“Beautiful!“saidBlanche。“WhatashameitseemstohavehadMiltonallthistimeinthelibraryandnevertohavereadhimyet!WewillhaveMorningswithMilton，Arnold。Heseemslong；
butwearebothyoung，andwe_may_livetogettotheendofhim。Doyouknowdear，nowIlookatyouagain，youdon’tseemtohavecomebacktoWindygatesingoodspirits。“
“Don’tI？Ican’taccountforit。“
“Ican。It’ssympathywithMe。Iamoutofspiritstoo。“
“You!“
“Yes。AfterwhatIsawatCraigFernie，IgrowmoreandmoreuneasyaboutAnne。Youwillunderstandthat，Iamsure，afterwhatItoldyouthismorning？“
Arnoldlookedback，inaviolenthurry，fromBlanchetoMilton。
ThatrenewedreferencetoeventsatCraigFerniewasarenewedreproachtohimforhisconductattheinn。HeattemptedtosilenceherbypointingtoGeoffrey。
“Don’tforget，“hewhispered，“thatthereissomebodyintheroombesidesourselves。“
Blancheshruggedhershoulderscontemptuously。
“Whatdoes_he_matter？“sheasked。“Whatdoes_he_knoworcareaboutAnne？“
Therewasonlyoneotherchanceofdivertingherfromthedelicatesubject。Arnoldwentonreadingheadlong，twolinesinadvanceoftheplaceatwhichhehadleftoff，withmoresoundandlesssensethanever：
“Inthebeginninghowtheheavensandearth。
RoseoutofChaosorifSionhill——“
At“Sionhill，“Blancheinterruptedhimagain。
“Dowaitalittle，Arnold。Ican’thaveMiltoncrammeddownmythroatinthatway。BesidesIhadsomethingtosay。DidItellyouthatIconsultedmyuncleaboutAnne？Idon’tthinkIdid。I
caughthimaloneinthisveryroom。ItoldhimallIhavetoldyou。IshowedhimAnne’sletter。AndIsaid，’Whatdoyouthink？’
Hetookalittletimeandagreatdealofsnuffbeforehewouldsaywhathethought。Whenhedidspeak，hetoldmeImightquitepossiblyberightinsuspectingAnne’shusbandtobeaveryabominableperson。HiskeepinghimselfoutofmywaywasjustasIthoughtasuspiciouscircumstance，tobeginwith。Andthentherewasthesuddenextinguishingofthecandles，whenIfirstwentin。IthoughtandMrs。Inchbarethoughtitwasdonebythewind。SirPatricksuspectsitwasdonebythehorridmanhimself，topreventmefromseeinghimwhenIenteredtheroom。IamfirmlypersuadedSirPatrickisright。Whatdo_you_think？“
“Ithinkwehadbettergoon，“saidArnold，withhisheaddownoverhisbook。“WeseemtobeforgettingMilton。“
“HowyoudoworryaboutMilton!Thatlastbitwasn’tasinterestingastheother。IsthereanyloveinParadiseLost？“
“Perhapswemayfindsomeifwegoon。“
“Verywell，then。Goon。Andbequickaboutit。“
Arnoldwas_so_quickaboutitthathelosthisplace。Insteadofgoingonhewentback。Hereadoncemore：
“Inthebeginninghowtheheavensandearth。
RoseoutofChaosorifSionhill——“
“Youreadthatbefore，“saidBlanche。
“Ithinknot。“
“I’msureyoudid。Whenyousaid’Sionhill’IrecollectI
thoughtoftheMethodistsdirectly。Icouldn’thavethoughtoftheMethodists，ifyouhadn’tsaid’Sionhill。’Itstandstoreason。“
“I’lltrythenextpage，“saidArnold。“Ican’thavereadthatbefore——forIhaven’tturnedoveryet。“
Blanchethrewherselfbackinherchair，andflungherhandkerchiefresignedlyoverherface。“Theflies，“sheexplained。“I’mnotgoingtosleep。Trythenextpage。Oh，dearme，trythenextpage!“
Arnoldproceeded：
“Sayfirstforheavenhidesnothingfromthyview。
Northedeeptractofhellsayfirstwhatcause。
Movedourgrandparentsinthathappystate——“
Blanchesuddenlythrewthehandkerchiefoffagain，andsatboltuprightinherchair。“Shutitup，“shecried。“Ican’tbearanymore。Leaveoff，Arnold——leaveoff!“
“What’s，thematternow？“
“’Thathappystate，’“saidBlanche。“Whatdoes’thathappystate’mean？Marriage，ofcourse!AndmarriageremindsmeofAnne。Iwon’thaveanymore。ParadiseLostispainful。Shutitup。Well，mynextquestiontoSirPatrickwas，ofcourse，toknowwhathethoughtAnne’shusbandhaddone。Thewretchhadbehavedinfamouslytoherinsomeway。Inwhatway？Wasitanythingtodowithhermarriage？Myuncleconsideredagain。Hethoughtitquitepossible。Privatemarriagesweredangerousthingshesaid——especiallyinScotland。HeaskedmeiftheyhadbeenmarriedinScotland。Icouldn’ttellhim——Ionlysaid，’Supposetheywere？Whatthen？’’It’sbarelypossible，inthatcase，’saysSirPatrick，’thatMissSilvestermaybefeelinguneasyabouthermarriage。Shemayevenhavereason——ormaythinkshehasreason——todoubtwhetheritisamarriageatall。’“
