Hestopped，noticingsomethingentirelynewinthelookwithwhichtheyoungladywasregardinghim。
“Begyourpardon，“saidGeoffrey。“Doyouwishtospeaktome？“
Blanche’sfaceflushedallover。Herunclecametotherescue。
“MissLundieandIhopeyouhavesleptwellMr。Delamayn，“saidSirPatrick，jocosely。
“That’sall。“
“Oh？That’sall？“saidGeoffreystilllookingatBlanche。“Begyourpardonagain。Deucedlongwalk，anddeucedheavydinner。
Naturalconsequence——anap。“
SirPatrickeyedhimclosely。ItwasplainthathehadbeenhonestlypuzzledatfindinghimselfanobjectofspecialattentiononBlanche’spart。“Seeyouinthebilliard-room？“hesaid，carelessly，andfollowedhiscompanionsoutoftheroom——asusual，withoutwaitingforananswer。
“Mindwhatyouareabout，“saidSirPatricktohisniece。“Thatmanisquickerthanhelooks。Wecommitaseriousmistakeifweputhimonhisguardatstarting。“
“Itsha’n’thappenagain，uncle，“saidBlanche。“Butthinkof_his_beinginAnne’sconfidence，andof_my_beingshutoutofit!“
“Inhisfriend’sconfidence，youmean，mydear；andifweonlyavoidawakeninghissuspicionthereisnoknowinghowsoonhemaysayordosomethingwhichmayshowuswhohisfriendis。“
“Butheisgoingbacktohisbrother’sto-morrow——hesaidsoatdinner-time。“
“Somuchthebetter。Hewillbeoutofthewayofseeingstrangethingsinacertainyounglady’sface。Hisbrother’shouseiswithineasyreachofthis；andIamhislegaladviser。Myexperiencetellsmethathehasnotdoneconsultingmeyet——andthathewillletoutsomethingmorenexttime。SomuchforourchanceofseeingthelightthroughMr。Delamayn——ifwecan’tseeitinanyotherway。Andthatisnotouronlychance，remember。I
havesomethingtotellyouaboutBishopriggsandthelostletter。“
“Isitfound？“
“No。Isatisfiedmyselfaboutthat——Ihaditsearchedfor，undermyowneye。Theletterisstolen，Blanche；andBishopriggshasgotit。Ihaveleftalineforhim，inMrs。Inchbare’scare。Theoldrascalismissedalreadybythevisitorsattheinn，justasItoldyouhewouldbe。Hismistressisfeelingthepenaltyofhavingbeenfoolenoughtoventherilltemperonherhead-waiter。ShelaysthewholeblameofthequarrelonMissSilvester，ofcourse。BishopriggsneglectedeverybodyattheinntowaitonMissSilvester。Bishopriggswasinsolentonbeingremonstratedwith，andMissSilvesterencouragedhim——andsoon。
Theresultwillbe——nowMissSilvesterhasgone——thatBishopriggswillreturntoCraigFerniebeforetheautumnisover。Wearesailingwithwindandtide，mydear。Come，andlearntoplaywhist。“
Herosetojointhecard-players。Blanchedetainedhim。
“Youhaven’ttoldmeonethingyet，“shesaid。“Whoeverthemanmaybe，isAnnemarriedtohim？“
“Whoeverthemanmaybe，“returnedSirPatrick，“hehadbetternotattempttomarryanybodyelse。“
Sothenieceunconsciouslyputthequestion，andsotheuncleunconsciouslygavetheansweronwhichdependedthewholehappinessofBlanche’slifetocome，The“man!“Howlightlytheybothtalkedofthe“man!“Wouldnothinghappentorousethefaintestsuspicion——intheirmindsorinArnold’smind——thatArnoldwasthe“man“himself？
“Youmeanthatshe_is_married？“saidBlanche。
“Idon’tgoasfarasthat。“
“Youmeanthatsheis_not_married？“
“Idon’tgosofaras_that。_“
“Oh!thelaw!“
“Provoking，isn’tit，mydear？Icantellyou，professionally，thatinmyopinionshehasgroundstogoonifsheclaimstobetheman’swife。ThatiswhatImeantbymyanswer；and，untilweknowmore，thatisallIcansay。“
“Whenshallweknowmore？Whenshallwegetthetelegram？“
“Notforsomehoursyet。Come，andlearntoplaywhist。“
“IthinkIwouldrathertalktoArnold，uncle，ifyoudon’tmind。“
“Byallmeans!Butdon’ttalktohimaboutwhatIhavebeentellingyouto-night。HeandMr。Delamaynareoldassociates，remember；andhemightblunderintotellinghisfriendwhathisfriendhadbetternotknow。Sadisn’tit？formetobeinstillingtheselessonsofduplicityintotheyouthfulmind。A
wisepersononcesaid，’Theolderamangetstheworsehegets。’
Thatwiseperson，mydear，hadmeinhiseye，andwasperfectlyright。“
Hemitigatedthepainofthatconfessionwithapinchofsnuff，andwenttothewhisttabletowaituntiltheendoftherubbergavehimaplaceatthegame。
BLANCHEfoundherloverasattentiveasusualtoherslightestwish，butnotinhiscustomarygoodspirits。Hepleadedfatigue，afterhislongwatchatthecross-roads，asanexcuseforhisdepression。AslongastherewasanyhopeofareconciliationwithGeoffrey，hewasunwillingtotellBlanchewhathadhappenedthatafternoon。Thehopegrewfainterandfainterastheeveningadvanced。Arnoldpurposelysuggestedavisittothebilliard-room，andjoinedthegame，withBlanche，togiveGeoffreyanopportunityofsayingthefewgraciouswordswhichwouldhavemadethemfriendsagain。Geoffreyneverspokethewords；heobstinatelyignoredArnold’spresenceintheroom。
