“Bideawee!There’saneo’themhasdrawnbridleatthehottle，andhe’sspeerin’aftertheleddythatcam’herealane。Theleddy’syourleddy，assureassaxpence。Idoot，“saidMr。
Bishopriggs，walkingawaytothewindow，“_that’s_whatye’vegottodowithit。“
ArnoldlookedatAnne。
“Doyouexpectanybody？“
“IsitGeoffrey？“
“Impossible。GeoffreyisonhiswaytoLondon。“
“Thereheis，anyway，“resumedMr。Bishopriggs，atthewindow。
“He’sloupin’downfromhishorse。He’sturningthisway。Lordsaveus!“heexclaimed，withastartofconsternation，“whatdoI
see？Thatincarnatedeevil，SirPaitrickhimself!“
Arnoldsprangtohisfeet。
“DoyoumeanSirPatrickLundie？“
Annerantothewindow。
“It_is_SirPatrick!“shesaid。“Hideyourselfbeforehecomesin!“
“Hidemyself？“
“Whatwillhethinkifheseesyouwith_me？“_
HewasBlanche’sguardian，andhebelievedArnoldtobeatthatmomentvisitinghisnewproperty。Whathewouldthinkwasnotdifficulttoforesee。ArnoldturnedforhelptoMr。Bishopriggs。
“WherecanIgo？“
Mr。Bishopriggspointedtothebedroomdoor。
“Whar’canyego？There’sthenuptialchamber!“
“Impossible!“
Mr。Bishopriggsexpressedtheutmostextremityofhumanamazementbyalongwhistle，ononenote。
“Whew!Isthatthewayyetalko’thenuptialchamberalready？“
“Findmesomeotherplace——I’llmakeitworthyourwhile。“
“Eh!there’smypaintry!Itrowthat’ssomeotherplace；andthedoor’sattheendo’thepassage。“
Arnoldhurriedout。Mr。Bishopriggs——evidentlyundertheimpressionthatthecasebeforehimwasacaseofelopement，withSirPatrickmixedupinitinthecapacityofguardian——addressedhimself，infriendlyconfidence，toAnne。
“Mycertie，mistress!it’sillwarkdeceivin’SirPaitrick，ifthat’swhatye’vedune。Yemustknow，IwasanceabitclerkbodyinhischambersatEmbro——“
ThevoiceofMistressInchbare，callingforthehead-waiter，roseshrillandimperativefromtheregionsofthebar。Mr。
Bishopriggsdisappeared。Anneremained，standinghelplessbythewindow。ItwasplainbythistimethattheplaceofherretreathadbeendiscoveredatWindygates。Theonedoubttodecide，now，waswhetheritwouldbewiseornottoreceiveSirPatrick，forthepurposeofdiscoveringwhetherhecameasfriendorenemytotheinn。
CHAPTERTHEELEVENTH。
SIRPATRICK。
THEdoubtwaspracticallydecidedbeforeAnnehaddeterminedwhattodo。Shewasstillatthewindowwhenthesitting-roomdoorwasthrownopen，andSirPatrickappeared，obsequiouslyshowninbyMr。Bishopriggs。
“Ye’rekindlywelcome，SirPaitrick。Hech，Sirs!thesightofyouisgudeforsaireyne。“
SirPatrickturnedandlookedatMr。Bishopriggs——ashemighthavelookedatsometroublesomeinsectwhichhehaddrivenoutofthewindow，andwhichhadreturnedonhimagain。
“What，youscoundrel!haveyoudriftedintoanhonestemploymentatlast？“
Mr。Bishopriggsrubbedhishandscheerfully，andtookhistonefromhissuperior，withsupplereadiness“Ye’realwaysintherightofit，SirPaitrick!Wut，raalwutinthatabootthehonestemployment，andmedriftingintoit。Lord’ssake，Sir，hoowellyewear!“
DismissingMr。Bishopriggsbyasign，SirPatrickadvancedtoAnne。
“Iamcommittinganintrusion，madamwhichmust，Iamafraid，appearunpardonableinyoureyes，“hesaid。“MayIhopeyouwillexcusemewhenIhavemadeyouacquaintedwithmymotive？“
Hespokewithscrupulouspoliteness。HisknowledgeofAnnewasoftheslightestpossiblekind。Likeothermen，hehadfelttheattractionofherunaffectedgraceandgentlenessonthefewoccasionswhenhehadbeeninhercompany——andthatwasall。Ifhehadbelongedtothepresentgenerationhewould，underthecircumstances，havefallenintooneofthebesettingsinsofEnglandinthesedays——thetendencytoborrowanillustrationfromthestageto“strikeanattitude“inthepresenceofasocialemergency。Amanofthepresentperiod，inSirPatrick’sposition，wouldhavestruckanattitudeofwhatiscalled
