Mrs。Glenarmdecidedtoriskit。“Haveyouneverheard，“sheasked，“thatMr。BrinkworthmightpossiblyhavecommittedhimselfwithanotherladybeforehemarriedMissLundie？“
　　Herladyshipfirstclosedhereyesinhorrorandthensearchedblindlyonthecounterpaneforthesmelling-bottle。Mrs。Glenarmgaveittoher，andwaitedtoseehowtheinvalidboreitbeforeshesaidanymore。
　　“Therearethingsone_must_hear，“remarkedLadyLundie。“Iseeanactofdutyinvolvedinthis。Nowordscandescribehowyouastonishme。Whotoldyou？“
　　“Mr。GeoffreyDelamayntoldme。“
　　Herladyshipappliedforthesecondtimetothesmelling-bottle。
　　“ArnoldBrinkworth’smostintimatefriend!“sheexclaimed。“Heoughttoknowifanybodydoes。Thisisdreadful。WhyshouldMr。
　　GeoffreyDelamayntell_you？_“
　　“Iamgoingtomarryhim，“answeredMrs。Glenarm。“Thatismyexcuse，dearLadyLundie，fortroublingyouinthismatter。“
　　LadyLundiepartiallyopenedhereyesinastateoffaintbewilderment。“Idon’tunderstand，“shesaid。“ForHeaven’ssakeexplainyourself!“
　　“Haven’tyouheardabouttheanonymousletters？“askedMrs。
　　Glenarm。
　　Yes。LadyLundiehadheardabouttheletters。Butonlywhatthepublicingeneralhadheard。Thenameoftheladyinthebackgroundnotmentioned；andMr。GeoffreyDelamaynassumedtobeasinnocentasthebabeunborn。Anymistakeinthatassumption？
　　“Givemeyourhand，mypoordear，andconfideitallto_me!_“
　　“Heisnotquiteinnocent，“saidMrs。Glenarm。“Heownedtoafoolishflirtation——all_her_doing，nodoubt。Ofcourse，I
　　insistedonadistinctexplanation。Hadshereallyanyclaimonhim？Nottheshadowofaclaim。IfeltthatIonlyhadhiswordforthat——andItoldhimso。Hesaidhecouldproveit——hesaidheknewhertobeprivatelymarriedalready。Herhusbandhaddisownedanddesertedher；shewasattheendofherresources；
　　shewasdesperateenoughtoattemptanything。Ithoughtitallverysuspicious——untilGeoffreymentionedtheman’sname。_That_
　　certainlyprovedthathehadcastoffhiswife；forImyselfknewthathehadlatelymarriedanotherperson。“
　　LadyLundiesuddenlystartedupfromherpillow——honestlyagitated；genuinelyalarmedbythistime。
　　“Mr。Delamayntoldyoutheman’sname？“shesaid，breathlessly。
　　“Yes。“
　　“DoIknowit？“
　　“Don’taskme!“
　　LadyLundiefellbackonthepillow。
　　Mrs。Glenarmrosetoringforhelp。Beforeshecouldtouchthebell，herladyshiphadralliedagain。
　　“Stop!“shecried。“Icanconfirmit!It’strue，Mrs。Glenarm!
　　it’strue!Openthesilverboxonthetoilet-table——youwillfindthekeyinit。Bringmethetopletter。Here!Lookatit。IgotthisfromBlanche。Whyhavetheysuddenlygivenuptheirbridaltour？WhyhavetheygonebacktoSirPatrickatHamFarm？Whyhavetheyputmeoffwithaninfamoussubterfugetoaccountforit？Ifeltsuresomethingdreadfulhadhappened。NowIknowwhatitis!“Shesankbackagain，withclosedeyes，andrepeatedthewords，inafiercewhisper，toherself。“NowIknowwhatitis!“
　　Mrs。Glenarmreadtheletter。Thereasongivenforthesuspiciouslysuddenreturnofthebrideandbridegroomwaspalpablyasubterfuge——and，moreremarkablestill，thenameofAnneSilvesterwasconnectedwithit。Mrs。Glenarmbecamestronglyagitatedonherside。
　　“This_is_aconfirmation，“shesaid。“Mr。Brinkworthhasbeenfoundout——thewoman_is_marriedtohim——Geoffreyisfree。Oh，mydearfriend，whataloadofanxietyyouhavetakenoffmymind!Thatvilewretch——“
　　LadyLundiesuddenlyopenedhereyes。
　　“Doyoumean，“sheasked，“thewomanwhoisatthebottomofallthemischief？“
　　“Yes。Isawheryesterday。SheforcedherselfinatSwanhaven。
　　ShecalledhimGeoffreyDelamayn。Shedeclaredherselfasinglewoman。Sheclaimedhimbeforemyfaceinthemostaudaciousmanner。Sheshookmyfaith，LadyLundie——sheshookmyfaithinGeoffrey!“
　　“Whoisshe？“
　　“Who？“echoedMrs。Glenarm。“Don’tyouevenknowthat？Whyhernameisrepeatedhalfadozentimesinthisletter!“