Arnoldstarted，andlookedroundatGeoffreystillsittingatthewriting-tablewithhisbackturnedonthem。UtterlyasBlancheandSirPatrickweremistakenintheirestimateofAnne’spositionatCraigFernie，theyhaddrifted，nevertheless，intodiscussingtheveryquestioninwhichGeoffreyandMissSilvesterwereinterested——thequestionofmarriageinScotland。ItwasimpossibleinBlanche’spresencetotellGeoffreythathemightdowelltolistentoSirPatrick’sopinion，evenatsecond-hand。
Perhapsthewordshadfoundtheirwaytohim？perhapshewaslisteningalready，ofhisownaccord？
He_was_listening。Blanche’slastwordshadfoundtheirwaytohim，whilehewasponderingoverhishalf-finishedlettertohisbrother。Hewaitedtohearmore——withoutmoving，andwiththepensuspendedinhishand。
Blancheproceeded，absentlywindingherfingersinandoutofArnold’shairashesatatherfeet：
“ItflashedonmeinstantlythatSirPatrickhaddiscoveredthetruth。OfcourseItoldhimso。Helaughed，andsaidImustn’tjumpatconclusionsWewereguessingquiteinthedark；andallthedistressingthingsIhadnoticedattheinnmightadmitofsometotallydifferentexplanation。HewouldhavegoneonsplittingstrawsinthatprovokingwaythewholemorningifI
hadn’tstoppedhim。Iwasstrictlylogical。Isaid_I_hadseenAnne，and_he_hadn’t——andthatmadeallthedifference。Isaid，’Everythingthatpuzzledandfrightenedmeinthepoordarlingisaccountedfornow。Thelawmust，andshall，reachthatman，uncle——andI’llpayforit!’IwassomuchinearnestthatI
believeIcriedalittle。Whatdoyouthinkthedearoldmandid？
Hetookmeonhiskneeandgavemeakiss；andhesaid，inthenicestway，thathewouldadoptmyview，forthepresent，ifI
wouldpromisenottocryanymore；and——wait!thecreamofitistocome!——thathewouldputtheviewinquiteanewlighttomeassoonasIwascomposedagain。YoumayimaginehowsoonIdriedmyeyes，andwhatapictureofcomposureIpresentedinthecourseofhalfaminute。’Letustakeitforgranted，’saysSirPatrick，’thatthismanunknownhasreallytriedtodeceiveMissSilvester，asyouandIsuppose。Icantellyouonething：it’saslikelyasnotthat，intryingtooverreach_her，_hemaywithoutintheleastsuspectingithaveendedinoverreachinghimself。’“
Geoffreyheldhisbreath。Thependroppedunheededfromhisfingers。Itwascoming。Thelightthathisbrothercouldn’tthrowonthesubjectwasdawningonitatlast!
Blancheresumed：
“Iwassointerested，anditmadesuchatremendousimpressiononme，thatIhaven’tforgottenaword。’Imustn’tmakethatpoorlittleheadofyoursachewithScotchlaw，’myunclesaid；’I
mustputitplainly。TherearemarriagesallowedinScotland，Blanche，whicharecalledIrregularMarriages——andveryabominablethingstheyare。Buttheyhavethisaccidentalmeritinthepresentcase。ItisextremelydifficultforamantopretendtomarryinScotland，andnotreallytodoit。Anditis，ontheotherhand，extremelyeasyforamantodriftintomarryinginScotlandwithoutfeelingtheslightestsuspicionofhavingdoneithimself。’Thatwasexactlywhathesaid，Arnold。
When_we_aremarried，itsha’n’tbeinScotland!“
Geoffrey’sruddycolorpaled。IfthiswastruehemightbecaughthimselfinthetrapwhichhehadschemedtosetforAnne!
Blanchewentonwithhernarrative。Hewaitedandlistened。
“MyuncleaskedmeifIunderstoodhimsofar。Itwasasplainasthesunatnoonday，ofcourseIunderstoodhim!’Verywell，then——nowfortheapplication!’saysSirPatrick。’Oncemoresupposingourguesstobetherightone，MissSilvestermaybemakingherselfveryunhappywithoutanyrealcause。IfthisinvisiblemanatCraigFerniehasactuallymeddled，Iwon’tsaywithmarryingher，butonlywithpretendingtomakeherhiswife，andifhehasattempteditinScotland，thechancesareninetoonethough_he_maynotbelieveit，andthough_she_maynotbelieveitthathehasreallymarriedher，afterall。’Myuncle’sownwordsagain!Quiteneedlesstosaythat，halfanhouraftertheywereoutofhislips，IhadsentthemtoCraigFernieinalettertoAnne!“