“Full，myleddypraiseProvidence，fraethebasementtotheceiling。“
“Youhadavisitor，Ithink，sometimesinceofwhomIknowsomething？Aperson——“Shepaused，andputastrongconstraintonherself。Therewasnoalternativebuttoyieldtothehardnecessityofmakingherinquiryintelligible。“Alady，“sheadded，“whocametoyouaboutthemiddleoflastmonth。“
“Couldyerleddyshipcondescendonhername？“
LadyLundieputastillstrongerconstraintonherself。
“Silvester，“shesaid，sharply。
“Presairveusa’!“criedMrs。Inchbare。“Itwillneverbethesamethatcam’driftin’inbyhersel’——wi’abitbaginherhand，andahusbandleftdaidlinganhourormairontheroadbehindher？“
“Ihavenodoubtitisthesame。“
“Willshebeafreendo’yerleddyship’s？“askedMrs。Inchbare，feelinghergroundcautiously。
“Certainlynot!“saidLadyLundie。“Ifeltapassingcuriosityabouther——nothingmore。“
Mrs。Inchbarelookedrelieved。“Totellyetruth，myleddy，therewasnaelovelostbetweenus。Shehadamaisterfu’tempero’herain——andIwasweelpleasedwhenI’dseenthelastofher。“
“Icanquiteunderstandthat，Mrs。Inchbare——Iknowsomethingofhertempermyself。DidIunderstandyoutosaythatshecametoyourhotelalone，andthatherhusbandjoinedhershortlyafterward？“
“E’ensae，yerleddyship。Iwasno’freetogi’herhouse-roominthehottletillherhusbanddaidledinatherheelsandansweredforher。“
“IfancyImusthaveseenherhusband，“saidLadyLundie。“Whatsortofamanwashe？“
Mrs。InchbarerepliedinmuchthesamewordswhichshehadusedinansweringthesimilarquestionputbySirPatrick。
“Eh!hewasoweryoungforthelikeo’_her。_Aprattyman，myleddy——betwixttallandshort；wi’bonnybrowneyesandcheeks，andfinecoal-blaikhair。Anicedouce-spokenlad。Ihaenaethingtosayagainsthim——exceptthathecam’lateoneday，andtookleg-bailbetimesthenextmorning，andleftmadambehind，aloadonmyhands。“
TheanswerproducedpreciselythesameeffectonLadyLundiewhichithadproducedonSirPatrick。She，also，feltthatitwastoovaguelyliketoomanyyoungmenofnouncommonhumorandcomplexiontobereliedon。Butherladyshippossessedoneimmenseadvantageoverherbrother-in-lawinattemptingtoarriveatthetruth。_She_suspectedArnold——anditwaspossible，inhercase，toassistMrs。Inchbare’smemorybyhintscontributedfromherownsuperiorresourcesofexperienceandobservation。
“Hadheanythingabouthimofthelookandwayofasailor？“sheasked。“Anddidyounotice，whenyouspoketohim，thathehadahabitofplayingwithalocketonhiswatch-chain？“
Thereheis，hetafftoaT!“criedMrs。Inchbare。“Yerleddyship’sweelacquentedwi’him——there’snaedooto’that。“
“IthoughtIhadseenhim，“saidLadyLundie。“Amodest，well-behavedyoungman，Mrs。Inchbare，asyousay。Don’tletmekeepyouanylongerfromthepoultry-yard。Iamtransgressingthedoctor’sordersinseeinganybody。Wequiteunderstandeachothernow，don’twe？Verygladtohaveseenyou。Good-evening。“
SoshedismissedMrs。Inchbare，whenMrs。Inchbarehadservedherpurpose。
Mostwomen，inherposition，wouldhavebeencontentwiththeinformationwhichshehadnowobtained。ButLadyLundie——havingamanlikeSirPatricktodealwith——determinedtobedoublysureofherfactsbeforesheventuredoninterferingatHamFarm。ShehadlearnedfromMrs。Inchbarethattheso-calledhusbandofAnneSilvesterhadjoinedheratCraigFernieonthedaywhenshearrivedattheinn，andhadleftheragainthenextmorning。AnnehadmadeherescapefromWindygatesontheoccasionofthelawn-party——thatistosay，onthefourteenthofAugust。OnthesamedayArnoldBrinkworthhadtakenhisdepartureforthepurposeofvisitingtheScotchpropertylefttohimbyhisaunt。
IfMrs。Inchbarewastobedependedon，hemusthavegonetoCraigFernieinsteadofgoingtohisappointeddestination——andmust，therefore，havearrivedtovisithishouseandlandsonedaylaterthanthedaywhichhehadoriginallysetapartforthatpurpose。Ifthisfactcouldbeproved，onthetestimonyofadisinterestedwitness，thecaseagainstArnoldwouldbestrengthenedtenfold；andLadyLundiemightactonherdiscoverywithsomethinglikeacertaintythatherinformationwastobereliedon。
AfteralittleconsiderationshedecidedonsendingamessengerwithanoteofinquiryaddressedtoArnold’ssteward。Theapologysheinventedtoexcuseandaccountforthestrangenessoftheproposedquestion，referredittoalittlefamilydiscussionastotheexactdateofArnold’sarrivalathisestate，andtoafriendlywagerinwhichthedifferenceofopinionhadended。IfthestewardcouldstatewhetherhisemployerhadarrivedonthefourteenthoronthefifteenthofAugust，thatwasallthatwouldbewantedtodecidethequestionindispute。
