“Pointthepersonout。“Shesaidthewordswithaself-possessionwhichwonheruncle’sheartyapproval。Blanchehaddonewondersforagirlinherteens。
“Look!“saidSirPatrick；“andtellmewhatyousee。“
“IseeLadyLundie，attheotherendoftheroom，withthemapofPerthshireandtheBaronialAntiquitiesofScotlandonthetable。
AndIseeeverybodybutyouandmeobligedtolistentoher。“
“Everybody？“
Blanchelookedcarefullyroundtheroom，andnoticedGeoffreyintheoppositecorner；fastasleepbythistimeinhisarm-chair。
“Uncle!youdon’tmean——？“
“Thereistheman。“
“Mr。Delamayn——!“
“Mr。Delamaynknowseverything。“
Blancheheldmechanicallybyheruncle’sarm，andlookedatthesleepingmanasifhereyescouldneverseeenoughofhim。
“YousawmeinthelibraryinprivateconsultationwithMr。
Delamayn，“resumedSirPatrick。“Ihavetoacknowledge，mydear，thatyouwerequiterightinthinkingthisasuspiciouscircumstance，AndIamnowtojustifymyselfforhavingpurposelykeptyouinthedarkuptothepresenttime。“
Withthoseintroductorywords，hebrieflyrevertedtotheearlieroccurrencesoftheday，andthenadded，bywayofcommentary，astatementoftheconclusionswhicheventshadsuggestedtohisownmind。
Theevents，itmayberemembered，werethreeinnumber。First，Geoffrey’sprivateconferencewithSirPatrickonthesubjectofIrregularMarriagesinScotland。Secondly，AnneSilvester’sappearanceatWindygates。Thirdly，Anne’sflight。
TheconclusionswhichhadthereuponsuggestedthemselvestoSirPatrick’smindweresixinnumber。
First，thataconnectionofsomesortmightpossiblyexistbetweenGeoffrey’sacknowledgeddifficultyabouthisfriend，andMissSilvester’spresumeddifficultyaboutherself。Secondly，thatGeoffreyhadreallyputtoSirPatrick——nothisowncase——butthecaseofafriend。Thirdly，thatGeoffreyhadsomeinterestofnoharmlesskindinestablishingthefactofhisfriend’smarriage。Fourthly，thatAnne’sanxietyasdescribedbyBlanchetohearthenamesofthegentlemenwhowerestayingatWindygates，pointed，inallprobability，toGeoffrey。Fifthly，thatthislastinferencedisturbedthesecondconclusion，andreopenedthedoubtwhetherGeoffreyhadnotbeenstatinghisowncase，afterall，underpretenseofstatingthecaseofafriend。
Sixthly，thattheonewayofobtaininganyenlightenmentonthispoint，andonalltheotherpointsinvolvedinmystery，wastogotoCraigFernie，andconsultMrs。Inchbare’sexperienceduringtheperiodofAnne’sresidenceattheinn。SirPatrick’sapologyforkeepingallthisasecretfromhisniecefollowed。Hehadshrunkfromagitatingheronthesubjectuntilhecouldbesureofprovinghisconclusionstobetrue。Theproofhadbeenobtained；andhewasnow，therefore，readytoopenhismindtoBlanchewithoutreserve。
“Somuch，mydear，“proceededSirPatrick，“forthosenecessaryexplanationswhicharealsothenecessarynuisancesofhumanintercourse。YounowknowasmuchasIdidwhenIarrivedatCraigFernie——andyouare，therefore，inapositiontoappreciatethevalueofmydiscoveriesattheinn。Doyouunderstandeverything，sofar？“
“Perfectly!“
“Verygood。Idroveuptotheinn；and——beholdmeclosetedwithMrs。Inchbareinherownprivateparlor!Myreputationmayormaynotsuffer，butMrs。Inchbare’sbonesareabovesuspicion!
