Hehadinterpretedhisfriend’sabsenceexactlyashisfriendhadanticipated：hecouldonlyassumethatGeoffreyhadgonetokeepaprivateappointmentwithAnne。MissSilvester’sappearanceatWindygatesalone，andMissSilvester’sanxietytohearthenamesofthegentlemenwhowerestayinginthehouse，seemed，underthesecircumstances，topointtotheplainconclusionthatthetwohad，insomeway，unfortunatelymissedeachother。Butwhatcouldbethemotiveofherflight？WhethersheknewofsomeotherplaceinwhichshemightmeetGeoffrey？orwhethershehadgonebacktotheinn？orwhethershehadactedundersomesuddenimpulseofdespair？——werequestionswhichArnoldwasnecessarilyquiteincompetenttosolve。TherewasnochoicebuttowaituntilanopportunityofferedofreportingwhathadhappenedtoGeoffreyhimself。
Afterthelapseofhalfanhour，thesoundofsomeapproachingvehicle——thefirstsoundofthesortthathehadheard——attractedArnold’sattention。Hestartedup，andsawthepony-chaiseapproachinghimalongtheroadfromthestation。SirPatrick，thistime，wascompelledtodrivehimself——Duncanwasnotwithhim。OndiscoveringArnold，hestoppedthepony。
“So!so!“saidtheoldgentleman。“Youhaveheardallaboutit，I
see？Youunderstandthatthisistobeasecretfromeverybody，tillfurthernotice？Verygood，Hasanythinghappenedsinceyouhavebeenhere？“
“Nothing。Haveyoumadeanydiscoveries，SirPatrick？“
“None。Igottothestationbeforethetrain。NosignsofMissSilvesteranywhere。IhaveleftDuncanonthewatch——withordersnottostirtillthelasttrainhaspassedto-night。“
“Idon’tthinkshewillturnupatthestation，“saidArnold。“I
fancyshehasgonebacktoCraigFernie。“
“Quitepossible。IamnowonmywaytoCraigFernie，tomakeinquiriesabouther。Idon’tknowhowlongImaybedetained，orwhatitmayleadto。IfyouseeBlanchebeforeIdotellherI
haveinstructedthestation-mastertoletmeknowifMissSilvesterdoestaketherailwaywhatplaceshebooksfor。Thankstothatarrangement，wesha’n’thavetowaitfornewstillDuncancantelegraphthathehasseenhertoherjourney’send。Inthemeantime，youunderstandwhatyouarewantedtodohere？“
“Blanchehasexplainedeverythingtome。“
“Sticktoyourpost，andmakegooduseofyoureyes。Youwereaccustomedtothat，youknow，whenyouwereatsea。It’snogreathardshiptopassafewhoursinthisdelicioussummerair。Iseeyouhavecontractedthevilemodernhabitofsmoking——thatwillbeoccupationenoughtoamuseyou，nodoubt!Keeptheroadsinview；and，ifshedoescomeyourway，don’tattempttostopher——youcan’tdothat。Speaktoherquiteinnocently，mind!，bywayofgettingtimeenoughtonoticethefaceofthemanwhoisdrivingher，andthenameifthereisoneonhiscart。Dothat，andyouwilldoenough。Pah!howthatcigarpoisonstheair!Whatwillhavebecomeofyourstomachwhenyougettomyage？“
“Isha’n’tcomplain，SirPatrick，ifIcaneatasgoodadinnerasyoudo。“
“Thatremindsme!ImetsomebodyIknewatthestation。HesterDethridgehasleftherplace，andgonetoLondonbythetrain。WemayfeedatWindygates——wehavedonewithdiningnow。Ithasbeenafinalquarrelthistimebetweenthemistressandthecook。I
havegivenHestermyaddressinLondon，andtoldhertoletmeknowbeforeshedecidesonanotherplace。Awomanwho_can’t_
talk，andawomanwho_can_cook，issimplyawomanwhohasarrivedatabsoluteperfection。Suchatreasureshallnotgooutofthefamily，ifIcanhelpit。DidyounoticetheBé；chamelsauceatlunch？Pooh!ayoungmanwhosmokescigarsdoesn’tknowthedifferencebetweenBé；chamelsauceandmeltedbutter。
Goodafternoon!goodafternoon!“
Heslackenedthereins，andawayhewenttoCraigFernie。
Countingbyyears，theponywastwenty，andthepony’sdriverwasseventy。Countingbyvivacityandspirit，twoofthemostyouthfulcharactersinScotlandhadgottogetherthatafternooninthesamechaise。
