“Youwillletmegowithyou？“
“Notto-day。Ishallbebackthiseveningtodinner。Youshallhearallthathashappened；andyoushallaccompanymetoLondonto-morrow——ifIfinditnecessarytomakeanylengthenedstaythere。Betweenthisandthen，aftertheshockthatyouhavesuffered，youwilldowelltobequiethere。BesatisfiedwithmyassurancethatBlancheshallhaveyourletter。Iwillforcemyauthorityonherstep-mothertothatextentifherstep-motherresistswithoutscruple。TherespectinwhichIholdthesexonlylastsaslongasthesexdeservesit——anddoes_not_extendtoLadyLundie。ThereisnoadvantagethatamancantakeofawomanwhichIamnotfullypreparedtotakeofmysister-in-law。“
Withthatcharacteristicfarewell，heshookhandswithArnold，anddepartedforthestation。
Atseveno’clockthedinnerwasonthetable。Atseveno’clockSirPatrickcamedownstairstoeatit，asperfectlydressedasusual，andascomposedasifnothinghadhappened。
“Shehasgotyourletter，“hewhispered，ashetookArnold’sarm，andledhimintothedining-room。
“Didshesayanything？“
“Notaword。“
“Howdidshelook？“
“Assheoughttolook——sorryforwhatshehasdone。“
Thedinnerbegan。Asamatterofnecessity，thesubjectofSirPatrick’sexpeditionwasdroppedwhiletheservantswereintheroom——toberegularlytakenupagainbyArnoldintheintervalsbetweenthecourses。Hebeganwhenthesoupwastakenaway。
“IconfessIhadhopedtoseeBlanchecomebackwithyou!“hesaid，sadlyenough。
“Inotherwords，“returnedSirPatrick，“youforgotthenativeobstinacyofthesex。Blancheisbeginningtofeelthatshehasbeenwrong。Whatisthenecessaryconsequence？Shenaturallypersistsinbeingwrong。Letheralone，andleaveyourlettertohaveitseffect。Theseriousdifficultiesinourwaydon’trestwithBlanche。Contentyourselfwithknowingthat。“
Thefishcamein，andArnoldwassilenced——untilhisnextopportunitycamewiththenextintervalinthecourseofthedinner。
“Whatarethedifficulties？“heasked“Thedifficultiesaremydifficultiesandyours，“answeredSirPatrick。“Mydifficultyis，thatIcan’tassertmyauthority，asguardian，ifIassumemynieceasIdotobeamarriedwoman。
Yourdifficultyis，thatyoucan’tassertyourauthorityasherhusband，untilitisdistinctlyprovedthatyouandMissSilvesterarenotmanandwife。LadyLundiewasperfectlyawarethatshewouldplaceusinthatposition，whensheremovedBlanchefromthishouse。Shehascross-examinedMrs。Inchbare；
shehaswrittentoyourstewardforthedateofyourarrivalatyourestate；shehasdoneeverything，calculatedeverything，andforeseeneverything——exceptmyexcellenttemper。Theonemistakeshehasmade，isinthinkingshecouldgetthebetterof_that。_No，mydearboy!Mytrumpcardismytemper。Ikeepitinmyhand，Arnold——Ikeepitinmyhand!“
Thenextcoursecamein——andtherewasanendofthesubjectagain。SirPatrickenjoyedhismutton，andenteredonalongandinterestingnarrativeofthehistoryofsomerarewhiteBurgundyonthetableimportedbyhimself。Arnoldresolutelyresumedthediscussionwiththedepartureofthemutton。
“Itseemstobeadeadlock，“hesaid。
“Noslang!“retortedSirPatrick。
“ForHeaven’ssake，Sir，considermyanxiety，andtellmewhatyouproposetodo!“
“IproposetotakeyoutoLondonwithmeto-morrow，onthiscondition——thatyoupromiseme，onyourwordofhonor，nottoattempttoseeyourwifebeforeSaturdaynext。“
“Ishallseeherthen？“
“Ifyougivemeyourpromise。“
“Ido!Ido!“
Thenextcoursecamein。SirPatrickenteredonthequestionofthemeritsofthepartridge，viewedasaneatablebird，“Byhimself，Arnold——plainlyroasted，andtestedonhisownmerits——anoverratedbird。Beingtoofondofshootinghiminthiscountry，webecometoofondofeatinghimnext。Properlyunderstood，heisavehicleforsauceandtruffles——nothingmore。
Orno——thatishardlydoinghimjustice。IamboundtoaddthatheishonorablyassociatedwiththefamousFrenchreceiptforcookinganolive。Doyouknowit？“
Therewasanendofthebird；therewasanendofthejelly。
Arnoldgothisnextchance——andtookit。
