Geoffrey’sstolidly-staringeyessuddenlybrightened。Alightofthedevil’sownstrikingilluminatedhim。Anideaofthedevil’sownbringingenteredhismind。Helookedstealthilyroundatthemanwhoselifehehadsaved——atthemanwhohaddevotedlyservedhiminreturn。Ahideouscunningleeredathismouthandpeepedoutofhiseyes。“ArnoldBrinkworthpretendedtobemarriedtoherattheinn。BythelordHarry!that’sawayoutofitthatneverstruckmebefore!“Withthatthoughtinhisheartheturnedbackagaintohishalf-finishedlettertoJulius。Foronceinhislifehewasstrongly，fiercelyagitated。Foronceinhislifehewasdaunted——andthatbyhisOwnThought!HehadwrittentoJuliusunderastrongsenseofthenecessityofgainingtimetodeludeAnneintoleavingScotlandbeforeheventuredonpayinghisaddressestoMrs。Glenarm。Hislettercontainedastringofclumsyexcuses，intendedtodelayhisreturntohisbrother’shouse。“No，“hesaidtohimself，ashereaditagain。“Whateverelsemaydo——_this_won’t!“HelookedroundoncemoreatArnold，andslowlytoretheletterintofragmentsashelooked。
InthemeantimeBlanchehadnotdoneyet。“No，“shesaid，whenArnoldproposedanadjournmenttothegarden；“Ihavesomethingmoretosay，andyouareinterestedinit，thistime。“Arnoldresignedhimselftolisten，andworsestilltoanswer，iftherewasnohelpforit，inthecharacterofaninnocentstrangerwhohadneverbeenneartheCraigFernieinn。
“Well，“Blancheresumed，“andwhatdoyouthinkhascomeofmylettertoAnne？“
“I’msureIdon’tknow。“
“Nothinghascomeofit!“
“Indeed？“
“Absolutelynothing!Iknowshereceivedtheletteryesterdaymorning。Ioughttohavehadtheanswerto-dayatbreakfast。“
“Perhapsshethoughtitdidn’trequireananswer。“
“Shecouldn’thavethoughtthat，forreasonsthatIknowof。
Besides，inmyletteryesterdayIimploredhertotellmeifitwasonelineonlywhether，inguessingatwhathertroublewas，SirPatrickandIhadnotguessedright。Andhereisthedaygettingon，andnoanswer!WhatamItoconclude？“
“Ireallycan’tsay!“
“Isitpossible，Arnold，thatwehave_not_guessedright，afterall？Isthewickednessofthatmanwhoblewthecandlesoutwickednessbeyondourdiscovering？ThedoubtissodreadfulthatIhavemadeupmymindnottobearitafterto-day。Icountonyoursympathyandassistancewhento-morrowcomes!“
Arnold’sheartsank。Somenewcomplicationwasevidentlygatheringroundhim。Hewaitedinsilencetoheartheworst。
Blanchebentforward，andwhisperedtohim。
“Thisisasecret，“shesaid。“Ifthatcreatureatthewriting-tablehasearsforanythingbutrowingandracing，hemustn’thearthis!Annemaycometomeprivatelyto-daywhileyouareallatluncheon。Ifshedoesn’tcomeandifIdon’thearfromher，thenthemysteryofhersilencemustbeclearedup；andYoumustdoit!“
“I!“
“Don’tmakedifficulties!Ifyoucan’tfindyourwaytoCraigFernie，Icanhelpyou。AsforAnne，youknowwhatacharmingpersonsheis，andyouknowshewillreceiveyouperfectly，formysake。Imustandwillhavesomenewsofher。Ican’tbreakthelawsofthehouseholdasecondtime。SirPatricksympathizes，buthewon’tstir。LadyLundieisabitterenemy。TheservantsarethreatenedwiththelossoftheirplacesifanyoneofthemgoesnearAnne。Thereisnobodybutyou。AndtoAnneyougoto-morrow，ifIdon’tseeherorhearfromherto-day!“
ThistothemanwhohadpassedasAnne’shusbandattheinn，andwhohadbeenforcedintothemostintimateknowledgeofAnne’smiserablesecret!ArnoldrosetoputMiltonaway，withthecomposureofsheerdespair。Anyothersecrethemight，inthelastresort，haveconfidedtothediscretionofathirdperson。