Havingwritteninthoseterms，LadyLundiegavethenecessarydirectionsforhavingthenotedeliveredattheearliestpossiblehouronthenextmorning；themessengerbeingorderedtomakehiswaybacktoWindygatesbythefirstreturntrainonthesameday。
Thisarranged，herladyshipwasfreetorefreshherselfwithanotherdoseoftheredlavenderdraught，andtosleepthesleepofthejustwhoclosetheireyeswiththecomposingconvictionthattheyhavedonetheirduty。
TheeventsofthenextdayatWindygatessucceededeachotherinduecourse，asfollows：
Thepostarrived，andbroughtnoreplyfromSirPatrick。LadyLundieenteredthatincidentonhermentalregisterofdebtsowedbyherbrother-in-law——tobepaid，withinterest，whenthedayofreckoningcame。
Nextinorderoccurredthereturnofthemessengerwiththesteward’sanswer。
HehadreferredtohisDiary；andhehaddiscoveredthatMr。
BrinkworthhadwrittenbeforehandtoannouncehisarrivalathisestateforthefourteenthofAugust——butthathehadnotactuallyappeareduntilthefifteenth。TheonediscoveryneededtosubstantiateMrs。Inchbare’sevidencebeingnowinLadyLundie’spossession，shedecidedtoallowanotherdaytopass——onthechancethatSirPatrickmightalterhismind，andwritetoher。
Ifnoletterarrived，andifnothingmorewasreceivedfromBlanche，sheresolvedtoleaveWindygatesbythenextmorning’strain，andtotrytheboldexperimentofpersonalinterferenceatHamFarm。
Thethirdinthesuccessionofeventswastheappearanceofthedoctortopayhisprofessionalvisit。
Asevereshockawaitedhim。Hefoundhispatientcuredbythedraught!Itwascontrarytoallruleandprecedent；itsavoredofquackery——theredlavenderhadnobusinesstodowhattheredlavenderhaddone——butthereshewas，nevertheless，upanddressed，andcontemplatingajourneytoLondononthenextdaybutone。“Anactofduty，doctor，isinvolvedinthis——whateverthesacrifice，Imustgo!“Nootherexplanationcouldbeobtained。Thepatientwasplainlydetermined——nothingremainedforthephysicianbuttoretreatwithunimpaireddignityandapaidfee。Hedidit。“Ourart，“heexplainedtoLadyLundieinconfidence，“isnothing，afterall，butachoicebetweenalternatives。Forinstance。Iseeyou——notcured，asyouthink——butsustainedbyabnormalexcitement。Ihavetoaskwhichistheleastofthetwoevils——torisklettingyoutravel，ortoirritateyoubykeepingyouathome。Withyourconstitution，wemustriskthejourney。Becarefultokeepthewindowofthecarriageuponthesideonwhichthewindblows。Lettheextremitiesbemoderatelywarm，andthemindeasy——andpraydon’tomittoprovideyourselfwithasecondbottleoftheMixturebeforeyoustart。“Hemadehisbow，asbefore——heslippedtwoguineasintohispocket，asbefore——andhewenthisway，asbefore，withanapprovingconscience，inthecharacterofaphysicianwhohaddonehisduty。WhatanenviableprofessionisMedicine!Andwhydon’tweallbelongtoit？
ThelastoftheeventswasthearrivalofMrs。Glenarm。
“Well？“shebegan，eagerly，“whatnews？“
Thenarrativeofherladyship’sdiscoveries——recitedatfulllength；andtheannouncementofherladyship’sresolution——declaredinthemostuncompromisingterms——raisedMrs。Glenarm’sexcitementtothehighestpitch。
“YougototownonSaturday？“shesaid。“Iwillgowithyou。EversincethatwomandeclaredsheshouldbeinLondonbeforeme，I
havebeendyingtohastenmyjourney——anditissuchanopportunitytogowithyou!Icaneasilymanageit。MyuncleandIweretohavemetinLondon，earlynextweek，forthefoot-race。
Ihaveonlytowriteandtellhimofmychangeofplans——By-the-by，talkingofmyuncle，Ihaveheard，sinceIsawyou，fromthelawyersatPerth。“
“Moreanonymousletters？“
“Onemore——receivedbythelawyersthistime。Myunknowncorrespondenthaswrittentothemtowithdrawhisproposal，andtoannouncethathehasleftPerth。ThelawyersrecommendedmetostopmyunclefromspendingmoneyuselesslyinemployingtheLondonpolice。Ihaveforwardedtheirlettertothecaptain；andhewillprobablybeintowntoseehissolicitorsassoonasI
gettherewithyou。Somuchforwhat_I_havedoneinthismatter。DearLadyLundie——whenweareatourjourney’send，whatdo_you_meantodo？“
“Mycourseisplain，“answeredherladyship，calmly。“SirPatrickwillhearfromme，onSundaymorningnext，atHamFarm。“
“Tellinghimwhatyouhavefoundout？“
“Certainlynot!TellinghimthatIfindmyselfcalledtoLondonbybusiness，andthatIproposepayinghimashortvisitonMondaynext。“
“Ofcourse，hemustreceiveyou？“