chivalrousrespect；andwouldhaveaddressedAnneinatoneofready-madesympathy，whichitwassimplyimpossibleforastrangerreallytofeel。SirPatrickaffectednothingofthesort。Oneofthebesettingsinsof_his_timewasthehabitualconcealmentofourbetterselves——uponthewhole，afarlessdangerousnationalerrorthanthehabitualadvertisementofourbetterselves，whichhasbecomethepractice，publicandprivately，ofsocietyinthisage。SirPatrickassumed，ifanything，lesssympathyonthisoccasionthanhereallyfelt。
Courteoustoallwomen，hewasascourteousasusualtoAnne——andnomore。
“Iamquiteataloss，Sir，toknowwhatbringsyoutothisplace。Theservanthereinformsmethatyouareoneofapartyofgentlemenwhohavejustpassedbytheinn，andwhohaveallgoneonexceptyourself。“InthoseguardedtermsAnneopenedtheinterviewwiththeunwelcomevisitor，onherside。
SirPatrickadmittedthefact，withoutbetrayingtheslightestembarrassment。
“Theservantisquiteright，“hesaid。“Iamoneoftheparty。
AndIhavepurposelyallowedthemtogoontothekeeper’scottagewithoutme。Havingadmittedthis，mayIcountonreceivingyourpermissiontoexplainthemotiveofmyvisit？“
Necessarilysuspiciousofhim，ascomingfromWindygates，Anneansweredinfewandformalwords，ascoldlyasbefore。
“Explainit，SirPatrick，ifyouplease，asbrieflyaspossible。“
SirPatrickbowed。Hewasnotintheleastoffended；hewaseveniftheconfessionmaybemadewithoutdegradinghiminthepublicestimationprivatelyamused。ConsciousofhavinghonestlypresentedhimselfattheinninAnne’sinterests，aswellasintheinterestsoftheladiesatWindygates，itappealedtohissenseofhumortofindhimselfkeptatarm’s-lengthbytheverywomanwhomhehadcometobenefit。Thetemptationwasstrongonhimtotreathiserrandfromhisownwhimsicalpointofview。Hegravelytookouthiswatch，andnotedthetimetoasecond，beforehespokeagain。
“Ihaveaneventtorelateinwhichyouareinterested，“hesaid。
“AndIhavetwomessagestodeliver，whichIhopeyouwillnotobjecttoreceive。TheeventIundertaketodescribeinoneminute。ThemessagesIpromisetodisposeofintwominutesmore。
Totaldurationofthisintrusiononyourtime——threeminutes。“
HeplacedachairforAnne，andwaiteduntilshehadpermittedhim，byasign，totakeasecondchairforhimself。
“Wewillbeginwiththeevent，“heresumed。“YourarrivalatthisplaceisnosecretatWindygates。Youwereseenonthefoot-roadtoCraigFerniebyoneofthefemaleservants。Andtheinferencenaturallydrawnis，thatyouwereonyourwaytotheinn。Itmaybeimportantforyoutoknowthis；andIhavetakenthelibertyofmentioningitaccordingly。“Heconsultedhiswatch。“Eventrelated。Time，oneminute。“
Hehadexcitedhercuriosity，tobeginwith。“Whichofthewomensawme？“sheasked，impulsively。
SirPatrickwatchinhanddeclinedtoprolongtheinterviewbyansweringanyincidentalinquirieswhichmightariseinthecourseofit。
“Pardonme，“herejoined；“Iampledgedtooccupythreeminutesonly。Ihavenoroomforthewoman。Withyourkindpermission，I
willgetontothemessagesnext。“
Anneremainedsilent。SirPatrickwenton。
“Firstmessage：’LadyLundie’scomplimentstoherstep-daughter’slategoverness——withwhosemarriednamesheisnotacquainted。
LadyLundieregretstosaythatSirPatrick，asheadofthefamily，hasthreatenedtoreturntoEdinburgh，unlesssheconsentstobeguidedbyhisadviceinthecourseshepursueswiththelategoverness。LadyLundie，accordingly，foregoesherintentionofcallingattheCraigFernieinn，toexpresshersentimentsandmakeherinquiriesinperson，andcommitstoSirPatrickthedutyofexpressinghersentiments；reservingtoherselftherightofmakingherinquiriesatthenextconvenientopportunity。Throughthemediumofherbrother-in-law，shebegstoinformthelategovernessthatallintercourseisatanendbetweenthem，andthatshedeclinestoactasreferenceincaseoffutureemergency。’——Messagetextuallycorrect。ExpressiveofLadyLundie’sviewofyoursuddendeparturefromthehouse。Time，twominutes。“