Mrs。Glenarmdecidedtoriskit。“Haveyouneverheard，“sheasked，“thatMr。BrinkworthmightpossiblyhavecommittedhimselfwithanotherladybeforehemarriedMissLundie？“
Herladyshipfirstclosedhereyesinhorrorandthensearchedblindlyonthecounterpaneforthesmelling-bottle。Mrs。Glenarmgaveittoher，andwaitedtoseehowtheinvalidboreitbeforeshesaidanymore。
“Therearethingsone_must_hear，“remarkedLadyLundie。“Iseeanactofdutyinvolvedinthis。Nowordscandescribehowyouastonishme。Whotoldyou？“
“Mr。GeoffreyDelamayntoldme。“
Herladyshipappliedforthesecondtimetothesmelling-bottle。
“ArnoldBrinkworth’smostintimatefriend!“sheexclaimed。“Heoughttoknowifanybodydoes。Thisisdreadful。WhyshouldMr。
GeoffreyDelamayntell_you？_“
“Iamgoingtomarryhim，“answeredMrs。Glenarm。“Thatismyexcuse，dearLadyLundie，fortroublingyouinthismatter。“
LadyLundiepartiallyopenedhereyesinastateoffaintbewilderment。“Idon’tunderstand，“shesaid。“ForHeaven’ssakeexplainyourself!“
“Haven’tyouheardabouttheanonymousletters？“askedMrs。
Glenarm。
Yes。LadyLundiehadheardabouttheletters。Butonlywhatthepublicingeneralhadheard。Thenameoftheladyinthebackgroundnotmentioned；andMr。GeoffreyDelamaynassumedtobeasinnocentasthebabeunborn。Anymistakeinthatassumption？
“Givemeyourhand，mypoordear，andconfideitallto_me!_“
“Heisnotquiteinnocent，“saidMrs。Glenarm。“Heownedtoafoolishflirtation——all_her_doing，nodoubt。Ofcourse，I
insistedonadistinctexplanation。Hadshereallyanyclaimonhim？Nottheshadowofaclaim。IfeltthatIonlyhadhiswordforthat——andItoldhimso。Hesaidhecouldproveit——hesaidheknewhertobeprivatelymarriedalready。Herhusbandhaddisownedanddesertedher；shewasattheendofherresources；
shewasdesperateenoughtoattemptanything。Ithoughtitallverysuspicious——untilGeoffreymentionedtheman’sname。_That_
certainlyprovedthathehadcastoffhiswife；forImyselfknewthathehadlatelymarriedanotherperson。“
LadyLundiesuddenlystartedupfromherpillow——honestlyagitated；genuinelyalarmedbythistime。
“Mr。Delamayntoldyoutheman’sname？“shesaid，breathlessly。
“Yes。“
“DoIknowit？“
“Don’taskme!“
LadyLundiefellbackonthepillow。
Mrs。Glenarmrosetoringforhelp。Beforeshecouldtouchthebell，herladyshiphadralliedagain。
“Stop!“shecried。“Icanconfirmit!It’strue，Mrs。Glenarm!
it’strue!Openthesilverboxonthetoilet-table——youwillfindthekeyinit。Bringmethetopletter。Here!Lookatit。IgotthisfromBlanche。Whyhavetheysuddenlygivenuptheirbridaltour？WhyhavetheygonebacktoSirPatrickatHamFarm？Whyhavetheyputmeoffwithaninfamoussubterfugetoaccountforit？Ifeltsuresomethingdreadfulhadhappened。NowIknowwhatitis!“Shesankbackagain，withclosedeyes，andrepeatedthewords，inafiercewhisper，toherself。“NowIknowwhatitis!“
Mrs。Glenarmreadtheletter。Thereasongivenforthesuspiciouslysuddenreturnofthebrideandbridegroomwaspalpablyasubterfuge——and，moreremarkablestill，thenameofAnneSilvesterwasconnectedwithit。Mrs。Glenarmbecamestronglyagitatedonherside。
“This_is_aconfirmation，“shesaid。“Mr。Brinkworthhasbeenfoundout——thewoman_is_marriedtohim——Geoffreyisfree。Oh，mydearfriend，whataloadofanxietyyouhavetakenoffmymind!Thatvilewretch——“
LadyLundiesuddenlyopenedhereyes。
“Doyoumean，“sheasked，“thewomanwhoisatthebottomofallthemischief？“
“Yes。Isawheryesterday。SheforcedherselfinatSwanhaven。
ShecalledhimGeoffreyDelamayn。Shedeclaredherselfasinglewoman。Sheclaimedhimbeforemyfaceinthemostaudaciousmanner。Sheshookmyfaith，LadyLundie——sheshookmyfaithinGeoffrey!“
“Whoisshe？“
“Who？“echoedMrs。Glenarm。“Don’tyouevenknowthat？Whyhernameisrepeatedhalfadozentimesinthisletter!“
