Hestopped，noticingsomethingentirelynewinthelookwithwhichtheyoungladywasregardinghim。
　　“Begyourpardon，“saidGeoffrey。“Doyouwishtospeaktome？“
　　Blanche’sfaceflushedallover。Herunclecametotherescue。
　　“MissLundieandIhopeyouhavesleptwellMr。Delamayn，“saidSirPatrick，jocosely。
　　“That’sall。“
　　“Oh？That’sall？“saidGeoffreystilllookingatBlanche。“Begyourpardonagain。Deucedlongwalk，anddeucedheavydinner。
　　Naturalconsequence——anap。“
　　SirPatrickeyedhimclosely。ItwasplainthathehadbeenhonestlypuzzledatfindinghimselfanobjectofspecialattentiononBlanche’spart。“Seeyouinthebilliard-room？“hesaid，carelessly，andfollowedhiscompanionsoutoftheroom——asusual，withoutwaitingforananswer。
　　“Mindwhatyouareabout，“saidSirPatricktohisniece。“Thatmanisquickerthanhelooks。Wecommitaseriousmistakeifweputhimonhisguardatstarting。“
　　“Itsha’n’thappenagain，uncle，“saidBlanche。“Butthinkof_his_beinginAnne’sconfidence，andof_my_beingshutoutofit!“
　　“Inhisfriend’sconfidence，youmean，mydear；andifweonlyavoidawakeninghissuspicionthereisnoknowinghowsoonhemaysayordosomethingwhichmayshowuswhohisfriendis。“
　　“Butheisgoingbacktohisbrother’sto-morrow——hesaidsoatdinner-time。“
　　“Somuchthebetter。Hewillbeoutofthewayofseeingstrangethingsinacertainyounglady’sface。Hisbrother’shouseiswithineasyreachofthis；andIamhislegaladviser。Myexperiencetellsmethathehasnotdoneconsultingmeyet——andthathewillletoutsomethingmorenexttime。SomuchforourchanceofseeingthelightthroughMr。Delamayn——ifwecan’tseeitinanyotherway。Andthatisnotouronlychance，remember。I
　　havesomethingtotellyouaboutBishopriggsandthelostletter。“
　　“Isitfound？“
　　“No。Isatisfiedmyselfaboutthat——Ihaditsearchedfor，undermyowneye。Theletterisstolen，Blanche；andBishopriggshasgotit。Ihaveleftalineforhim，inMrs。Inchbare’scare。Theoldrascalismissedalreadybythevisitorsattheinn，justasItoldyouhewouldbe。Hismistressisfeelingthepenaltyofhavingbeenfoolenoughtoventherilltemperonherhead-waiter。ShelaysthewholeblameofthequarrelonMissSilvester，ofcourse。BishopriggsneglectedeverybodyattheinntowaitonMissSilvester。Bishopriggswasinsolentonbeingremonstratedwith，andMissSilvesterencouragedhim——andsoon。
　　Theresultwillbe——nowMissSilvesterhasgone——thatBishopriggswillreturntoCraigFerniebeforetheautumnisover。Wearesailingwithwindandtide，mydear。Come，andlearntoplaywhist。“
　　Herosetojointhecard-players。Blanchedetainedhim。
　　“Youhaven’ttoldmeonethingyet，“shesaid。“Whoeverthemanmaybe，isAnnemarriedtohim？“
　　“Whoeverthemanmaybe，“returnedSirPatrick，“hehadbetternotattempttomarryanybodyelse。“
　　Sothenieceunconsciouslyputthequestion，andsotheuncleunconsciouslygavetheansweronwhichdependedthewholehappinessofBlanche’slifetocome，The“man!“Howlightlytheybothtalkedofthe“man!“Wouldnothinghappentorousethefaintestsuspicion——intheirmindsorinArnold’smind——thatArnoldwasthe“man“himself？
　　“Youmeanthatshe_is_married？“saidBlanche。
　　“Idon’tgoasfarasthat。“
　　“Youmeanthatsheis_not_married？“
　　“Idon’tgosofaras_that。_“
　　“Oh!thelaw!“
　　“Provoking，isn’tit，mydear？Icantellyou，professionally，thatinmyopinionshehasgroundstogoonifsheclaimstobetheman’swife。ThatiswhatImeantbymyanswer；and，untilweknowmore，thatisallIcansay。“
　　“Whenshallweknowmore？Whenshallwegetthetelegram？“
　　“Notforsomehoursyet。Come，andlearntoplaywhist。“
　　“IthinkIwouldrathertalktoArnold，uncle，ifyoudon’tmind。“
　　“Byallmeans!Butdon’ttalktohimaboutwhatIhavebeentellingyouto-night。HeandMr。Delamaynareoldassociates，remember；andhemightblunderintotellinghisfriendwhathisfriendhadbetternotknow。Sadisn’tit？formetobeinstillingtheselessonsofduplicityintotheyouthfulmind。A
　　wisepersononcesaid，’Theolderamangetstheworsehegets。’
　　Thatwiseperson，mydear，hadmeinhiseye，andwasperfectlyright。“
　　Hemitigatedthepainofthatconfessionwithapinchofsnuff，andwenttothewhisttabletowaituntiltheendoftherubbergavehimaplaceatthegame。
　　BLANCHEfoundherloverasattentiveasusualtoherslightestwish，butnotinhiscustomarygoodspirits。Hepleadedfatigue，afterhislongwatchatthecross-roads，asanexcuseforhisdepression。AslongastherewasanyhopeofareconciliationwithGeoffrey，hewasunwillingtotellBlanchewhathadhappenedthatafternoon。Thehopegrewfainterandfainterastheeveningadvanced。Arnoldpurposelysuggestedavisittothebilliard-room，andjoinedthegame，withBlanche，togiveGeoffreyanopportunityofsayingthefewgraciouswordswhichwouldhavemadethemfriendsagain。Geoffreyneverspokethewords；heobstinatelyignoredArnold’spresenceintheroom。
