“Uncle!Ihavebeenwatchingyouforthelastminuteortwo。“
“Atmyage，Blanche？thatispayingmeaveryprettycompliment。“
“DoyouknowwhatIhaveseen？“
“Youhaveseenanoldgentlemaninwantofhislunch。“
“Ihaveseenanoldgentlemanwithsomethingonhismind。Whatisit？“
“Suppressedgout，mydear。“
“Thatwon’tdo!Iamnottobeputoffinthatway。Uncle!Iwanttoknow——“
“Stopthere，Blanche!Ayoungladywhosaysshe’wantstoknow，’
expressesverydangeroussentiments。Eve’wantedtoknow’——andseewhatitledto。Faust’wantedtoknow’——andgotintobadcompany，asthenecessaryresult。“
“Youarefeelinganxiousaboutsomething，“persistedBlanche。
“And，whatismore，SirPatrick，youbehavedinamostunaccountablemanneralittlewhilesince。“
“When？“
“WhenyouwentandhidyourselfwithMr。Delamayninthatsnugcornerthere。Isawyouleadthewayin，whileIwasatworkonLadyLundie’sodiousdinner-invitations。“
“Oh!youcallthatbeingatwork，doyou？Iwonderwhethertherewaseverawomanyetwhocouldgivethewholeofhermindtoanyearthlythingthatshehadtodo？“
“Nevermindthewomen!WhatsubjectincommoncouldyouandMr。
Delamaynpossiblyhavetotalkabout？AndwhydoIseeawrinklebetweenyoureyebrows，nowyouhavedonewithhim？——awrinklewhichcertainlywasn’ttherebeforeyouhadthatprivateconferencetogether？“
Beforeanswering，SirPatrickconsideredwhetherheshouldtakeBlancheintohisconfidenceornot。TheattempttoidentifyGeoffrey’sunnamed“lady，“whichhewasdeterminedtomake，wouldleadhimtoCraigFernie，andwouldnodoubtendinobliginghimtoaddresshimselftoAnne。Blanche’sintimateknowledgeofherfriendmightunquestionablybemadeusefultohimunderthesecircumstances；andBlanche’sdiscretionwastobetrustedinanymatterinwhichMissSilvester’sinterestswereconcerned。Ontheotherhand，cautionwasimperativelynecessary，inthepresentimperfectstateofhisinformation——andcaution，inSirPatrick’smind，carriedtheday。Hedecidedtowaitandseewhatcamefirstofhisinvestigationattheinn。
“Mr。Delamaynconsultedmeonadrypointoflaw，inwhichafriendofhiswasinterested，“saidSirPatrick。“Youhavewastedyourcuriosity，mydear，onasubjecttotallyunworthyofalady’snotice。“
Blanche’spenetrationwasnottobedeceivedonsucheasytermsasthese。“Whynotsayatoncethatyouwon’ttellme？“sherejoined。“_You_shuttingyourselfupwithMr。Delamayntotalklaw!_You_lookingabsentandanxiousaboutitafterward!Iamaveryunhappygirl!“saidBlanche，withalittle，bittersigh。
“ThereissomethinginmethatseemstorepelthepeopleIlove。
NotawordinconfidencecanIgetfromAnne。AndnotawordinconfidencecanIgetfromyou。AndIdosolongtosympathize!
It’sveryhard。IthinkIshallgotoArnold。“
SirPatricktookhisniece’shand。
“Stopaminute，Blanche。AboutMissSilvester？Haveyouheardfromherto-day？“
“No。Iammoreunhappyaboutherthanwordscansay。“
“SupposesomebodywenttoCraigFernieandtriedtofindoutthecauseofMissSilvester’ssilence？Wouldyoubelievethatsomebodysympathizedwithyouthen？“
Blanche’sfaceflushedbrightlywithpleasureandsurprise。SheraisedSirPatrick’shandgratefullytoherlips。
“Oh!“sheexclaimed。“Youdon’tmeanthat_you_woulddothat？“
“Iamcertainlythelastpersonwhooughttodoit——seeingthatyouwenttotheinninflatrebellionagainstmyorders，andthatIonlyforgaveyou，onyourownpromiseofamendment，theotherday。Itisamiserablyweakproceedingonthepartof’theheadofthefamily’tobeturninghisbackonhisownprinciples，becausehisniecehappenstobeanxiousandunhappy。Stillifyoucouldlendmeyourlittlecarriage，I_might_takeasurlydrivetowardCraigFernie，allbymyself，andI_might_stumbleagainstMissSilvester——incaseyouhaveanythingtosay。“
“Anythingtosay？“repeatedBlanche。Sheputherarmroundheruncle’sneck，andwhisperedinhisearoneofthemostinterminablemessagesthateverwassentfromonehumanbeingtoanother。SirPatricklistened，withagrowinginterestintheinquiryonwhichhewassecretlybent。“Thewomanmusthavesomenoblequalities，“hethought，“whocaninspiresuchdevotionasthis。“
