SIRPATRICKmadeabadbreakfast。Blanche’sabsencefrettedhim，andAnneSilvester’sletterpuzzledhim。
Hereadit，shortasitwas，asecondtime，andathird。Ifitmeantanything，itmeantthatthemotiveatthebottomofAnne’sflightwastoaccomplishthesacrificeofherselftothehappinessofBlanche。Shehadpartedforlifefromhisnieceforhisniece’ssake!Whatdidthismean？AndhowwasittobereconciledwithAnne’sposition——asdescribedtohimbyMrs。
InchbareduringhisvisittoCraigFernie？
AllSirPatrick’singenuity，andallSirPatrick’sexperience，failedtofindsomuchastheshadowofananswertothatquestion。
Whilehewasstillponderingovertheletter，Arnoldandthesurgeonenteredthebreakfast-roomtogether。
“HaveyouheardaboutBlanche？“askedArnold，excitedly。“Sheisinnodanger，SirPatrick——theworstofitisovernow。“
ThesurgeoninterposedbeforeSirPatrickcouldappealtohim。
“Mr。Brinkworth’sinterestintheyoungladyalittleexaggeratesthestateofthecase，“hesaid。“Ihaveseenher，atLadyLundie’srequest；andIcanassureyouthatthereisnottheslightestreasonforanypresentalarm。MissLundiehashadanervousattack，whichhasyieldedtothesimplestdomesticremedies。Theonlyanxietyyouneedfeelisconnectedwiththemanagementofherinthefuture。Sheissufferingfromsomementaldistress，whichitisnotforme，butforherfriends，toalleviateandremove。Ifyoucanturnherthoughtsfromthepainfulsubject——whateveritmaybe——onwhichtheyaredwellingnow，youwilldoallthatneedstobedone。“Hetookupanewspaperfromthetable，andstrolledoutintothegarden，leavingSirPatrickandArnoldtogether。
“Youheardthat？“saidSirPatrick。
“Isheright，doyouthink？“askedArnold。
“Right？Doyousupposeamangets_his_reputationbymakingmistakes？You’reoneofthenewgeneration，MasterArnold。Youcanallofyoustareatafamousman；butyouhaven’tanatomofrespectforhisfame。IfShakspearecametolifeagain，andtalkedofplaywriting，thefirstpretentiousnobodywhosatoppositeatdinnerwoulddifferwithhimascomposedlyashemightdifferwithyouandme。Venerationisdeadamongus；thepresentagehasburiedit，withoutastonetomarktheplace。Somuchforthat!Let’sgetbacktoBlanche。Isupposeyoucanguesswhatthepainfulsubjectisthat’sdwellingonhermind？MissSilvesterhasbaffledme，andbaffledtheEdinburghpolice。
BlanchediscoveredthatwehadfailedlastnightandBlanchereceivedthatletterthismorning。“
HepushedAnne’sletteracrossthebreakfast-table。
Arnoldreadit，andhandeditbackwithoutaword。ViewedbythenewlightinwhichhesawGeoffrey’scharacterafterthequarrelontheheath，theletterconveyedbutoneconclusiontohismind。
Geoffreyhaddesertedher。
“Well？“saidSirPatrick。“Doyouunderstandwhatitmeans？“
“IunderstandBlanche’swretchednesswhenshereadit。“
Hesaidnomorethanthat。Itwasplainthatnoinformationwhichhecouldafford——evenifhehadconsideredhimselfatlibertytogiveit——wouldbeoftheslightestuseinassistingSirPatricktotraceMissSilvester，underpresentcircumstances，Therewas——unhappily——notemptationtoinducehimtobreakthehonorablesilencewhichhehadmaintainedthusfar。And——moreunfortunatelystill——assumingthetemptationtopresentitself，Arnold’scapacitytoresistithadneverbeensostrongacapacityasitwasnow。
Tothetwopowerfulmotiveswhichhadhithertotiedhistongue——respectforAnne’sreputation，andreluctancetorevealtoBlanchethedeceptionwhichhehadbeencompelledtopracticeonherattheinn——tothesetwomotivestherewasnowaddedathird。ThemeannessofbetrayingtheconfidencewhichGeoffreyhadreposedinhimwouldbedoubledmeannessifheprovedfalsetohistrustafterGeoffreyhadpersonallyinsultedhim。ThepaltryrevengewhichthatfalsefriendhadunhesitatinglysuspectedhimoftakingwasarevengeofwhichArnold’snaturewassimplyincapable。Neverhadhislipsbeenmoreeffectuallysealedthanatthismoment——whenhiswholefuturedependedonSirPatrick’sdiscoveringthepartthathehadplayedinpasteventsatCraigFernie。
“Yes!yes!“resumedSirPatrick，impatiently。“Blanche’sdistressisintelligibleenough。Buthereismynieceapparentlyanswerableforthisunhappywoman’sdisappearance。Canyouexplainwhatmyniecehasgottodowithit？“
“I!Blancheherselfiscompletelymystified。Howshould_I_
know？“