Butawoman’ssecret——withawoman’sreputationdependingonhiskeepingit——wasnottobeconfidedtoanybody，underanystressofcircumstanceswhatever。“IfGeoffreydoesn’tgetmeoutof_this，_，“hethought，“IshallhavenochoicebuttoleaveWindygatesto-morrow。“
Ashereplacedthebookontheshelf，LadyLundieenteredthelibraryfromthegarden。
“Whatareyoudoinghere？“shesaidtoherstep-daughter。
“Improvingmymind，“repliedBlanche。“Mr。BrinkworthandIhavebeenreadingMilton。“
“Canyoucondescendsofar，afterreadingMiltonallthemorning，astohelpmewiththeinvitationsforthedinnernextweek？“
“If_you_cancondescend，LadyLundie，afterfeedingthepoultryallthemorning，ImustbehumilityitselfafteronlyreadingMilton!“
Withthatlittleinterchangeoftheacidamenitiesoffeminineintercourse，step-motherandstep-daughterwithdrewtoawriting-table，toputthevirtueofhospitalityinpracticetogether。
Arnoldjoinedhisfriendattheotherendofthelibrary。
Geoffreywassittingwithhiselbowsonthedesk，andhisclenchedfistsdugintohischeeks。Greatdropsofperspirationstoodonhisforehead，andthefragmentsofatornletterlayscatteredallroundhim。Heexhibitedsymptomsofnervoussensibilityforthefirsttimeinhislife——hestartedwhenArnoldspoketohim。
“What’sthematter，Geoffrey？“
“Alettertoanswer。AndIdon’tknowhow。“
“FromMissSilvester？“askedArnold，droppinghisvoicesoastopreventtheladiesattheotherendoftheroomfromhearinghim。
“No，“answeredGeoffrey，inalowervoicestill。
“HaveyouheardwhatBlanchehasbeensayingtomeaboutMissSilvester？“
“Someofit。“
“DidyouhearBlanchesaythatshemeanttosendmetoCraigFernieto-morrow，ifshefailedtogetnewsfromMissSilvesterto-day？“
“No。“
“Thenyouknowitnow。ThatiswhatBlanchehasjustsaidtome。“
“Well？“
“Well——there’salimittowhatamancanexpectevenfromhisbestfriend。Ihopeyouwon’taskmetobeBlanche’smessengerto-morrow。Ican’t，andwon’t，gobacktotheinnasthingsarenow。“
“Youhavehadenoughofit——eh？“
“IhavehadenoughofdistressingMissSilvester，andmorethanenoughofdeceivingBlanche。“
“Whatdoyoumeanby’distressingMissSilvester？’“
“Shedoesn’ttakethesameeasyviewthatyouandIdo，Geoffrey，ofmypassingheroffonthepeopleoftheinnasmywife。“
Geoffreyabsentlytookupapaper-knife。Stillwithhisheaddown，hebeganshavingoffthetopmostlayerofpaperfromtheblotting-padunderhishand。Stillwithhisheaddown，heabruptlybrokethesilenceinawhisper。
“Isay!“
“Yes？“
“Howdidyoumanagetopassheroffasyourwife？“
“Itoldyouhow，asweweredrivingfromthestationhere。“
“Iwasthinkingofsomethingelse。Tellmeagain。“
Arnoldtoldhimoncemorewhathadhappenedattheinn。Geoffreylistened，withoutmakinganyremark。Hebalancedthepaper-knifevacantlyononeofhisfingers。Hewasstrangelysluggishandstrangelysilent。
“All_that_isdoneandended，“saidArnoldshakinghimbytheshoulder。“ItrestswithyounowtogetmeoutofthedifficultyI’mplacedinwithBlanche。ThingsmustbesettledwithMissSilvesterto-day。“
“Things_shall_besettled。“
“Shallbe？Whatareyouwaitingfor？“
“I’mwaitingtodowhatyoutoldme。“
“WhatItoldyou？“
“Didn’tyoutellmetoconsultSirPatrickbeforeImarriedher？“
“Tobesure!soIdid。“
“Well——IamwaitingforachancewithSirPatrick。“
“Andthen？“
“Andthen——“HelookedatArnoldforthefirsttime。“Then，“hesaid，“youmayconsideritsettled。“
“Themarriage？“
Hesuddenlylookeddownagainattheblotting-pad。“Yes——themarriage。“
Arnoldofferedhishandincongratulation。Geoffreynevernoticedit。Hiseyeswereofftheblotting-padagain。Hewaslookingoutofthewindownearhim。
“Don’tIhearvoicesoutside？“heasked。