“Full，myleddypraiseProvidence，fraethebasementtotheceiling。“
　　“Youhadavisitor，Ithink，sometimesinceofwhomIknowsomething？Aperson——“Shepaused，andputastrongconstraintonherself。Therewasnoalternativebuttoyieldtothehardnecessityofmakingherinquiryintelligible。“Alady，“sheadded，“whocametoyouaboutthemiddleoflastmonth。“
　　“Couldyerleddyshipcondescendonhername？“
　　LadyLundieputastillstrongerconstraintonherself。
　　“Silvester，“shesaid，sharply。
　　“Presairveusa’!“criedMrs。Inchbare。“Itwillneverbethesamethatcam’driftin’inbyhersel’——wi’abitbaginherhand，andahusbandleftdaidlinganhourormairontheroadbehindher？“
　　“Ihavenodoubtitisthesame。“
　　“Willshebeafreendo’yerleddyship’s？“askedMrs。Inchbare，feelinghergroundcautiously。
　　“Certainlynot!“saidLadyLundie。“Ifeltapassingcuriosityabouther——nothingmore。“
　　Mrs。Inchbarelookedrelieved。“Totellyetruth，myleddy，therewasnaelovelostbetweenus。Shehadamaisterfu’tempero’herain——andIwasweelpleasedwhenI’dseenthelastofher。“
　　“Icanquiteunderstandthat，Mrs。Inchbare——Iknowsomethingofhertempermyself。DidIunderstandyoutosaythatshecametoyourhotelalone，andthatherhusbandjoinedhershortlyafterward？“
　　“E’ensae，yerleddyship。Iwasno’freetogi’herhouse-roominthehottletillherhusbanddaidledinatherheelsandansweredforher。“
　　“IfancyImusthaveseenherhusband，“saidLadyLundie。“Whatsortofamanwashe？“
　　Mrs。InchbarerepliedinmuchthesamewordswhichshehadusedinansweringthesimilarquestionputbySirPatrick。
　　“Eh!hewasoweryoungforthelikeo’_her。_Aprattyman，myleddy——betwixttallandshort；wi’bonnybrowneyesandcheeks，andfinecoal-blaikhair。Anicedouce-spokenlad。Ihaenaethingtosayagainsthim——exceptthathecam’lateoneday，andtookleg-bailbetimesthenextmorning，andleftmadambehind，aloadonmyhands。“
　　TheanswerproducedpreciselythesameeffectonLadyLundiewhichithadproducedonSirPatrick。She，also，feltthatitwastoovaguelyliketoomanyyoungmenofnouncommonhumorandcomplexiontobereliedon。Butherladyshippossessedoneimmenseadvantageoverherbrother-in-lawinattemptingtoarriveatthetruth。_She_suspectedArnold——anditwaspossible，inhercase，toassistMrs。Inchbare’smemorybyhintscontributedfromherownsuperiorresourcesofexperienceandobservation。
　　“Hadheanythingabouthimofthelookandwayofasailor？“sheasked。“Anddidyounotice，whenyouspoketohim，thathehadahabitofplayingwithalocketonhiswatch-chain？“
　　Thereheis，hetafftoaT!“criedMrs。Inchbare。“Yerleddyship’sweelacquentedwi’him——there’snaedooto’that。“
　　“IthoughtIhadseenhim，“saidLadyLundie。“Amodest，well-behavedyoungman，Mrs。Inchbare，asyousay。Don’tletmekeepyouanylongerfromthepoultry-yard。Iamtransgressingthedoctor’sordersinseeinganybody。Wequiteunderstandeachothernow，don’twe？Verygladtohaveseenyou。Good-evening。“
　　SoshedismissedMrs。Inchbare，whenMrs。Inchbarehadservedherpurpose。
　　Mostwomen，inherposition，wouldhavebeencontentwiththeinformationwhichshehadnowobtained。ButLadyLundie——havingamanlikeSirPatricktodealwith——determinedtobedoublysureofherfactsbeforesheventuredoninterferingatHamFarm。ShehadlearnedfromMrs。Inchbarethattheso-calledhusbandofAnneSilvesterhadjoinedheratCraigFernieonthedaywhenshearrivedattheinn，andhadleftheragainthenextmorning。AnnehadmadeherescapefromWindygatesontheoccasionofthelawn-party——thatistosay，onthefourteenthofAugust。OnthesamedayArnoldBrinkworthhadtakenhisdepartureforthepurposeofvisitingtheScotchpropertylefttohimbyhisaunt。
　　IfMrs。Inchbarewastobedependedon，hemusthavegonetoCraigFernieinsteadofgoingtohisappointeddestination——andmust，therefore，havearrivedtovisithishouseandlandsonedaylaterthanthedaywhichhehadoriginallysetapartforthatpurpose。Ifthisfactcouldbeproved，onthetestimonyofadisinterestedwitness，thecaseagainstArnoldwouldbestrengthenedtenfold；andLadyLundiemightactonherdiscoverywithsomethinglikeacertaintythatherinformationwastobereliedon。
　　AfteralittleconsiderationshedecidedonsendingamessengerwithanoteofinquiryaddressedtoArnold’ssteward。Theapologysheinventedtoexcuseandaccountforthestrangenessoftheproposedquestion，referredittoalittlefamilydiscussionastotheexactdateofArnold’sarrivalathisestate，andtoafriendlywagerinwhichthedifferenceofopinionhadended。IfthestewardcouldstatewhetherhisemployerhadarrivedonthefourteenthoronthefifteenthofAugust，thatwasallthatwouldbewantedtodecidethequestionindispute。
