ArnoldexplainedthatGeoffrey，intheabsenceofanythingelsetowritehisexcusesontoAnne，hadwrittentoheronthefourthorblankpageofaletterwhichhadbeenaddressedtohimbyAnneherself。
“Didyoureadthatletter？“askedSirPatrick。
“ImighthavereaditifIhadliked。“
“Andyoudidn’treadit？“
“No。“
“Why？“
“Outofdelicacy。“
EvenSirPatrick’scarefullytrainedtemperwasnotproofagainstthis。“ThatisthemostmisplacedactofdelicacyIeverheardofinmylife!“criedtheoldgentleman，warmly。“Nevermind!it’suselesstoregretitnow。Atanyrate，youreadDelamayn’sanswertoMissSilvester’sletter？“
“Yes——Idid。“
“Repeatit——asnearlyasyoucanrememberatthisdistanceoftime。“
“Itwassoshort，“saidArnold，“thatthereishardlyanythingtorepeat。AswellasIremember，GeoffreysaidhewascalledawaytoLondonbyhisfather’sillness。HetoldMissSilvestertostopwhereshewas；andhereferredhertome，asmessenger。
That’sallIrecollectofitnow。“
“Cudgelyourbrains，mygoodfellow!thisisveryimportant。DidhemakenoallusiontohisengagementtomarryMissSilvesteratCraigFernie？Didn’thetrytopacifyherbyanapologyofsomesort？“
ThequestionrousedArnold’smemorytomakeanothereffort。
“Yes，“heanswered。“Geoffreysaidsomethingaboutbeingtruetohisengagement，orkeepinghispromiseorwordstothateffect。“
“You’resureofwhatyousaynow？“
“Iamcertainofit。“
SirPatrickmadeanothernote。
“Wasthelettersigned？“heasked，whenhehaddone。
“Yes。“
“Anddated？“
“Yes。“Arnold’smemorymadeasecondeffort，afterhehadgivenhissecondaffirmativeanswer。“Waitalittle，“hesaid。“I
remembersomethingelseabouttheletter。Itwasnotonlydated。
Thetimeofdayatwhichitwaswrittenwasputaswell。“
“Howcamehetodothat？“
“Isuggestedit。TheletterwassoshortIfeltashamedtodeliveritasitstood。Itoldhimtoputthetime——soastoshowherthathewasobligedtowriteinahurry。Heputthetimewhenthetrainstarted；andIthinkthetimewhentheletterwaswrittenaswell。“
“AndyoudeliveredthatlettertoMissSilvester，withyourownhand，assoonasyousawherattheinn？“
“Idid。“
SirPatrickmadeathirdnote，andpushedthepaperawayfromhimwithanairofsupremesatisfaction。
“Ialwayssuspectedthatlostlettertobeanimportantdocument，“hesaid——“orBishopriggswouldneverhavestolenit。
Wemustgetpossessionofit，Arnold，atanysacrifice。ThefirstthingtobedoneexactlyasIanticipated，istowritetotheGlasgowlawyer，andfindMissSilvester。“
“Waitalittle!“criedavoiceattheveranda。“Don’tforgetthatIhavecomebackfromBadentohelpyou!“
SirPatrickandArnoldbothlookedup。ThistimeBlanchehadheardthelastwordsthathadpassedbetweenthem。ShesatdownatthetablebySirPatrick’sside，andlaidherhandcaressinglyonhisshoulder。
“Youarequiteright，uncle，“shesaid。“I_am_sufferingthismorningfromthemaladyofhavingnothingtodo。AreyougoingtowritetoAnne？Don’t。Letmewriteinstead。“
SirPatrickdeclinedtoresignthepen。
“ThepersonwhoknowsMissSilvester’saddress，“hesaid，“isalawyerinGlasgow。Iamgoingtowritetothelawyer。Whenhesendsuswordwheresheis——then，Blanche，willbethetimetoemployyourgoodofficesinwinningbackyourfriend。“
Hedrewthewritingmaterialsoncemorewithinhisreach，and，suspendingtheremainderofArnold’sexaminationforthepresent，beganhislettertoMr。Crum。
Blanchepleadedhardforanoccupationofsomesort。“Cannobodygivemesomethingtodo？“sheasked。“Glasgowissuchalongwayoff，andwaitingissuchwearywork。Don’tsittherestaringatme，Arnold!Can’tyousuggestsomething？“
Arnold，foronce，displayedanunexpectedreadinessofresource。
“Ifyouwanttowrite，“hesaid，“youoweLadyLundiealetter。
It’sthreedayssinceyouheardfromher——andyouhaven’tansweredheryet。“
SirPatrickpaused，andlookedupquicklyfromhiswriting-desk。
“LadyLundie？“hemuttered，inquiringly。
“Yes，“saidBlanche。“It’squitetrue；Ioweheraletter。AndofcourseIoughttotellherwehavecomebacktoEngland。Shewillbefinelyprovokedwhenshehearswhy!“
TheprospectofprovokingLadyLundieseemedtorouseBlanchesdormantenergies。Shetookasheetofheruncle’snote-paper，andbeganwritingheranswerthenandthere。
SirPatrickcompletedhiscommunicationtothelawyer——afteralookatBlanche，whichexpressedanythingratherthanapprovalofherpresentemployment。Havingplacedhiscompletednoteinthepostbag，hesilentlysignedtoArnoldtofollowhimintothegarden。Theywentouttogether，leavingBlancheabsorbedoverherlettertoherstep-mother。
“Ismywifedoinganythingwrong？“askedArnold，whohadnoticedthelookwhichSirPatrickhadcastonBlanche。
“Yourwifeismakingmischiefasfastasherfingerscanspreadit。“
Arnoldstared。“ShemustanswerLadyLundie’sletter，“hesaid。
“Unquestionably。“
“AndshemusttellLadyLundiewehavecomeback。“
“Idon’tdenyit。“
“Thenwhatistheobjectiontoherwriting？“
SirPatricktookapinchofsnuff——andpointedwithhisivorycanetothebeeshummingbusilyabouttheflower-bedsinthesunshineoftheautumnmorning。
“I’llshowyoutheobjection，“hesaid。“SupposeBlanchetoldoneofthoseinveteratelyintrusiveinsectsthatthehoneyintheflowershappens，throughanunexpectedaccident，tohavecometoanend——doyouthinkhewouldtakethestatementforgranted？No。
Hewouldplungehead-foremostintothenearestflower，andinvestigateitforhimself。“
“Well？“saidArnold。
“Well——thereisBlancheinthebreakfast-roomtellingLadyLundiethatthebridaltourhappens，throughanunexpectedaccident，tohavecometoanend。DoyouthinkLadyLundieisthesortofpersontotakethestatementforgranted？Nothingofthesort!
LadyLundie，likethebee，willinsistoninvestigatingforherself。Howitwillend，ifshediscoversthetruth——andwhatnewcomplicationsshemaynotintroduceintoamatterwhich，Heavenknows，iscomplicatedenoughalready——Ileaveyoutoimagine。_My_poorpowersofprevisionarenotequaltoit。“
BeforeArnoldcouldanswer，Blanchejoinedthemfromthebreakfast-room。
“I’vedoneit，“shesaid。“Itwasanawkwardlettertowrite——andit’sacomforttohaveitover。“
“Youhavedoneit，mydear，“remarkedSirPatrick，quietly。“Anditmaybeacomfort。Butit’snotover。“
“Whatdoyoumean？“
“Ithink，Blanche，weshallhearfromyourstep-motherbyreturnofpost。“