“WhatistobedoneinLondonto-morrow？“heasked。
“To-morrow，“answeredSirPatrick，“isamemorabledayinourcalendar。To-morrowisTuesday——thedayonwhichIamtoseeMissSilvester。“
Arnoldsetdowntheglassofwinewhichhewasjustraisingtohislips。
“Afterwhathashappened，“hesaid，“Icanhardlybeartohearhernamementioned。MissSilvesterhaspartedmefrommywife。“
“MissSilvestermayatoneforthat，Arnold，byunitingyouagain。“
“Shehasbeentheruinofmesofar。“
“Shemaybethesalvationofyouyet。“
Thecheesecamein；andSirPatrickreturnedtotheArtofCookery。
“Doyouknowthereceiptforcookinganolive，Arnold？“
“No。“
“What_does_thenewgenerationknow？Itknowshowtorow，howtoshoot，howtoplayatcricket，andhowtobat。Whenithaslostitsmuscleandlostitsmoney——thatistosay，whenithasgrownold——whatagenerationitwillbe!Itdoesn’tmatter：Isha’n’tlivetoseeit。Areyoulistening，Arnold？“
“Yes，Sir。“
“Howtocookanolive!Putanoliveintoalark，putalarkintoaquail；putaquailintoaplover；putaploverintoapartridge；putapartridgeintoapheasant；putapheasantintoaturkey。Good。First，partiallyroast，thencarefullystew——untilallisthoroughlydonedowntotheolive。Goodagain。Next，openthewindow。Throwouttheturkey，thepheasant，thepartridge，theplover，thequail，andthelark。_Then，eattheolive。_Thedishisexpensive，butwehaveitonthehighestauthoritywellworththesacrifice。Thequintessenceoftheflavorofsixbirds，concentratedinoneolive。Grandidea!TryanotherglassofthewhiteBurgundy，Arnold。“
Atlasttheservantsleftthem——withthewineanddessertonthetable。
“IhaveborneitaslongasIcan，Sir，“saidArnold。“AddtoallyourkindnesstomebytellingmeatoncewhathappenedatLadyLundie’s。“
Itwasachillyevening。Abrightwoodfirewasburningintheroom。SirPatrickdrewhischairtothefire。
“Thisisexactlywhathappened，“hesaid。“IfoundcompanyatLadyLundie’s，tobeginwith。Twoperfectstrangerstome。
CaptainNewenden，andhisniece，Mrs。Glenarm。LadyLundieofferedtoseemeinanotherroom；thetwostrangersofferedtowithdraw。Ideclinedbothproposals。Firstchecktoherladyship!
Shehasreckonedthroughout，Arnold，onourbeingafraidtofacepublicopinion。Ishowedheratstartingthatwewereasreadytofaceitasshewas。’IalwaysacceptwhattheFrenchcallaccomplishedfacts，’Isaid。’Youhavebroughtmatterstoacrisis，LadyLundie。Soletitbe。Ihaveawordtosaytomynieceinyourpresence，ifyoulike；andIhaveanotherwordtosaytoyouafterward——withoutpresumingtodisturbyourguests。’
Theguestssatdownagainbothnaturallydevouredbycuriosity。
Couldherladyshipdecentlyrefusemeaninterviewwithmyownniece，whiletwowitnesseswerelookingon？Impossible。IsawBlancheLadyLundiebeingpresent，itisneedlesstosayinthebackdrawing-room。Igaveheryourletter；Isaidagoodwordforyou；Isawthatshewassorry，thoughshewouldn’townit——andthatwasenough。Wewentbackintothefrontdrawing-room。Ihadnotspokenfivewordsonoursideofthequestionbeforeitappeared，tomyastonishmentanddelight，thatCaptainNewendenwasinthehouseontheveryquestionthathadbroughtmeintothehouse——thequestionofyouandMissSilvester。Mybusiness，intheinterestsof_my_niece，wastodenyyourmarriagetothelady。Hisbusiness，intheinterestsof_his_niece，wastoassertyourmarriagetothelady。Totheunutterabledisgustofthetwowomen，wejoinedissue，inthemostfriendlymanner，onthespot。’Charmedtohavethepleasureofmeetingyou，CaptainNewenden。’——’Delightedtohavethehonorofmakingyouracquaintance，SirPatrick。’——’Ithinkwecansettlethisintwominutes？’——’Myownideaperfectlyexpressed。’——’Stateyourposition，Captain。’——’Withthegreatestpleasure。Hereismyniece，Mrs。Glenarm，engagedtomarryMr。GeoffreyDelamayn。Allverywell，buttherehappenstobeanobstacle——intheshapeofalady。DoIputitplainly？’——’Youputitadmirably，Captain；butforthelosstotheBritishnavy，yououghttohavebeenalawyer。Pray，goon。’——’Youaretoogood，SirPatrick。Iresume。