“Allright，oldfellow。Icantellyouhowtofindtheplaceaswegoalonginthegig。By-the-by，there’sonethingthat’sratherimportant。I’dbettermentionitwhileIthinkofit。“
“Whatisthat？“
“Youmustn’tpresentyourselfattheinninyourownname；andyoumustn’taskforherby_her_name。“
“WhoamItoaskfor？“
“It’salittleawkward。Shehasgonethereasamarriedwoman，incasethey’reparticularabouttakingherin——“
“Iunderstand。Goon。“
“Andshehasplannedtotellthembywayofmakingitallrightandstraightforbothofus，youknowthatsheexpectsherhusbandtojoinher。IfIhadbeenabletogoIshouldhaveaskedatthedoorfor’mywife。’Youaregoinginmyplace——“
“AndImustaskatthedoorfor’mywife，’orIshallexposeMissSilvestertounpleasantconsequences？“
“Youdon’tobject？“
“NotI!Idon’tcarewhatIsaytothepeopleoftheinn。It’sthemeetingwithMissSilvesterthatI’mafraidof。“
“I’llputthatrightforyou——neverfear!“
Hewentatoncetothetableandrapidlyscribbledafewlines——thenstoppedandconsidered。“Willthatdo？“heaskedhimself。“No；I’dbettersaysomethingspooneytoquiether。“Heconsideredagain，addedaline，andbroughthishanddownonthetablewithacheerysmack。“Thatwilldothebusiness!Readityourself，Arnold——it’snotsobadlywritten。“
Arnoldreadthenotewithoutappearingtosharehisfriend’sfavorableopinionofit。
“Thisisrathershort，“hesaid。
“HaveItimetomakeitlonger？“
“Perhapsnot。ButletMissSilvesterseeforherselfthatyouhavenotimetomakeitlonger。Thetrainstartsinlessthanhalfanhour。Putthetime。“
“Oh，allright!andthedatetoo，ifyoulike。“
Hehadjustaddedthedesiredwordsandfigures，andhadgiventherevisedlettertoArnold，whenSirPatrickreturnedtoannouncethatthegigwaswaiting。
“Come!“hesaid。“Youhaven’tamomenttolose!“
Geoffreystartedtohisfeet。Arnoldhesitated。
“ImustseeBlanche!“hepleaded。“Ican’tleaveBlanchewithoutsayinggood-by。Whereisshe？“
SirPatrickpointedtothesteps，withasmile。Blanchehadfollowedhimfromthehouse。Arnoldranouttoherinstantly。
“Going？“shesaid，alittlesadly。
“Ishallbebackintwodays，“Arnoldwhispered。“It’sallright!
SirPatrickconsents。“
Sheheldhimfastbythearm。ThehurriedpartingbeforeotherpeopleseemedtobenotapartingtoBlanche’staste。
“Youwilllosethetrain!“criedSirPatrick。
GeoffreyseizedArnoldbythearmwhichBlanchewasholding，andtorehim——literallytorehim——away。Thetwowereoutofsight，intheshrubbery，beforeBlanche’sindignationfoundwords，andaddresseditselftoheruncle。
“WhyisthatbrutegoingawaywithMr。Brinkworth？“sheasked。
“Mr。DelamayniscalledtoLondonbyhisfather’sillness，“
repliedSirPatrick。“Youdon’tlikehim？“
“Ihatehim!“
SirPatrickreflectedalittle。
“Sheisayounggirlofeighteen，“hethoughttohimself。“AndI
amanoldmanofseventy。Curious，thatweshouldagreeaboutanything。MorethancuriousthatweshouldagreeindislikingMr。
Delamayn。“
Herousedhimself，andlookedagainatBlanche。Shewasseatedatthetable，withherheadonherhand；absent，andoutofspirits——thinkingofArnold，andset，withthefutureallsmoothbeforethem，notthinkinghappily。
“Why，Blanche!Blanche!“criedSirPatrick，“onewouldthinkhehadgoneforavoyageroundtheworld。Yousillychild!hewillbebackagainthedayafterto-morrow。“
“Iwishhehadn’tgonewiththatman!“saidBlanche。“Iwishhehadn’tgotthatmanforafriend!“
“There!there!themanwasrudeenoughIown。Nevermind!hewillleavethemanatthesecondstation。Comebacktotheball-roomwithme。Danceitoff，mydear——danceitoff!“
“No，“returnedBlanche。“I’minnohumorfordancing。Ishallgoupstairs，andtalkaboutittoAnne。“
“Youwilldonothingofthesort!“saidathirdvoice，suddenlyjoiningintheconversation。
