MRS。INCHBAREwasthefirstpersonwhoactedintheemergency。
Shecalledforlights;andsternlyrebukedthehouse-maid,whobroughtthem,fornothavingclosedthehousedoor。“Yefecklessne’er-do-weel!“criedthelandlady;“thewind’sblawnthecandlesoot。“
Thewomandeclaredwithperfecttruththatthedoorhadbeenclosed。AnawkwarddisputemighthaveensuedifBlanchehadnotdivertedMrs。Inchbare’sattentiontoherself。Theappearanceofthelightsdisclosedher,wetthroughwithherarmsroundAnne’sneck。Mrs。Inchbaredigressedatoncetothepressingquestionofchangingtheyounglady’sclothes,andgaveAnnetheopportunityoflookingroundher,unobserved。Arnoldhadmadehisescapebeforethecandleshadbeenbroughtin。
InthemeantimeBlanche’sattentionwasabsorbedinherowndrippingskirts。
“Goodgracious!I’mabsolutelydistillingrainfromeverypartofme。AndI’mmakingyou,Anne,aswetasIam!Lendmesomedrythings。Youcan’t?Mrs。Inchbare,whatdoesyourexperiencesuggest?WhichhadIbetterdo?Gotobedwhilemyclothesarebeingdried?orborrowfromyourwardrobe——thoughyou_are_aheadandshoulderstallerthanIam?“
Mrs。Inchbareinstantlybustledouttofetchthechoicestgarmentsthatherwardrobecouldproduce。ThemomentthedoorhadclosedonherBlanchelookedroundtheroominherturn。
Therightsofaffectionhavingbeenalreadyasserted,theclaimsofcuriositynaturallypressedforsatisfactionnext。
“Somebodypassedmeinthedark,“shewhispered。“Wasityourhusband?I’mdyingtobeintroducedtohim。And,ohmydear!what_is_yourmarriedname?“
Anneanswered,coldly,“Waitalittle。Ican’tspeakaboutityet。“
“Areyouill?“askedBlanche。
“Iamalittlenervous。“
“Hasanythingunpleasanthappenedbetweenyouandmyuncle?Youhaveseenhim,haven’tyou?“
“Yes。“
“Didhegiveyoumymessage?“
“Hegavemeyourmessage——Blanche!youpromisedhimtostayatWindygates。Why,inthenameofheaven,didyoucomehereto-night?“
“IfyouwerehalfasfondofmeasIamofyou,“returnedBlanche,“youwouldn’taskthat。Itriedhardtokeepmypromise,butIcouldn’tdoit。Itwasallverywell,whilemyunclewaslayingdownthelaw——withLadyLundieinarage,andthedogsbarking,andthedoorsbanging,andallthat。Theexcitementkeptmeup。Butwhenmyunclehadgone,andthedreadfulgray,quiet,rainyeveningcame,andithadallcalmeddownagain,therewasnobearingit。Thehouse——withoutyou——waslikeatomb。IfIhadhadArnoldwithmeImighthavedoneverywell。ButIwasallbymyself。Thinkofthat!Notasoultospeakto!Therewasn’tahorriblethingthatcouldpossiblyhappentoyouthatIdidn’tfancywasgoingtohappen。Iwentintoyouremptyroomandlookedatyourthings。_That_settledit,mydarling!Irusheddownstairs——carriedaway,positivelycarriedaway,byanImpulsebeyondhumanresistance。HowcouldIhelpit?IaskanyreasonablepersonhowcouldIhelpit?IrantothestablesandfoundJacob。Impulse——allimpulse!Isaid,’Getthepony-chaise——Imusthaveadrive——Idon’tcareifitrains——youcomewithme。’Allinabreath,andallimpulse!Jacobbehavedlikeanangel。Hesaid,’Allright,miss。’IamperfectlycertainJacobwoulddieformeifIaskedhim。Heisdrinkinghotgrogatthismoment,topreventhimfromcatchingcold,bymyexpressorders。Hehadthepony-chaiseoutintwominutes;andoffwewent。LadyLundie,mydear,prostrateinherownroom——toomuchsalvolatile。Ihateher。Theraingotworse。Ididn’tmindit。
