，andliverespectably，asaconcertsinger。Ihavesavedmoneyenoughtosupportme，whileI
amlearning——andmymother’sfriendswillhelpme，forhersake。“
So，inthenewlifethatshewasmarkingout，wasshenowunconsciouslyreflectinginherselfthelifeofhermotherbeforeher。Herewasthemother’scareerasapublicsinger，choseninspiteofalleffortstopreventitbythechild!Herethoughwithothermotives，andunderothercircumstanceswasthemother’sirregularmarriageinIreland，onthepointofbeingfollowedbythedaughter’sirregularmarriageinScotland!Andhere，strangerstill，wasthemanwhowasanswerableforit——thesonofthemanwhohadfoundtheflawintheIrishmarriage，andhadshownthewaybywhichhermotherwasthrownontheworld!
“MyAnneismysecondself。Sheisnotcalledbyherfather’sname；sheiscalledbymine。SheisAnneSilvesterasIwas。WillsheendlikeMe？“——Theanswertothosewords——thelastwordsthathadtrembledonthedyingmother’slips——wascomingfast。Throughthechancesandchangesofmanyyears，thefuturewaspressingnear——andAnneSilvesterstoodonthebrinkofit。
“Well？“sheresumed。“Areyouattheendofyourobjections？Canyougivemeaplainansweratlast？“
No!Hehadanotherobjectionreadyasthewordspassedherlips。
“Supposethewitnessesattheinnhappentoknowme？“hesaid。
“Supposeitcomestomyfather’searsinthatway？“
“Supposeyoudrivemetomydeath？“sheretorted，startingtoherfeet。“Yourfathershallknowthetruth，inthatcase——Iswearit!“
Herose，onhisside，anddrewbackfromher。Shefollowedhimup。Therewasaclappingofhands，atthesamemoment，onthelawn。Somebodyhadevidentlymadeabrilliantstrokewhichpromisedtodecidethegame。TherewasnosecuritynowthatBlanchemightnotreturnagain。Therewaseveryprospect，thegamebeingover，thatLadyLundiewouldbefree。Annebroughttheinterviewtoitscrisis，withoutwastingamomentmore。
“Mr。GeoffreyDelamayn，“shesaid。“Youhavebargainedforaprivatemarriage，andIhaveconsented。Areyou，orareyounot，readytomarrymeonyourownterms？“
“Givemeaminutetothink!“
“Notaninstant。Onceforall，isitYes，orNo？“
Hecouldn’tsay“Yes，“eventhen。Buthesaidwhatwasequivalenttoit。Heasked，savagely，“Whereistheinn？“
Sheputherarminhis，andwhispered，rapidly，“Passtheroadontherightthatleadstotherailway。Followthepathoverthemoor，andthesheep-trackupthehill。Thefirsthouseyoucometoafterthatistheinn。Youunderstand!“
Henoddedhishead，withasullenfrown，andtookhispipeoutofhispocketagain。
“Letitalonethistime，“hesaid，meetinghereye。“Mymind’supset。Whenaman’smind’supset，amancan’tsmoke。What’sthenameoftheplace？“
“CraigFernie。“
“WhoamItoaskforatthedoor？“
“Foryourwife。“
“Supposetheywantyoutogiveyournamewhenyougetthere？“
“IfImustgiveaname，IshallcallmyselfMrs。，insteadofMiss，Silvester。ButIshalldomybesttoavoidgivinganyname。
Andyouwilldoyourbesttoavoidmakingamistake，byonlyaskingformeasyourwife。Isthereanythingelseyouwanttoknow？“
“Yes。“
“Bequickaboutit!Whatisit？“
“HowamItoknowyouhavegotawayfromhere？“
“Ifyoudon’thearfrommeinhalfanhourfromthetimewhenI
haveleftyou，youmaybesureIhavegotaway。Hush!“
Twovoices，inconversation，wereaudibleatthebottomofthesteps——LadyLundie’svoiceandSirPatrick’s。Annepointedtothedoorinthebackwallofthesummer-house。Shehadjustpulledittoagain，afterGeoffreyhadpassedthroughit，whenLadyLundieandSirPatrickappearedatthetopofthesteps。