　　Atthecard-tablethewhistwentoninterminably。LadyLundie，SirPatrick，andthesurgeon，wereallinveterateplayers，evenlymatched。SmithandJonesjoiningthegamealternatelywereaidstowhist，exactlyastheywereaidstoconversation。Thesamesafeandmodestmediocrityofstyledistinguishedtheproceedingsofthesetwogentlemeninalltheaffairsoflife。
　　Thetimeworeontomidnight。TheywenttobedlateandtheyroselateatWindygatesHouse。Underthathospitableroof，nointrusivehints，intheshapeofflatcandlesticksexhibitingthemselveswithostentatiousvirtueonside-tables，hurriedtheguesttohisroom；novilebellranghimruthlesslyoutofbedthenextmorning，andinsistedonhisbreakfastingatagivenhour。Lifehassurelyhardshipsenoughthatareinevitablewithoutgratuitouslyaddingthehardshipofabsolutegovernment，administeredbyaclock？
　　ItwasaquarterpasttwelvewhenLadyLundieroseblandlyfromthewhist-table，andsaidthatshesupposedsomebodymustsettheexampleofgoingtobed。SirPatrickandSmith，thesurgeonandJones，agreedonalastrubber。Blanchevanishedwhileherstepmother’seyewasonher；andappearedagaininthedrawing-room，whenLadyLundiewassafeinthehandsofhermaid。
　　NobodyfollowedtheexampleofthemistressofthehousebutArnold。Heleftthebilliard-roomwiththecertaintythatitwasallovernowbetweenGeoffreyandhimself。NoteventheattractionofBlancheprovedstrongenoughtodetainhimthatnight。Hewenthiswaytobed。
　　Itwaspastoneo’clock。Thefinalrubberwasatanend，theaccountsweresettledatthecard-table；thesurgeonhadstrolledintothebilliard-room，andSmithandJoneshadfollowedhim，whenDuncancamein，atlast，withthetelegraminhishand。
　　Blancheturnedfromthebroad，calmautumnmoonlightwhichhaddrawnhertothewindow，andlookedoverheruncle’sshoulderwhileheopenedthetelegram。
　　Shereadthefirstline——andthatwasenough。Thewholescaffoldingofhopebuiltroundthatmorselofpaperfelltothegroundinaninstant。ThetrainfromKirkandrewhadreachedEdinburghattheusualtime。Everypassengerinithadpassedundertheeyesofthepolice，andnothinghadbeenseenofanypersonwhoansweredthedescriptiongivenofAnne!
　　SirPatrickpointedtothetwolastsentencesinthetelegram：
　　“InquiriestelegraphedtoFalkirk。Ifwithanyresult，youshallknow。“
　　“Wemusthopeforthebest，Blanche。Theyevidentlysuspectherofhavinggotoutatthejunctionofthetworailwaysforthepurposeofgivingthetelegraphtheslip。Thereisnohelpforit。Gotobed，child——gotobed。“
　　Blanchekissedheruncleinsilenceandwentaway。Thebrightyoungfacewassadwiththefirsthopelesssorrowwhichtheoldmanhadyetseeninit。Hisniece’spartinglookdweltpainfullyonhismindwhenhewasupinhisroom，withthefaithfulDuncangettinghimreadyforhisbed。
　　“Thisisabadbusiness，Duncan。Idon’tliketosaysotoMissLundie；butIgreatlyfearthegovernesshasbaffledus。“
　　“Itseemslikely，SirPatrick。Thepooryoungladylooksquiteheart-brokenaboutit。“
　　“Younoticedthattoo，didyou？Shehaslivedallherlife，yousee，withMissSilvester；andthereisaverystrongattachmentbetweenthem。Iamuneasyaboutmyniece，Duncan。Iamafraidthisdisappointmentwillhaveaseriouseffectonher。“
　　“She’syoung，SirPatrick。“
　　“Yes，myfriend，she’syoung；buttheyoungwhentheyaregoodforanythinghavewarmhearts。Winterhasn’tstolenon_them，_
　　Duncan!Andtheyfeelkeenly。“
　　“Ithinkthere’sreasontohope，Sir，thatMissLundiemaygetoveritmoreeasilythanyousuppose。“
　　“Whatreason，pray？“
　　“Apersoninmypositioncanhardlyventuretospeakfreely，Sir，onadelicatematterofthiskind。“
　　SirPatrick’stemperflashedout，half-seriously，half-whimsically，asusual。
　　“IsthatasnapatMe，youolddog？IfIamnotyourfriend，aswellasyourmaster，whois？Am_I_inthehabitofkeepinganyofmyharmlessfellow-creaturesatadistance？IdespisethecantofmodernLiberalism；butit’snotthelesstruethatIhave，allmylife，protestedagainsttheinhumanseparationofclassesinEngland。Weare，inthatrespect，bragaswemayofournationalvirtue，themostunchristianpeopleinthecivilizedworld。“
　　“Ibegyourpardon，SirPatrick——“
　　“Godhelpme!I’mtalkingpolitiesatthistimeofnight!It’syourfault，Duncan。Whatdoyoumeanbycastingmystationinmyteeth，becauseIcan’tputmynight-caponcomfortablytillyouhavebrushedmyhair？Ihaveagoodmindtogetupandbrushyours。There!there!I’muneasyaboutmyniece——nervousirritability，mygoodfellow，that’sall。Let’shearwhatyouhavetosayaboutMissLundie。Andgoonwithmyhair。Anddon’tbeahumbug。“