Bothuncleandniecelookedup，andfoundLadyLundieatthetopofthesummer-housesteps。
“Iforbidyoutomentionthatwoman’snameagaininmyhearing，“
pursuedherladyship。“SirPatrick!Iwarnedyouifyouremember？thatthematterofthegovernesswasnotamattertobetrifledwith。Myworstanticipationsarerealized。MissSilvesterhasleftthehouse!“
ITwasstillearlyintheafternoonwhentheguestsatLadyLundie’slawn-partybegantocomparenotestogetherincorners，andtoagreeinarrivingatageneralconvictionthat“somethingwaswrong。“
Blanchehadmysteriouslydisappearedfromherpartnersinthedance。LadyLundiehadmysteriouslyabandonedherguests。Blanchehadnotcomeback。LadyLundiehadreturnedwithanartificialsmile，andapreoccupiedmanner。Sheacknowledgedthatshewas“notverywell。“ThesameexcusehadbeengiventoaccountforBlanche’sabsence——and，againsometimepreviously，toexplainMissSilvester’swithdrawalfromthecroquet!Awitamongthegentlemendeclareditremindedhimofdecliningaverb。“Iamnotverywell；thouartnotverywell；sheisnotverywell“——andsoon。SirPatricktoo!OnlythinkofthesociableSirPatrickbeinginastateofseclusion——pacingupanddownbyhimselfintheloneliestpartofthegarden。Andtheservantsagain!ithadevenspreadtotheservants!_They_werepresumingtowhisperincorners，liketheirbetters。Thehouse-maidsappeared，spasmodically，wherehousemaidshadnobusinesstobe。Doorsbangedandpetticoatswhiskedintheupperregions。Somethingwrong——dependuponit，somethingwrong!“Wehadmuchbettergoaway。Mydear，orderthecarriage“——“Louisa，love，nomoredancing；yourpapaisgoing。“——“_Good_-afternoon，LadyLundie!“——“Haw!thanksverymuch!“——“_So_sorryfordearBlanche!“——“Oh，it’sbeen_too_charming!“SoSocietyjabbereditspoor，nonsensicallittlejargon，andgotitselfpolitelyoutofthewaybeforethestormcame。
ThiswasexactlytheconsummationofeventsforwhichSirPatrickhadbeenwaitingintheseclusionofthegarden。
Therewasnoevadingtheresponsibilitywhichwasnowthrustuponhim。LadyLundiehadannounceditasasettledresolution，onherpart，totraceAnnetotheplaceinwhichshehadtakenrefuge，anddiscoverpurelyintheinterestsofvirtuewhethersheactuallywasmarriedornot。Blanchealreadyoverwroughtbytheexcitementofthedayhadbrokenintoanhystericalpassionoftearsonhearingthenews，andhadthen，onrecovering，takenaviewofherownofAnne’sflightfromthehouse。AnnewouldneverhavekepthermarriageasecretfromBlanche；AnnewouldneverhavewrittensuchaformalfarewellletterasshehadwrittentoBlanche——ifthingsweregoingassmoothlywithherasshewastryingtomakethembelieveatWindygates。SomedreadfultroublehadfallenonAnneandBlanchewasdeterminedasLadyLundiewasdeterminedtofindoutwhereshehadgone，andtofollow，andhelpher。
ItwasplaintoSirPatricktowhombothladieshadopenedtheirhearts，atseparateinterviewsthathissister-in-law，inoneway，andhisnieceinanother，wereequallylikely——ifnotdulyrestrained——toplungeheadlongintoactsofindiscretionwhichmightleadtoveryundesirableresults。AmaninauthoritywassorelyneededatWindygatesthatafternoon——andSirPatrickwasfaintoacknowledgethathewastheman。
“Muchistobesaidfor，andmuchistobesaidagainstasinglelife，“thoughttheoldgentleman，walkingupanddownthesequesteredgarden-pathtowhichhehadretired，andapplyinghimselfatshorterintervalsthanusualtotheknobofhisivorycane。“This，however，is，Itakeit，certain。Aman’smarriedfriendscan’tpreventhimfromleadingthelifeofabachelor，ifhepleases。Buttheycan，anddo，takedevilishgoodcarethathesha’n’tenjoyit!“