WhileBlanchewaswhisperingtoheruncle，asecondprivateconference——ofthepurelydomesticsort——wastakingplacebetweenLadyLundieandthebutler，inthehalloutsidethelibrarydoor。
“Iamsorrytosay，mylady，HesterDethridgehasbrokenoutagain。“
“Whatdoyoumean？“
“Shewasallright，mylady，whenshewentintothekitchen-garden，sometimesince。She’stakenstrangeagain，nowshehascomeback。Wantstherestofthedaytoherself，yourladyship。Saysshe’soverworked，withallthecompanyinthehouse——and，Imustsay，doeslooklikeapersontroubledandwornoutinbodyandmind。“
“Don’ttalknonsense，Roberts!Thewomanisobstinateandidleandinsolent。Sheisnowinthehouse，asyouknow，underamonth’snoticetoleave。Ifshedoesn’tchoosetodoherdutyforthatmonthIshallrefusetogiveheracharacter。Whoistocookthedinnerto-dayifIgiveHesterDethridgeleavetogoout？“
“Anyway，mylady，Iamafraidthekitchen-maidwillhavetodoherbestto-day。Hesterisveryobstinate，whenthefittakesher——asyourladyshipsays。“
“IfHesterDethridgeleavesthekitchen-maidtocookthedinner，Roberts，HesterDethridgeleavesmyserviceto-day。Iwantnomorewordsaboutit。Ifshepersistsinsettingmyordersatdefiance，letherbringheraccount-bookintothelibrary，whileweareatlunch，andlayitoutmydesk。Ishallbebackinthelibraryafterluncheon——andifIseetheaccount-bookIshallknowwhatitmeans。Inthatcase，youwillreceivemydirectionstosettlewithherandsendheraway。Ringtheluncheon-bell。“
Theluncheon-bellrang。Theguestsalltookthedirectionofthedining-room；SirPatrickfollowing，fromthefarendofthelibrary，withBlancheonhisarm。Arrivedatthedining-roomdoor，Blanchestopped，andaskedheruncletoexcuseherifshelefthimtogoinbyhimself。
“Iwillbebackdirectly，“shesaid。“Ihaveforgottensomethingupstairs。“
SirPatrickwentin。Thedining-roomdoorclosed；andBlanchereturnedalonetothelibrary。Nowononepretense，andnowonanother，shehad，forthreedayspast，faithfullyfulfilledtheengagementshehadmadeatCraigFernietowaittenminutesafterluncheon-timeinthelibrary，onthechanceofseeingAnne。Onthis，thefourthoccasion，thefaithfulgirlsatdownaloneinthegreatroom，andwaitedwithhereyesfixedonthelawnoutside。
Fiveminutespassed，andnothinglivingappearedbutthebirdshoppingaboutthegrass。
InlessthanaminutemoreBlanche’squickearcaughtthefaintsoundofawoman’sdressbrushingoverthelawn。Sherantothenearestwindow，lookedout，andclappedherhandswithacryofdelight。Therewasthewell-knownfigure，rapidlyapproachingher!Annewastruetotheirfriendship——Annehadkeptherengagementatlast!
Blanchehurriedout，anddrewherintothelibraryintriumph。
“Thismakesamends，loveforeverything!Youanswermyletterinthebestofallways——youbringmeyourowndearself。“
SheplacedAnneinachair，and，liftingherveil，sawherplainlyinthebrilliantmid-daylight。
Thechangeinthewholewomanwasnothinglessthandreadfultothelovingeyesthatrestedonher。Shelookedyearsolderthanherrealage。Therewasadullcalminherface，astagnant，stupefiedsubmissiontoanything，pitiabletosee。Threedaysandnightsofsolitudeandgrief，threedaysandnightsofunrestingandunpartakensuspense，hadcrushedthatsensitivenature，hadfrozenthatwarmheart。Theanimatingspiritwasgone——themereshellofthewomanlivedandmoved，amockeryofherformerself。
“Oh，Anne!Anne!What_can_havehappenedtoyou？Areyoufrightened？There’snottheleastfearofanybodydisturbingus。
Theyareallatluncheon，andtheservantsareatdinner。Wehavetheroomentirelytoourselves。Mydarling!youlooksofaintandstrange!Letmegetyousomething。“
AnnedrewBlanche’sheaddownandkissedher。Itwasdoneinadull，slowway——withoutaword，withoutatear，withoutasigh。
“You’retired——I’msureyou’retired。Haveyouwalkedhere？Yousha’n’tgobackonfoot；I’lltakecareofthat!“
Annerousedherselfatthosewords。Shespokeforthefirsttime。
Thetonewaslowerthanwasnaturaltoher；sadderthanwasnaturaltoher——butthecharmofhervoice，thenativegentlenessandbeautyofit，seemedtohavesurvivedthewreckofallbesides。
“Idon’tgoback，Blanche。Ihavelefttheinn。“
“Lefttheinn？Withyourhusband？“
Sheansweredthefirstquestion——notthesecond。