Jacobdidn’tmindit。Theponydidn’tmindit。Theyhadbothcaughtmyimpulse——especiallythepony。Itdidn’tcomeontothundertillsometimeafterward;andthenwewerenearerCraigFerniethanWindygates——tosaynothingofyourbeingatoneplaceandnotattheother。Thelightningwasquiteawfulonthemoor。
IfIhadhadoneofthehorses,hewouldhavebeenfrightened。
Theponyshookhisdarlinglittlehead,anddashedthroughit。Heistohavebeer。Amashwithbeerinit——bymyexpressorders。
Whenhehasdonewe’llborrowalantern,andgointothestable,andkisshim。Inthemeantime,mydear,hereIam——wetthroughinathunderstorm,whichdoesn’tintheleastmatter——anddeterminedtosatisfymyownmindaboutyou,whichmattersagreatdeal,andmustandshallbedonebeforeIrestto-night!“
SheturnedAnne,bymainforce,asshespoke,towardthelightofthecandles。
HertonechangedthemomentshelookedatAnne’sface。
“Iknewit!“shesaid。“Youwouldneverhavekeptthemostinterestingeventinyourlifeasecretfrom_me_——youwouldneverhavewrittenmesuchacoldformalletterastheletteryouleftinyourroom——iftherehadnotbeensomethingwrong。Isaidsoatthetime。Iknowitnow!WhyhasyourhusbandforcedyoutoleaveWindygatesatamoment’snotice?Whydoesheslipoutoftheroominthedark,asifhewasafraidofbeingseen?Anne!
Anne!whathascometoyou?Whydoyoureceivemeinthisway?“
AtthatcriticalmomentMrs。Inchbarereappeared,withthechoicestselectionofwearingapparelwhichherwardrobecouldfurnish。Annehailedthewelcomeinterruption。Shetookthecandles,andledthewayintothebedroomimmediately。
“Changeyourwetclothesfirst,“shesaid。“Wecantalkafterthat。“
Thebedroomdoorhadhardlybeenclosedaminutebeforetherewasatapatit。SigningtoMrs。InchbarenottointerrupttheservicesshewasrenderingtoBlanche,Annepassedquicklyintothesitting-room,andclosedthedoorbehindher。Toherinfiniterelief,sheonlyfoundherselffacetofacewiththediscreetMr。
Bishopriggs。
“Whatdoyouwant?“sheasked。
TheeyeofMr。Bishopriggsannounced,byawink,thathismissionwasofaconfidentialnature。ThehandofMr。Bishopriggswavered;thebreathofMr。Bishopriggsexhaledaspirituousfume。
Heslowlyproducedaslipofpaper,withsomelinesofwritingonit。
“Fromyekenwho,“heexplained,jocosely。“Abitlove-letter,I
trow,fromhimthat’sdeartoye。Eh!he’sanawfu’reprobateishimthat’sdeartoye。Miss,inthebedchamberthere,willnaedootbetheonehe’sjiltedfor_you?_Iseeitall——yecan’tblindMe——Iha’beenafrailpersonmyainself,inmytime。
Hech!he’ssafeandsound,isthereprobate。Iha’lookitaftera’hislittlecreature-comforts——I’mjoostafethertohim,aswellasafethertoyou。TrustBishopriggs——whenpuirhumannaturewantsabitpatontheback,trustBishopriggs。“
Whilethesagewasspeakingthesecomfortablewords,Annewasreadingthelinestracedonthepaper。TheyweresignedbyArnold;andtheyranthus:
“Iaminthesmoking-roomoftheinn。ItrestswithyoutosaywhetherImuststopthere。Idon’tbelieveBlanchewouldbejealous。IfIknewhowtoexplainmybeingattheinnwithoutbetrayingtheconfidencewhichyouandGeoffreyhaveplacedinme,Iwouldn’tbeawayfromheranothermoment。Itdoesgrateonmeso!Atthesametime,Idon’twanttomakeyourpositionharderthanitis。Thinkofyourselffirst。Ileaveitinyourhands。Youhaveonlytosay,Wait,bythebearer——andIshallunderstandthatIamtostaywhereIamtillIhearfromyouagain。“