　　Havingwritteninthoseterms，LadyLundiegavethenecessarydirectionsforhavingthenotedeliveredattheearliestpossiblehouronthenextmorning；themessengerbeingorderedtomakehiswaybacktoWindygatesbythefirstreturntrainonthesameday。
　　Thisarranged，herladyshipwasfreetorefreshherselfwithanotherdoseoftheredlavenderdraught，andtosleepthesleepofthejustwhoclosetheireyeswiththecomposingconvictionthattheyhavedonetheirduty。
　　TheeventsofthenextdayatWindygatessucceededeachotherinduecourse，asfollows：
　　Thepostarrived，andbroughtnoreplyfromSirPatrick。LadyLundieenteredthatincidentonhermentalregisterofdebtsowedbyherbrother-in-law——tobepaid，withinterest，whenthedayofreckoningcame。
　　Nextinorderoccurredthereturnofthemessengerwiththesteward’sanswer。
　　HehadreferredtohisDiary；andhehaddiscoveredthatMr。
　　BrinkworthhadwrittenbeforehandtoannouncehisarrivalathisestateforthefourteenthofAugust——butthathehadnotactuallyappeareduntilthefifteenth。TheonediscoveryneededtosubstantiateMrs。Inchbare’sevidencebeingnowinLadyLundie’spossession，shedecidedtoallowanotherdaytopass——onthechancethatSirPatrickmightalterhismind，andwritetoher。
　　Ifnoletterarrived，andifnothingmorewasreceivedfromBlanche，sheresolvedtoleaveWindygatesbythenextmorning’strain，andtotrytheboldexperimentofpersonalinterferenceatHamFarm。
　　Thethirdinthesuccessionofeventswastheappearanceofthedoctortopayhisprofessionalvisit。
　　Asevereshockawaitedhim。Hefoundhispatientcuredbythedraught!Itwascontrarytoallruleandprecedent；itsavoredofquackery——theredlavenderhadnobusinesstodowhattheredlavenderhaddone——butthereshewas，nevertheless，upanddressed，andcontemplatingajourneytoLondononthenextdaybutone。“Anactofduty，doctor，isinvolvedinthis——whateverthesacrifice，Imustgo!“Nootherexplanationcouldbeobtained。Thepatientwasplainlydetermined——nothingremainedforthephysicianbuttoretreatwithunimpaireddignityandapaidfee。Hedidit。“Ourart，“heexplainedtoLadyLundieinconfidence，“isnothing，afterall，butachoicebetweenalternatives。Forinstance。Iseeyou——notcured，asyouthink——butsustainedbyabnormalexcitement。Ihavetoaskwhichistheleastofthetwoevils——torisklettingyoutravel，ortoirritateyoubykeepingyouathome。Withyourconstitution，wemustriskthejourney。Becarefultokeepthewindowofthecarriageuponthesideonwhichthewindblows。Lettheextremitiesbemoderatelywarm，andthemindeasy——andpraydon’tomittoprovideyourselfwithasecondbottleoftheMixturebeforeyoustart。“Hemadehisbow，asbefore——heslippedtwoguineasintohispocket，asbefore——andhewenthisway，asbefore，withanapprovingconscience，inthecharacterofaphysicianwhohaddonehisduty。WhatanenviableprofessionisMedicine!Andwhydon’tweallbelongtoit？
　　ThelastoftheeventswasthearrivalofMrs。Glenarm。
　　“Well？“shebegan，eagerly，“whatnews？“
　　Thenarrativeofherladyship’sdiscoveries——recitedatfulllength；andtheannouncementofherladyship’sresolution——declaredinthemostuncompromisingterms——raisedMrs。Glenarm’sexcitementtothehighestpitch。
　　“YougototownonSaturday？“shesaid。“Iwillgowithyou。EversincethatwomandeclaredsheshouldbeinLondonbeforeme，I
　　havebeendyingtohastenmyjourney——anditissuchanopportunitytogowithyou!Icaneasilymanageit。MyuncleandIweretohavemetinLondon，earlynextweek，forthefoot-race。
　　Ihaveonlytowriteandtellhimofmychangeofplans——By-the-by，talkingofmyuncle，Ihaveheard，sinceIsawyou，fromthelawyersatPerth。“
　　“Moreanonymousletters？“
　　“Onemore——receivedbythelawyersthistime。Myunknowncorrespondenthaswrittentothemtowithdrawhisproposal，andtoannouncethathehasleftPerth。ThelawyersrecommendedmetostopmyunclefromspendingmoneyuselesslyinemployingtheLondonpolice。Ihaveforwardedtheirlettertothecaptain；andhewillprobablybeintowntoseehissolicitorsassoonasI
　　gettherewithyou。Somuchforwhat_I_havedoneinthismatter。DearLadyLundie——whenweareatourjourney’send，whatdo_you_meantodo？“
　　“Mycourseisplain，“answeredherladyship，calmly。“SirPatrickwillhearfromme，onSundaymorningnext，atHamFarm。“
　　“Tellinghimwhatyouhavefoundout？“
　　“Certainlynot!TellinghimthatIfindmyselfcalledtoLondonbybusiness，andthatIproposepayinghimashortvisitonMondaynext。“
　　“Ofcourse，hemustreceiveyou？“