Atthecard-tablethewhistwentoninterminably。LadyLundie，SirPatrick，andthesurgeon，wereallinveterateplayers，evenlymatched。SmithandJonesjoiningthegamealternatelywereaidstowhist，exactlyastheywereaidstoconversation。Thesamesafeandmodestmediocrityofstyledistinguishedtheproceedingsofthesetwogentlemeninalltheaffairsoflife。
Thetimeworeontomidnight。TheywenttobedlateandtheyroselateatWindygatesHouse。Underthathospitableroof，nointrusivehints，intheshapeofflatcandlesticksexhibitingthemselveswithostentatiousvirtueonside-tables，hurriedtheguesttohisroom；novilebellranghimruthlesslyoutofbedthenextmorning，andinsistedonhisbreakfastingatagivenhour。Lifehassurelyhardshipsenoughthatareinevitablewithoutgratuitouslyaddingthehardshipofabsolutegovernment，administeredbyaclock？
ItwasaquarterpasttwelvewhenLadyLundieroseblandlyfromthewhist-table，andsaidthatshesupposedsomebodymustsettheexampleofgoingtobed。SirPatrickandSmith，thesurgeonandJones，agreedonalastrubber。Blanchevanishedwhileherstepmother’seyewasonher；andappearedagaininthedrawing-room，whenLadyLundiewassafeinthehandsofhermaid。
NobodyfollowedtheexampleofthemistressofthehousebutArnold。Heleftthebilliard-roomwiththecertaintythatitwasallovernowbetweenGeoffreyandhimself。NoteventheattractionofBlancheprovedstrongenoughtodetainhimthatnight。Hewenthiswaytobed。
Itwaspastoneo’clock。Thefinalrubberwasatanend，theaccountsweresettledatthecard-table；thesurgeonhadstrolledintothebilliard-room，andSmithandJoneshadfollowedhim，whenDuncancamein，atlast，withthetelegraminhishand。
Blancheturnedfromthebroad，calmautumnmoonlightwhichhaddrawnhertothewindow，andlookedoverheruncle’sshoulderwhileheopenedthetelegram。
Shereadthefirstline——andthatwasenough。Thewholescaffoldingofhopebuiltroundthatmorselofpaperfelltothegroundinaninstant。ThetrainfromKirkandrewhadreachedEdinburghattheusualtime。Everypassengerinithadpassedundertheeyesofthepolice，andnothinghadbeenseenofanypersonwhoansweredthedescriptiongivenofAnne!
SirPatrickpointedtothetwolastsentencesinthetelegram：
“InquiriestelegraphedtoFalkirk。Ifwithanyresult，youshallknow。“
“Wemusthopeforthebest，Blanche。Theyevidentlysuspectherofhavinggotoutatthejunctionofthetworailwaysforthepurposeofgivingthetelegraphtheslip。Thereisnohelpforit。Gotobed，child——gotobed。“
Blanchekissedheruncleinsilenceandwentaway。Thebrightyoungfacewassadwiththefirsthopelesssorrowwhichtheoldmanhadyetseeninit。Hisniece’spartinglookdweltpainfullyonhismindwhenhewasupinhisroom，withthefaithfulDuncangettinghimreadyforhisbed。
“Thisisabadbusiness，Duncan。Idon’tliketosaysotoMissLundie；butIgreatlyfearthegovernesshasbaffledus。“
“Itseemslikely，SirPatrick。Thepooryoungladylooksquiteheart-brokenaboutit。“
“Younoticedthattoo，didyou？Shehaslivedallherlife，yousee，withMissSilvester；andthereisaverystrongattachmentbetweenthem。Iamuneasyaboutmyniece，Duncan。Iamafraidthisdisappointmentwillhaveaseriouseffectonher。“
“She’syoung，SirPatrick。“
“Yes，myfriend，she’syoung；buttheyoungwhentheyaregoodforanythinghavewarmhearts。Winterhasn’tstolenon_them，_
Duncan!Andtheyfeelkeenly。“
“Ithinkthere’sreasontohope，Sir，thatMissLundiemaygetoveritmoreeasilythanyousuppose。“
“Whatreason，pray？“
“Apersoninmypositioncanhardlyventuretospeakfreely，Sir，onadelicatematterofthiskind。“
SirPatrick’stemperflashedout，half-seriously，half-whimsically，asusual。
“IsthatasnapatMe，youolddog？IfIamnotyourfriend，aswellasyourmaster，whois？Am_I_inthehabitofkeepinganyofmyharmlessfellow-creaturesatadistance？IdespisethecantofmodernLiberalism；butit’snotthelesstruethatIhave，allmylife，protestedagainsttheinhumanseparationofclassesinEngland。Weare，inthatrespect，bragaswemayofournationalvirtue，themostunchristianpeopleinthecivilizedworld。“
“Ibegyourpardon，SirPatrick——“
“Godhelpme!I’mtalkingpolitiesatthistimeofnight!It’syourfault，Duncan。Whatdoyoumeanbycastingmystationinmyteeth，becauseIcan’tputmynight-caponcomfortablytillyouhavebrushedmyhair？Ihaveagoodmindtogetupandbrushyours。There!there!I’muneasyaboutmyniece——nervousirritability，mygoodfellow，that’sall。Let’shearwhatyouhavetosayaboutMissLundie。Andgoonwithmyhair。Anddon’tbeahumbug。“