　　LadyLundieutteredascreamthatrangthroughtheroom。Mrs。
　　Glenarmstartedtoherfeet。Themaidappearedatthedoorinterror。Herladyshipmotionedtothewomantowithdrawagaininstantly，andthenpointedtoMrs。Glenarm’schair。
　　“Sitdown，“shesaid。“Letmehaveaminuteortwoofquiet。I
　　wantnothingmore。“
　　ThesilenceintheroomwasunbrokenuntilLadyLundiespokeagain。SheaskedforBlanche’sletter。Afterreadingitcarefully，shelaiditaside，andfellforawhileintodeepthought。
　　“IhavedoneBlancheaninjustice!“sheexclaimed。“MypoorBlanche!“
　　“Youthinksheknowsnothingaboutit？“
　　“Iamcertainofit!Youforget，Mrs。Glenarm，thatthishorriblediscoverycastsadoubtonmystep-daughter’smarriage。Doyouthink，ifsheknewthetruth，shewouldwriteofawretchwhohasmortallyinjuredherasshewriteshere？Theyhaveputheroffwiththeexcusethatsheinnocentlysendsto_me。_IseeitasplainlyasIseeyou!Mr。BrinkworthandSirPatrickareinleaguetokeepusbothinthedark。Dearchild!Ioweheranatonement。Ifnobodyelseopenshereyes，Iwilldoit。SirPatrickshallfindthatBlanchehasafriendinMe!“
　　Asmile——thedangeroussmileofaninveteratelyvindictivewomanthoroughlyroused——showeditselfwithafurtivesuddennessonherface。Mrs。Glenarmwasalittlestartled。LadyLundiebelowthesurface——asdistinguishedfromLadyLundie_on_thesurface——wasnotapleasantobjecttocontemplate。
　　“Praytrytocomposeyourself，“saidMrs。Glenarm。“DearLadyLundie，youfrightenme!“
　　Theblandsurfaceofherladyshipappearedsmoothlyoncemore；
　　drawnback，asitwere，overthehiddeninnerself，whichithadleftforthemomentexposedtoview。
　　“Forgivemeforfeelingit!“shesaid，withthepatientsweetnesswhichsoeminentlydistinguishedherintimesoftrial。“Itfallsalittleheavilyonapoorsickwoman——innocentofallsuspicion，andinsultedbythemostheartlessneglect。Don’tletmedistressyou。Ishallrally，mydear；Ishallrally!Inthisdreadfulcalamity——thisabyssofcrimeandmiseryanddeceit——Ihavenoonetodependonbutmyself。ForBlanche’ssake，thewholethingmustbeclearedup——probed，mydear，probedtothedepths。
　　Blanchemusttakeapositionthatisworthyofher。Blanchemustinsistonherrights，underMyprotection。NevermindwhatI
　　suffer，orwhatIsacrifice。ThereisaworkofjusticeforpoorweakMetodo。Itshallbedone!“saidherladyship，fanningherselfwithanaspectofillimitableresolution。“Itshallbedone!“
　　“But，LadyLundiewhatcanyoudo？Theyareallawayinthesouth。Andasforthatabominablewoman——“
　　LadyLundietouchedMrs。Glenarmontheshoulderwithherfan。
　　“Ihavemysurpriseinstore，dearfriend，aswellasyou。ThatabominablewomanwasemployedasBlanche’sgovernessinthishouse。Wait!thatisnotall。Sheleftussuddenly——ranaway——onthepretenseofbeingprivatelymarried。Iknowwhereshewent。I
　　cantracewhatshedid。Icanfindoutwhowaswithher。IcanfollowMr。Brinkworth’sproceedings，behindMr。Brinkworth’sback。Icansearchoutthetruth，withoutdependingonpeoplecompromisedinthisblackbusiness，whoseinterestitistodeceiveme。AndIwilldoitto-day!“Sheclosedthefanwithasharpsnapoftriumph，andsettledherselfonthepillowinplacidenjoymentofherdearfriend’ssurprise。
　　Mrs。Glenarmdrewconfidentiallyclosertothebedside。“Howcanyoumanageit？“sheasked，eagerly。“Don’tthinkmecurious。I
　　havemyinterest，too，ingettingatthetruth。Don’tleavemeoutofit，pray!“
　　“Canyoucomebackto-morrow，atthistime？“
　　“Yes!yes!“
　　“Come，then——andyoushallknow。“
　　“CanIbeofanyuse？“
　　“Notatpresent。“
　　“Canmyunclebeofanyuse？“
　　“DoyouknowwheretocommunicatewithCaptainNewenden？“
　　“Yes——heisstayingwithsomefriendsinSussex。“
　　“Wemaypossiblywanthisassistance。Ican’ttellyet。Don’tkeepMrs。Delamaynwaitinganylonger，mydear。Ishallexpectyouto-morrow。“
　　Theyexchangedanaffectionateembrace。LadyLundiewasleftalone。