Annestarted；andturningroundfromthewindow，lookedathiminsilentsurprise。Hewasundertheinfluenceofstrongemotion；
hisface，hisvoice，hismanner，allshowedit。
“HowlonghadyoubeeninScotland，whenyouwrotethis？“HepointedtoAnne’sletterasheaskedthequestion，puttingitsoeagerlythathestammeredoverthefirstwords。“Morethanthreeweeks？“headded，withhisbrightblackeyesfixedinabsorbinginterestonherface。
“Yes。“
“Areyousureofthat？“
“Iamcertainofit。“
“Youcanrefertopersonswhohaveseenyou？“
“Easily。“
Heturnedthesheetofnote-paper，andpointedtoGeoffrey’spenciledletteronthefourthpage。
“Howlonghad_he_beeninScotland，when_he_wrotethis？Morethanthreeweeks，too？“
Anneconsideredforamoment。
“ForGod’ssake，becareful!“saidSirPatrick。“Youdon’tknowwhatdependsonthis，Ifyourmemoryisnotclearaboutit，sayso。“
“Mymemorywasconfusedforamoment。Itisclearagainnow。Hehadbeenathisbrother’sinPerthshirethreeweeksbeforehewrotethat。AndbeforehewenttoSwanhaven，hespentthreeorfourdaysinthevalleyoftheEsk。“
“Areyousureagain？“
“Quitesure!“
“DoyouknowofanyonewhosawhiminthevalleyoftheEsk？“
“Iknowofapersonwhotookanotetohim，fromme。“
“Apersoneasilyfound？“
“Quiteeasily。“
SirPatricklaidasidetheletter，andseizedinungovernableagitationonbothherhands。
“Listentome，“hesaid。“ThewholeconspiracyagainstArnoldBrinkworthandyoufallstothegroundbeforethatcorrespondence。Whenyouandhemetattheinn——“
Hepaused，andlookedather。Herhandswerebeginningtotrembleinhis。
“WhenyouandArnoldBrinkworthmetattheinn，“heresumed，“thelawofScotlandhadmadeyouamarriedwoman。Ontheday，andatthehour，whenhewrotethoselinesatthebackofyourlettertohim，youwere_GeoffreyDelamayn’sweddedwife!_“
Hestopped，andlookedatheragain。
Withoutawordinreply，withouttheslightestmovementinherfromheadtofoot，shelookedbackathim。Theblankstillnessofhorrorwasinherface。Thedeadlycoldofhorrorwasinherhands。
Insilence，onhisside，SirPatrickdrewbackastep，withafaintreflectionof_her_dismayinhisface。Married——tothevillainwhohadnothesitatedtocalumniatethewomanwhomhehadruined，andthentocastherhelplessontheworld。Married——tothetraitorwhohadnotshrunkfrombetrayingArnold’strustinhim，anddesolatingArnold’shome。Married——totheruffianwhowouldhavestruckherthatmorning，ifthehandsofhisownfriendshadnotheldhimback。AndSirPatrickhadneverthoughtofit!AbsorbedintheoneideaofBlanche’sfuture，hehadneverthoughtofit，tillthathorror-strickenfacelookedathim，andsaid，Thinkof_my_future，too!
Hecamebacktoher。Hetookhercoldhandoncemoreinhis。
“Forgiveme，“hesaid，“forthinkingfirstofBlanche。“
Blanche’snameseemedtorouseher。Thelifecamebacktoherface；thetenderbrightnessbegantoshineagaininhereyes。Hesawthathemightventuretospeakmoreplainlystill：hewenton。
“Iseethedreadfulsacrificeas_you_seeit。Iaskmyself，haveIanyright，hasBlancheanyright——“
Shestoppedhimbyafaintpressureofhishand。
“Yes，“shesaid，softly，“ifBlanche’shappinessdependsonit。“
ASOLITARYforeigner，driftingaboutLondon，driftedtowardFulhamonthedayoftheFoot-Race。
Littlebylittle，hefoundhimselfinvolvedinthecurrentofathrongofimpetuousEnglishpeople，allflowingtogethertowardonegivenpoint，andalldecoratedalikewithcolorsoftwoprevailinghues——pinkandyellow。Hedriftedalongwiththestreamofpassengersonthepavementaccompaniedbyastreamofcarriagesintheroaduntiltheystoppedwithoneaccordatagate——andpaidadmissionmoneytoamaninoffice——andpouredintoagreatopenspaceofgroundwhichlookedlikeanuncultivatedgarden。
Arrivedhere，theforeignvisitoropenedhiseyesinwonderatthescenerevealedtoview。Heobservedthousandsofpeopleassembled，composedalmostexclusivelyofthemiddleandupperclassesofsociety。Theywerecongregatedroundavastinclosure；
theywereelevatedonamphitheatricalwoodenstands，andtheywereperchedontheroofsofhorselesscarriages，drawnupinrows。Fromthiscongregationthererosesucharoarofeagervoicesashehadneverheardyetfromanyassembledmultitudeintheseislands。Predominatingamongthecries，hedetectedoneeverlastingquestion。Itbeganwith，“Whobacks——？“anditendedinthealternatepronouncingoftwoBritishnamesunintelligibletoforeignears。Seeingtheseextraordinarysights，andhearingthesestirringsounds，heappliedtoapolicemanonduty；andsaid，inhisbestproducibleEnglish，“Ifyouplease，Sir，whatisthis？“
Thepolicemananswered，“NorthagainstSouth——Sports。“
Theforeignerwasinformed，butnotsatisfied。Hepointedallroundtheassemblywithacircularsweepofhishand；andsaid，“Why？“