Annelookedupfromthemessage。
“Askhimtowait,“shesaid;“andIwillsendwordtohimagain。“
“Wi’monylovesandkisses,“suggestedMr。Bishopriggs,asanecessarysupplementtothemessage。“Eh!itcomesaseasyasA。
B。C。toamano’myexperience。Yecanha’naebettergae-betweenthanyerpuirservanttocommand,SawmuelBishopriggs。Iunderstandyebaithpairfeckly。“Helaidhisforefingeralonghisflamingnose,andwithdrew。
Withoutallowingherselftohesitateforaninstant,Anneopenedthebedroomdoor——withtheresolutionofrelievingArnoldfromthenewsacrificeimposedonhimbyowningthetruth。
“Isthatyou?“askedBlanche。
Atthesoundofhervoice,Annestartedbackguiltily。“I’llbewithyouinamoment,“sheanswered,andclosedthedooragainbetweenthem。
No!itwasnottobedone。SomethinginBlanche’strivialquestion——orsomething,perhaps,inthesightofBlanche’sface——rousedthewarninginstinctinAnne,whichsilencedherontheverybrinkofthedisclosure。Atthelastmomenttheironchainofcircumstancesmadeitselffelt,bindingherwithoutmercytothehateful,thedegradingdeceit。Couldsheownthetruth,aboutGeoffreyandherself,toBlanche?and,withoutowningit,couldsheexplainandjustifyArnold’sconductinjoiningherprivatelyatCraigFernie?Ashamefulconfessionmadetoaninnocentgirl;ariskoffatallyshakingArnold’splaceinBlanche’sestimation;ascandalattheinn,inthedisgraceofwhichtheotherswouldbeinvolvedwithherself——thiswasthepriceatwhichshemustspeak,ifshefollowedherfirstimpulse,andsaid,insomanywords,“Arnoldishere。“
Itwasnottobethoughtof。Costwhatitmightinpresentwretchedness——endhowitmight,ifthedeceptionwasdiscoveredinthefuture——Blanchemustbekeptinignoranceofthetruth,Arnoldmustbekeptinhidinguntilshehadgone。
Anneopenedthedoorforthesecondtime,andwentin。
Thebusinessofthetoiletwasstandingstill。BlanchewasinconfidentialcommunicationwithMrs。Inchbare。AtthemomentwhenAnneenteredtheroomshewaseagerlyquestioningthelandladyaboutherfriend’s“invisiblehusband“——shewasjustsaying,“Dotellme!whatishelike?“
Thecapacityforaccurateobservationisacapacitysouncommon,andissoseldomassociated,evenwhereitdoesexist,withtheequallyraregiftofaccuratelydescribingthethingorthepersonobserved,thatAnne’sdreadoftheconsequencesifMrs。
InchbarewasallowedtimetocomplywithBlanchesrequest,was,inallprobability,adreadmisplaced。Rightorwrong,however,thealarmthatshefelthurriedherintotakingmeasuresfordismissingthelandladyonthespot。“Wemustn’tkeepyoufromyouroccupationsanylonger,“shesaidtoMrs。Inchbare。“IwillgiveMissLundieallthehelpsheneeds。“
Barredfromadvancinginonedirection,Blanche’scuriosityturnedback,andtriedinanother。SheboldlyaddressedherselftoAnne。
“I_must_knowsomethingabouthim,“shesaid。“Isheshybeforestrangers?Iheardyouwhisperingwithhimontheothersideofthedoor。Areyoujealous,Anne?AreyouafraidIshallfascinatehiminthisdress?“