“Iwasabouttoremindyou，SirPatrick，thatMissLundiehasanotherinterestinherlifetoturnto。IfthismatterofMissSilvesterendsbadly——andIownitbeginstolookasifitwould——Ishouldhurrymyniece’smarriage，Sir，andseeif_that_
wouldn’tconsoleher。“
SirPatrickstartedunderthegentledisciplineofthehair-brushinDuncan’shand。
“That’sverysensiblyput，“saidtheoldgentleman。“Duncan!youare，whatIcall，aclear-mindedman。Wellworththinkingof，oldTruepenny!Iftheworstcomestotheworst，wellworththinkingof!“
ItwasnotthefirsttimethatDuncan’ssteadygoodsensehadstrucklight，undertheformofanewthought，inhismaster’smind。Butneveryethadhewroughtsuchmischiefasthemischiefwhichhehadinnocentlydonenow。HehadsentSirPatricktobedwiththefatalideaofhasteningthemarriageofArnoldandBlanche。
ThesituationofaffairsatWindygates——nowthatAnnehadapparentlyobliteratedalltraceofherself——wasbecomingserious。TheonechanceonwhichthediscoveryofArnold’spositiondepended，wasthechancethataccidentmightrevealthetruthinthelapseoftime。Inthispostureofcircumstances，SirPatricknowresolved——ifnothinghappenedtorelieveBlanche’sanxietyinthecourseoftheweek——toadvancethecelebrationofthemarriagefromtheendoftheautumnasoriginallycontemplatedtothefirstfortnightoftheensuingmonth。Asdatesthenstood，thechangeledsofarasfreescopeforthedevelopmentofaccidentwasconcernedtothisseriousresult。Itabridgedalapseofthreemonthsintoanintervalofthreeweeks。
Thenextmorningcame；andBlanchemarkeditasamemorablemorning，bycommittinganactofimprudence，whichstruckawayonemoreofthechancesofdiscoverythathadexisted，beforethearrivaloftheEdinburghtelegramonthepreviousday。
Shehadpassedasleeplessnight；feveredinmindandbody；
thinking，hourafterhour，ofnothingbutAnne。Atsunriseshecouldendureitnolonger。Herpowertocontrolherselfwascompletelyexhausted；herownimpulsesledherastheypleased。
Shegotup，determinednottoletGeoffreyleavethehousewithoutriskinganefforttomakehimrevealwhatheknewaboutAnne。ItwasnothinglessthandownrighttreasontoSirPatricktoactonherownresponsibilityinthisway。Sheknewitwaswrong；shewasheartilyashamedofherselffordoingit。Butthedemonthatpossesseswomenwitharecklessnessalltheirown，atthecriticalmomentsoftheirlives，hadgother——andshedidit。
Geoffreyhadarrangedovernight，tobreakfastearly，byhimself，andtowalkthetenmilestohisbrother’shouse；sendingaservanttofetchhisluggagelaterintheday。
Hehadgotonhishat；hewasstandinginthehall，searchinghispocketforhissecondself，thepipe——whenBlanchesuddenlyappearedfromthemorning-room，andplacedherselfbetweenhimandthehousedoor。
“Upearly——eh？“saidGeoffrey。“I’mofftomybrother’s。“
Shemadenoreply。Helookedathercloser。Thegirl’seyesweretryingtoreadhisface，withanuttercarelessnessofconcealment，whichforbadeeventohismindallunworthyinterpretationofhermotiveforstoppinghimonhiswayout“Anycommandsforme？“heinquiredThistimesheansweredhim。“Ihavesomethingtoaskyou，“shesaid。
Hesmiledgraciously，andopenedhistobacco-pouch。Hewasfreshandstrongafterhisnight’ssleep——healthyandhandsomeandgood-humored。Thehouse-maidshadhadapeepathimthatmorning，andhadwished——likeDesdemona，withadifference——that“Heavenhadmadeallthreeofthemsuchaman。“
“Well，“hesaid，“whatisit？“
Sheputherquestion，withoutasinglewordofpreface——purposelytosurprisehim。
“Mr。Delamayn，“shesaid，“doyouknowwhereAnneSilvesteristhismorning？“
Hewasfillinghispipeasshespoke，andhedroppedsomeofthetobaccoonthefloor。Insteadofansweringbeforehepickedupthetobaccoheansweredafter——insurlyself-possession，andinoneword——“No。“
“Doyouknownothingabouther？“
Hedevotedhimselfdoggedlytothefillingofhispipe。
“Nothing。“
“Onyourwordofhonor，asagentleman？“
“Onmywordofhonor，asagentleman。“
Heputbackhistobacco-pouchinhispocket。Hishandsomefacewasashardasstone。HisclearblueeyesdefiedallthegirlsinEnglandputtogethertoseeinto_his_mind。“Haveyoudone，MissLundie？“heasked，suddenlychangingtoabanteringpolitenessoftoneandmanner。