Thepolicemandeclinedtowastewordsonamanwhocouldasksuchaquestionasthat。Heliftedalargepurpleforefinger，withabroadwhitenailattheendofit，andpointedgravelytoaprintedBill，postedonthewallbehindhim。ThedriftingforeignerdriftedtotheBill。
Afterreadingitcarefully，fromtoptobottom，heconsultedapoliteprivateindividualnearathand，whoprovedtobefarmorecommunicativethanthepoliceman。Theresultonhismind，asapersonnotthoroughlyawakenedtotheenormousnationalimportanceofAthleticSports，wasmuchasfollows：
ThecolorofNorthispink。ThecolorofSouthisyellow。Northproducesfourteenpinkmen，andSouthproducesthirteenyellowmen。Themeetingofpinkandyellowisasolemnity。Thesolemnitytakesitsriseinanindomitablenationalpassionforhardeningthearmsandlegs，bythrowinghammersandcricket-ballswiththefirst，andrunningandjumpingwiththesecond。Theobjectinviewistodothisinpublicrivalry。Theendsarrivedatarephysicallyanexcessivedevelopmentofthemuscles，purchasedattheexpenseofanexcessivestrainontheheartandthelungs——morally，glory；conferredatthemomentbythepublicapplause；confirmedthenextdaybyareportinthenewspapers。
Anypersonwhopresumestoseeanyphysicalevilinvolvedintheseexercisestothemenwhopracticethem，oranymoralobstructionintheexhibitionitselftothosecivilizinginfluencesonwhichthetruegreatnessofallnationsdepends，isapersonwithoutabiceps，whoissimplyincomprehensible。
MuscularEnglanddevelopsitself，andtakesnonoticeofhim。
Theforeignermixedwiththeassembly，andlookedmorecloselyatthesocialspectaclearoundhim。
Hehadmetwiththesepeoplebefore。Hehadseenthemforinstanceatthetheatre，andobservedtheirmannersandcustomswithconsiderablecuriosityandsurprise。Whenthecurtainwasdown，theyweresolittleinterestedinwhattheyhadcometosee，thattheyhadhardlyspiritenoughtospeaktoeachotherbetweentheacts。Whenthecurtainwasup，iftheplaymadeanyappealtotheirsympathywithanyofthehigherandnobleremotionsofhumanity，theyreceiveditassomethingwearisome，orsneeredatitassomethingabsurd。ThepublicfeelingofthecountrymenofShakespeare，sofarastheyrepresentedit，recognizedbuttwodutiesinthedramatist——thedutyofmakingthemlaugh，andthedutyofgettingitoversoon。Thetwogreatmeritsofastageproprietor，inEnglandjudgingbytherareapplauseofhiscultivatedcustomers，consistedinspendingplentyofmoneyonhisscenery，andinhiringplentyofbrazen-facedwomentoexhibittheirbosomsandtheirlegs。Notattheatresonly；butamongothergatherings，inotherplaces，theforeignerhadnoticedthesamestolidlanguorwhereanyeffortwasexactedfromgenteelEnglishbrains，andthesamestupidcontemptwhereanyappealwasmadetogenteelEnglishhearts。
Preserveusfromenjoyinganythingbutjokesandscandal!
Preserveusfromrespectinganythingbutrankandmoney!Therewerethesocialaspirationsoftheseinsularladiesandgentlemen，asexpressedunderothercircumstances，andasbetrayedamidstotherscenes。Here，allwaschanged。Herewasthestrongfeeling，thebreathlessinterest，theheartyenthusiasm，notvisibleelsewhere。Herewerethesuperbgentlemenwhoweretoowearytospeak，whenanArtwasaddressingthem，shoutingthemselveshoarsewithburstonburstofgenuineapplause。Herewerethefineladieswhoyawnedbehindtheirfans，atthebareideaofbeingcalledontothinkortofeel，wavingtheirhandkerchiefsinhonestdelight，andactuallyflushingwithexcitementthroughtheirpowderandtheirpaint。Andallforwhat？Allforrunningandjumping——allforthrowinghammersandballs。
Theforeignerlookedatit，andtried，asacitizenofacivilizedcountry，tounderstandit。Hewasstilltrying——whenthereoccurredapauseintheperformances。
Certainhurdles，whichhadservedtoexhibitthepresentsatisfactorystateofcivilizationinjumpingamongtheupperclasses，wereremoved。Theprivilegedpersonswhohaddutiestoperformwithintheinclosure，lookedallroundit；anddisappearedoneafteranother。Agreathushofexpectationpervadedthewholeassembly。Somethingofnocommoninterestandimportancewasevidentlyabouttotakeplace。Onasudden，thesilencewasbrokenbyaroarofcheeringfromthemobintheroadoutsidethegrounds。Peoplelookedateachotherexcitedly，andsaid，“Oneofthemhascome。“Thesilenceprevailedagain——andwasasecondtimebrokenbyanotherroarofapplause。Peoplenoddedtoeachotherwithanairofreliefandsaid，“Bothofthemhavecome。“Thenthegreathushfellonthecrowdoncemore，andalleyeslookedtowardoneparticularpointoftheground，occupiedbyalittlewoodenpavilion，withtheblindsdownovertheopenwindows，andthedoorclosed。
Theforeignerwasdeeplyimpressedbythesilentexpectationofthegreatthrongabouthim。Hefelthisownsympathiesstirred，withoutknowingwhy。HebelievedhimselftobeonthepointofunderstandingtheEnglishpeople。
Someceremonyofgraveimportancewasevidentlyinpreparation。