Itwasalongbusiness，Blanche。Amoresour-tempered，cunning，anddistrustfulwitnessIneverexaminedinallmyexperienceattheBar。Shewouldhaveupsetthetemperofanymortalmanbutalawyer。Wehavesuchwonderfultempersinourprofession；andwecanbesoaggravatingwhenwelike!Inshort，mydear，Mrs。
Inchbarewasashe-cat，andIwasahe-cat——andIclawedthetruthoutofheratlast。Theresultwaswellwortharrivingat，asyoushallsee。Mr。Delamaynhaddescribedtomecertainremarkablecircumstancesastakingplacebetweenaladyandagentlemanataninn：theobjectofthepartiesbeingtopassthemselvesoffatthetimeasmanandwife。Everyoneofthosecircumstances，Blanche，occurredatCraigFernie，betweenaladyandagentleman，onthedaywhenMissSilvesterdisappearedfromthishouseAnd——wait!——beingpressedforhername，afterthegentlemanhadleftherbehindhimattheinn，thenametheladygavewas，’Mrs。Silvester。’Whatdoyouthinkofthat？“
“Think!I’mbewildered——Ican’trealizeit。“
“It’sastartlingdiscovery，mydearchild——thereisnodenyingthat。ShallIwaitalittle，andletyourecoveryourself？“
“No!no!Goon!Thegentleman，uncle？ThegentlemanwhowaswithAnne？Whoishe？NotMr。Delamayn？“
“NotMr。Delamayn，“saidSirPatrick。“IfIhaveprovednothingelse，Ihaveprovedthat。“
“Whatneedwastheretoproveit？Mr。DelamaynwenttoLondononthedayofthelawn-party。AndArnold——“
“AndArnoldwentwithhimasfarasthesecondstationfromthis。
Quitetrue!ButhowwasItoknowwhatMr。DelamaynmighthavedoneafterArnoldhadlefthim？Icouldonlymakesurethathehadnotgonebackprivatelytotheinn，bygettingtheprooffromMrs。Inchbare。“
“Howdidyougetit？“
“IaskedhertodescribethegentlemanwhowaswithMissSilvester。Mrs。Inchbare’sdescriptionvagueasyouwillpresentlyfindittobecompletelyexoneratesthatman，“saidSirPatrick，pointingtoGeoffreystillasleepinhischair。
“_He_isnotthepersonwhopassedMissSilvesteroffashiswifeatCraigFernie。Hespokethetruthwhenhedescribedthecasetomeasthecaseofafriend。“
“Butwhoisthefriend？“persistedBlanche。“That’swhatIwanttoknow。“
“That’swhatIwanttoknow，too。“
“Tellmeexactly，uncle，whatMrs。Inchbaresaid。IhavelivedwithAnneallmylife。I_must_haveseenthemansomewhere。“
“IfyoucanidentifyhimbyMrs。Inchbare’sdescription，“
returnedSirPatrick，“youwillbeagreatdealclevererthanI
am。Hereisthepictureoftheman，aspaintedbythelandlady：
Young；middle-sized；darkhair，eyes，andcomplexion；nicetemper，pleasantwayofspeaking。Leaveout’young，’andtherestistheexactcontraryofMr。Delamayn。Sofar，Mrs。Inchbareguidesusplainlyenough。Buthowarewetoapplyherdescriptiontotherightperson？Theremustbe，atthelowestcomputation，fivehundredthousandmeninEnglandwhoareyoung，middle-sized，dark，nice-tempered，andpleasantspoken。Oneofthefootmenhereanswersthatdescriptionineveryparticular。“
“AndArnoldanswersit，“saidBlanche——asastillstrongerinstanceoftheprovokingvaguenessofthedescription。
“AndArnoldanswersit，“repeatedSirPatrick，quiteagreeingwithher。
TheyhadbarelysaidthosewordswhenArnoldhimselfappeared，approachingSirPatrickwithapackofcardsinhishand。
There——attheverymomentwhentheyhadbothguessedthetruth，withoutfeelingtheslightestsuspicionofitintheirownminds——therestoodDiscovery，presentingitselfunconsciouslytoeyesincapableofseeingit，inthepersonofthemanwhohadpassedAnneSilvesteroffashiswifeattheCraigFernieinn!
TheterriblecapriceofChance，themercilessironyofCircumstance，couldgonofurtherthanthis。Thethreehadtheirfeetonthebrinkoftheprecipiceatthatmoment。Andtwoofthemweresmilingatanoddcoincidence；andoneofthemwasshufflingapackofcards!
“WehavedonewiththeAntiquitiesatlast!“saidArnold；“andwearegoingtoplayatWhist。SirPatrick，willyouchooseacard？“
“Toosoonafterdinner，mygoodfellow，for_me_。Playthefirstrubber，andthengivemeanotherchance。By-the-way，“headded“MissSilvesterhasbeentracedtoKirkandrew。Howisitthatyouneversawhergoby？“
“Shecan’thavegonemyway，SirPatrick，orImusthaveseenher。“
Havingjustifiedhimselfinthoseterms，hewasrecalledtotheotherendoftheroombythewhist-party，impatientforthecardswhichhehadinhishand。
“Whatwerewetalkingofwhenheinterruptedus？“saidSirPatricktoBlanche。
“Oftheman，uncle，whowaswithMissSilvesterattheinn。“
“It’suselesstopursuethatinquiry，mydear，withnothingbetterthanMrs。Inchbare’sdescriptiontohelpus。“
BlanchelookedroundatthesleepingGeoffrey。
“And_he_knows!“shesaid。“It’smaddening，uncle，tolookatthebrutesnoringinhischair!“
SirPatrickheldupawarninghand。Beforeawordmorecouldbesaidbetweenthemtheyweresilencedagainbyanotherinterruption，Thewhist-partycomprisedLadyLundieandthesurgeon，playingaspartnersagainstSmithandJones。Arnoldsatbehindthesurgeon，takingalessoninthegame。One，Two，andThree，thuslefttotheirowndevices，naturallythoughtofthebilliard-table；and，detectingGeoffreyasleepinhiscorner，advancedtodisturbhisslumbers，undertheall-sufficingapologyof“Pool。“Geoffreyrousedhimself，andrubbedhiseyes，andsaid，drowsily，“Allright。“Asherose，helookedattheoppositecornerinwhichSirPatrickandhisnieceweresitting。Blanche’sself-possession，resolutelyasshestruggledtopreserveit，wasnotstrongenoughtokeephereyesfromturningtowardGeoffreywithanexpressionwhichbetrayedthereluctantinterestthatshenowfeltinhim。