Blanchesawthatitwashopeless——sawthatshehadcompromisedherowninterestsbyherownheadlongact。SirPatrick’swarningwordscamebackreproachfullytohernowwhenitwastoolate。
“Wecommitaseriousmistakeifweputhimonhisguardatstarting。“
Therewasbutonecoursetotakenow。“Yes，“shesaid。“Ihavedone。“
“Myturnnow，“rejoinedGeoffrey。“YouwanttoknowwhereMissSilvesteris。WhydoyouaskMe？“
Blanchedidallthatcouldbedonetowardrepairingtheerrorthatshehadcommitted。ShekeptGeoffreyasfarawayasGeoffreyhadkept_her_fromthetruth。
“Ihappentoknow，“shereplied“thatMissSilvesterlefttheplaceatwhichshehadbeenstayingaboutthetimewhenyouwentoutwalkingyesterday。AndIthoughtyoumighthaveseenher。“
“Oh？That’sthereason——isit？“saidGeoffrey，withasmile。
ThesmilestungBlanche’ssensitivetempertothequick。Shemadeafinalefforttocontrolherself，beforeherindignationgotthebetterofher。
“Ihavenomoretosay，Mr。Delamayn。“Withthatreplysheturnedherbackonhim，andclosedthedoorofthemorning-roombetweenthem。
Geoffreydescendedthehousestepsandlithispipe。Hewasnotattheslightestloss，onthisoccasion，toaccountforwhathadhappened。HeassumedatoncethatArnoldhadtakenameanrevengeonhimafterhisconductofthedaybefore，andhadtoldthewholesecretofhiserrandatCraigFernietoBlanche。Thethingwouldgetnext，nodoubt，toSirPatrick’sears；andSirPatrickwouldthereuponbeprobablythefirstpersonwhorevealedtoArnoldthepositioninwhichhehadplacedhimselfwithAnne。Allright!SirPatrickwouldbeanexcellentwitnesstoappealto，whenthescandalbrokeout，andwhenthetimecameforrepudiatingAnne’sclaimonhimasthebarefacedimpostureofawomanwhowasmarriedalreadytoanotherman。Hepuffedawayunconcernedlyathispipe，andstarted，athisswinging，steadypace，forhisbrother’shouse。
Blancheremainedaloneinthemorning-room。Theprospectofgettingatthetruth，bymeansofwhatGeoffreymightsayonthenextoccasionwhenheconsultedSirPatrick，wasaprospectthatsheherselfhadclosedfromthatmoment。Shesatdownindespairbythewindow。Itcommandedaviewofthelittleside-terracewhichhadbeenAnne’sfavoritewalkatWindygates。Withwearyeyesandachingheartthepoorchildlookedatthefamiliarplace；andaskedherself，withthebitterrepentancethatcomestoolate，ifshehaddestroyedthelastchanceoffindingAnne!
Shesatpassivelyatthewindow，whilethehoursofthemorningworeon，untilthepostmancame。Beforetheservantcouldtaketheletterbagshewasinthehalltoreceiveit。WasitpossibletohopethatthebaghadbroughttidingsofAnne？Shesortedtheletters；andlightedsuddenlyonalettertoherself。ItboretheKirkandrewpostmark，andItwasaddressedtoherinAnne’shandwriting。
Shetoretheletteropen，andreadtheselines：
“Ihaveleftyouforever，Blanche。Godblessandrewardyou!Godmakeyouahappywomaninallyourlifetocome!Cruelasyouwillthinkme，love，IhaveneverbeensotrulyyoursisterasI
amnow。Icanonlytellyouthis——Icannevertellyoumore。
Forgiveme，andforgetme，ourlivesarepartedlivesfromthisday。“
Goingdowntobreakfastabouthisusualhour，SirPatrickmissedBlanche，whomhewasaccustomedtoseewaitingforhimatthetableatthattime。Theroomwasempty；theothermembersofthehouseholdhavingallfinishedtheirmorningmeal。SirPatrickdislikedbreakfastingalone。HesentDuncanwithamessage，tobegiventoBlanche’smaid。
ThemaidappearedinduetimeMissLundiewasunabletoleaveherroom。Shesentalettertoheruncle，withherlove——andbeggedhewouldreadit。
SirPatrickopenedtheletterandsawwhatAnnehadwrittentoBlanche。
Hewaitedalittle，reflecting，withevidentpainandanxiety，onwhathehadread——thenopenedhisownletters，andhurriedlylookedatthesignatures。Therewasnothingforhimfromhisfriend，thesheriff，atEdinburgh，andnocommunicationfromtherailway，intheshapeofatelegram。Hehaddecided，overnight，onwaitingtilltheendoftheweekbeforeheinterferedinthematterofBlanche’smarriage。Theeventsofthemorningdeterminedhimonnotwaitinganotherday。Duncanreturnedtothebreakfast-roomtopourouthismaster’scoffee。SirPatricksenthimawayagainwithasecondmessage“DoyouknowwhereLadyLundieis，Duncan？“
“Yes，SirPatrick。“
“Mycomplimentstoherladyship。Ifsheisnototherwiseengaged，Ishallbegladtospeaktoherprivatelyinanhour’stime。“