Answeringinthoseterms，hespokewithperfectsincerity。Anne’svaguedistrustofthepositioninwhichtheyhadinnocentlyplacedthemselvesattheinnhadproducednocorrespondingeffectonArnoldatthetime。Hehadnotregardedit；hehadnotevenunderstoodit。Asanecessaryresult，notthefaintestsuspicionofthemotiveunderwhichAnnewasactingexistedinhismindnow。
SirPatrickputtheletterintohispocket-book，andabandonedallfurtherattemptatinterpretingthemeaningofitindespair。
“Enough，andmorethanenough，ofgropinginthedark，“hesaid。
“Onepointiscleartomeafterwhathashappenedupstairsthismorning。WemustacceptthepositioninwhichMissSilvesterhasplacedus。Ishallgiveupallfurtherefforttotraceherfromthismoment。“
“SurelythatwillbeadreadfuldisappointmenttoBlanche，SirPatrick？“
“Idon’tdenyit。Wemustfacethatresult。“
“Ifyouaresurethereisnothingelsetobedone，Isupposewemust。“
“Iamnotsureofanythingofthesort，MasterArnold!Therearetwochancesstillleftofthrowinglightonthismatter，whicharebothofthemindependentofanythingthatMissSilvestercandotokeepitinthedark。“
“Thenwhynottrythem，Sir？ItseemshardtodropMissSilvesterwhensheisintrouble。“
“Wecan’thelpheragainstherownwill，“rejoinedSirPatrick。
“Andwecan’truntherisk，afterthatnervousattackthismorning，ofsubjectingBlanchetoanyfurthersuspense。Ihavethoughtofmyniece’sintereststhroughoutthisbusiness；andifInowchangemymind，anddeclinetoagitateherbymoreexperiments，endingquitepossiblyinmorefailures，itisbecauseIamthinkingofherinterestsstill。Ihavenoothermotive。Howevernumerousmyweaknessesmaybe，ambitiontodistinguishmyselfasadetectivepolicemanisnotoneofthem。
Thecase，fromthepolicepointofview，isbynomeansalostcase。Idropit，nevertheless，forBlanche’ssake。Insteadofencouragingherthoughtstodwellonthismelancholybusiness，wemustapplytheremedysuggestedbyourmedicalfriend。“
“Howisthattobedone？“askedArnold。
TheslytwistofhumorbegantoshowitselfinSirPatrick’sface。
“Hasshenothingtothinkofinthefuture，whichisapleasantersubjectofreflectionthanthelossofherfriend？“heasked。
“Youareinterested，myyounggentleman，intheremedythatistocureBlanche。Youareoneofthedrugsinthemoralprescription。
Canyouguesswhatitis？“
Arnoldstartedtohisfeet，andbrightenedintoanewbeing。
“Perhapsyouobjecttobehurried？“saidSirPatrick。
“Object!IfBlanchewillonlyconsent，I’lltakehertochurchassoonasshecomesdownstairs!“
“Thankyou!“saidSirPatrick，dryly。“Mr。ArnoldBrinkworth，mayyoualwaysbeasreadytotakeTimebytheforelockasyouarenow!Sitdownagain；anddon’ttalknonsense。Itisjustpossible——ifBlancheconsentsasyousay，andifwecanhurrythelawyers——thatyoumaybemarriedinthreeweeks’oramonth’stime。“
“Whathavethelawyersgottodowithit？“
“Mygoodfellow，thisisnotamarriageinanovel!Thisisthemostunromanticaffairofthesortthateverhappened。Hereareayounggentlemanandayounglady，bothrichpeople；bothwellmatchedinbirthandcharacter；oneofage，andtheothermarryingwiththefullconsentandapprovalofherguardian。Whatistheconsequenceofthispurelyprosaicstateofthings？
Lawyersandsettlements，ofcourse!“
“Comeintothelibrary，SirPatrick；andI’llsoonsettlethesettlements!Abitofpaper，andadipofink。’IherebygiveeveryblessedfarthingIhavegotintheworldtomydearBlanche。’Signthat；stickawaferonattheside；clapyourfingeronthewafer；’Ideliverthisasmyactanddeed；’andthereitis——done!“
“Isit，really？Youareabornlegislator。Youcreateandcodifyyourownsystemallinabreath。Moses-Justinian-Mahomet，givemeyourarm!Thereisoneatomofsenseinwhatyouhavejustsaid。
’Comeintothelibrary’——isasuggestionworthattendingto。Doyouhappen，amongyourothersuperfluities，tohavesuchathingasalawyeraboutyou？“
“Ihavegottwo。OneinLondon，andoneinEdinburgh。“
“Wewilltakethenearestofthetwo，becauseweareinahurry。
WhoistheEdinburghlawyer？PringleofPittStreet？Couldn’tbeabetterman。Comeandwritetohim。YouhavegivenmeyourabstractofamarriagesettlementwiththebrevityofanancientRoman。Iscorntobeoutdonebyanamateurlawyer。Hereis_my_
abstract：YouarejustandgeneroustoBlanche；Blancheisjustandgeneroustoyou；andyoubothcombinetobejustandgeneroustogethertoyourchildren。Thereisamodelsettlement!andthereareyourinstructionstoPringleofPittStreet!Canyoudoitbyyourself？No；ofcourseyoucan’t。Nowdon’tbeslovenly-minded!