LadyLundieutteredascreamthatrangthroughtheroom。Mrs。
Glenarmstartedtoherfeet。Themaidappearedatthedoorinterror。Herladyshipmotionedtothewomantowithdrawagaininstantly，andthenpointedtoMrs。Glenarm’schair。
“Sitdown，“shesaid。“Letmehaveaminuteortwoofquiet。I
wantnothingmore。“
ThesilenceintheroomwasunbrokenuntilLadyLundiespokeagain。SheaskedforBlanche’sletter。Afterreadingitcarefully，shelaiditaside，andfellforawhileintodeepthought。
“IhavedoneBlancheaninjustice!“sheexclaimed。“MypoorBlanche!“
“Youthinksheknowsnothingaboutit？“
“Iamcertainofit!Youforget，Mrs。Glenarm，thatthishorriblediscoverycastsadoubtonmystep-daughter’smarriage。Doyouthink，ifsheknewthetruth，shewouldwriteofawretchwhohasmortallyinjuredherasshewriteshere？Theyhaveputheroffwiththeexcusethatsheinnocentlysendsto_me。_IseeitasplainlyasIseeyou!Mr。BrinkworthandSirPatrickareinleaguetokeepusbothinthedark。Dearchild!Ioweheranatonement。Ifnobodyelseopenshereyes，Iwilldoit。SirPatrickshallfindthatBlanchehasafriendinMe!“
Asmile——thedangeroussmileofaninveteratelyvindictivewomanthoroughlyroused——showeditselfwithafurtivesuddennessonherface。Mrs。Glenarmwasalittlestartled。LadyLundiebelowthesurface——asdistinguishedfromLadyLundie_on_thesurface——wasnotapleasantobjecttocontemplate。
“Praytrytocomposeyourself，“saidMrs。Glenarm。“DearLadyLundie，youfrightenme!“
Theblandsurfaceofherladyshipappearedsmoothlyoncemore；
drawnback，asitwere，overthehiddeninnerself，whichithadleftforthemomentexposedtoview。
“Forgivemeforfeelingit!“shesaid，withthepatientsweetnesswhichsoeminentlydistinguishedherintimesoftrial。“Itfallsalittleheavilyonapoorsickwoman——innocentofallsuspicion，andinsultedbythemostheartlessneglect。Don’tletmedistressyou。Ishallrally，mydear；Ishallrally!Inthisdreadfulcalamity——thisabyssofcrimeandmiseryanddeceit——Ihavenoonetodependonbutmyself。ForBlanche’ssake，thewholethingmustbeclearedup——probed，mydear，probedtothedepths。
Blanchemusttakeapositionthatisworthyofher。Blanchemustinsistonherrights，underMyprotection。NevermindwhatI
suffer，orwhatIsacrifice。ThereisaworkofjusticeforpoorweakMetodo。Itshallbedone!“saidherladyship，fanningherselfwithanaspectofillimitableresolution。“Itshallbedone!“
“But，LadyLundiewhatcanyoudo？Theyareallawayinthesouth。Andasforthatabominablewoman——“
LadyLundietouchedMrs。Glenarmontheshoulderwithherfan。
“Ihavemysurpriseinstore，dearfriend，aswellasyou。ThatabominablewomanwasemployedasBlanche’sgovernessinthishouse。Wait!thatisnotall。Sheleftussuddenly——ranaway——onthepretenseofbeingprivatelymarried。Iknowwhereshewent。I
cantracewhatshedid。Icanfindoutwhowaswithher。IcanfollowMr。Brinkworth’sproceedings，behindMr。Brinkworth’sback。Icansearchoutthetruth，withoutdependingonpeoplecompromisedinthisblackbusiness，whoseinterestitistodeceiveme。AndIwilldoitto-day!“Sheclosedthefanwithasharpsnapoftriumph，andsettledherselfonthepillowinplacidenjoymentofherdearfriend’ssurprise。
Mrs。Glenarmdrewconfidentiallyclosertothebedside。“Howcanyoumanageit？“sheasked，eagerly。“Don’tthinkmecurious。I
havemyinterest，too，ingettingatthetruth。Don’tleavemeoutofit，pray!“
“Canyoucomebackto-morrow，atthistime？“
“Yes!yes!“
“Come，then——andyoushallknow。“
“CanIbeofanyuse？“
“Notatpresent。“
“Canmyunclebeofanyuse？“
“DoyouknowwheretocommunicatewithCaptainNewenden？“
“Yes——heisstayingwithsomefriendsinSussex。“
“Wemaypossiblywanthisassistance。Ican’ttellyet。Don’tkeepMrs。Delamaynwaitinganylonger，mydear。Ishallexpectyouto-morrow。“
Theyexchangedanaffectionateembrace。LadyLundiewasleftalone。