Anhourmoreworeitselfslowlyout；andnothinghadpassedArnoldonthecross-roadsbutafewstrayfoot-passengers，aheavywagon，andagigwithanoldwomaninit。Heroseagainfromtheheather，wearyofinaction，andresolvedtowalkbackwardandforward，withinviewofhispost，forachange。Atthesecondturn，whenhisfacehappenedtobesettowardtheopenheath，henoticedanotherfoot-passenger——apparentlyaman——farawayintheemptydistance。Wasthepersoncomingtowardhim？
Headvancedalittle。Thestrangerwasdoubtlessadvancingtoo，sorapidlydidhisfigurenowrevealitself，beyondalldoubt，asthefigureofaman。AfewminutesmoreandArnoldfanciedherecognizedit。Yetalittlelonger，andhewasquitesure。Therewasnomistakingthelithestrengthandgraceof_that_man，andthesmootheasyswiftnesswithwhichhecoveredhisground。Itwastheheroofthecomingfoot-race。ItwasGeoffreyonhiswaybacktoWindygatesHouse。
Arnoldhurriedforwardtomeethim。Geoffreystoodstill，poisinghimselfonhisstick，andlettheothercomeup。
“Haveyouheardwhathashappenedatthehouse？“askedArnold。
Heinstinctivelycheckedthenextquestionasitrosetohislips。TherewasasettleddefianceintheexpressionofGeoffrey’sface，whichArnoldwasquiteatalosstounderstand。
Helookedlikeamanwhohadmadeuphismindtoconfrontanythingthatcouldhappen，andtocontradictanybodywhospoketohim。
“Somethingseemstohaveannoyedyou？“saidArnold。
“What’supatthehouse？“returnedGeoffrey，withhisloudestvoiceandhishardestlook。
“MissSilvesterhasbeenatthehouse。“
“Whosawher？“
“NobodybutBlanche。“
“Well？“
“Well，shewasmiserablyweakandill，soillthatshefainted，poorthing，inthelibrary。Blanchebroughtherto。“
“Andwhatthen？“
“Wewereallatlunchatthetime。Blancheleftthelibrary，tospeakprivatelytoheruncle。WhenshewentbackMissSilvesterwasgone，andnothinghasbeenseenofhersince。“
“Arowatthehouse？“
“Nobodyknowsofitatthehouse，exceptBlanche——“
“Andyou？Andhowmanybesides？“
“AndSirPatrick。Nobodyelse。“
“Nobodyelse？Anythingmore？“
Arnoldrememberedhispromisetokeeptheinvestigationthenonfootasecretfromeverybody。Geoffrey’smannermadehim——unconsciouslytohimself——readierthanhemightotherwisehavebeentoconsiderGeoffreyasincludedinthegeneralprohibition。
“Nothingmore，“heanswered。
Geoffreydugthepointofhisstickdeepintothesoft，sandyground。Helookedatthestick，thensuddenlypulleditoutofthegroundandlookedatArnold。“Good-afternoon!“hesaid，andwentonhiswayagainbyhimself。
Arnoldfollowed，andstoppedhim。Foramomentthetwomenlookedateachotherwithoutawordpassingoneitherside。Arnoldspokefirst。
“You’reoutofhumor，Geoffrey。Whathasupsetyouinthisway？
HaveyouandMissSilvestermissedeachother？“
Geoffreywassilent。
“HaveyouseenhersincesheleftWindygates？“
Noreply。
“DoyouknowwhereMissSilvesterisnow？“
Stillnoreply。Stillthesamemutely-insolentdefianceoflookandmanner。Arnold’sdarkcolorbegantodeepen。
“Whydon’tyouanswerme？“hesaid。
“BecauseIhavehadenoughofit。“
“Enoughofwhat？“
“EnoughofbeingworriedaboutMissSilvester。MissSilvester’smybusiness——notyours。“
“Gently，Geoffrey!Don’tforgetthatIhavebeenmixedupinthatbusiness——withoutseekingitmyself。“
“There’snofearofmyforgetting。Youhavecastitinmyteethoftenenough。“
“Castitinyourteeth？“
“Yes!AmInevertohearthelastofmyobligationtoyou？Thedeviltaketheobligation!I’msickofthesoundofit。“
TherewasaspiritinArnold——noteasilybroughttothesurface，throughtheoverlyingsimplicityandgood-humorofhisordinarycharacter——which，onceroused，wasaspiritnotreadilyquelled。