SHEtookhishand，andbeganwithalltheartofpersuasionthatshepossessed。
　　“Onequestion，Geoffrey，beforeIsaywhatIwanttosay。LadyLundiehasinvitedyoutostayatWindygates。Doyouacceptherinvitation？ordoyougobacktoyourbrother’sintheevening？“
　　“Ican’tgobackintheevening——they’veputavisitorintomyroom。I’mobligedtostayhere。Mybrotherhasdoneitonpurpose。JuliushelpsmewhenI’mhardup——andbulliesmeafterward。Hehassentmehere，ondutyforthefamily。SomebodymustbeciviltoLadyLundie——andI’mthesacrifice。“
　　Shetookhimupathislastword。“Don’tmakethesacrifice，“shesaid。“ApologizetoLadyLundie，andsayyouareobligedtogoback。“
　　“Why？“
　　“Becausewemustbothleavethisplaceto-day。“
　　Therewasadoubleobjectiontothat。IfheleftLadyLundie’s，hewouldfailtoestablishafuturepecuniaryclaimonhisbrother’sindulgence。AndifheleftwithAnne，theeyesoftheworldwouldseethem，andthewhispersoftheworldmightcometohisfather’sears。
　　“Ifwegoawaytogether，“hesaid，“good-bytomyprospects，andyourstoo。“
　　“Idon’tmeanthatweshallleavetogether，“sheexplained。“Wewillleaveseparately——andIwillgofirst。“
　　“Therewillbeahueandcryafteryou，whenyouaremissed。“
　　“Therewillbeadancewhenthecroquetisover。Idon’tdance——andIshallnotbemissed。Therewillbetime，andopportunitytogettomyownroom。IshallleavealetterthereforLadyLundie，andaletter“——hervoicetrembledforamoment——“andaletterforBlanche。Don’tinterruptme!Ihavethoughtofthis，asIhavethoughtofeverythingelse。TheconfessionIshallmakewillbethetruthinafewhours，ifit’snotthetruthnow。MyletterswillsayIamprivatelymarried，andcalledawayunexpectedlytojoinmyhusband。Therewillbeascandalinthehouse，Iknow。Buttherewillbenoexcuseforsendingafterme，whenIamundermyhusband’sprotection。Sofarasyouarepersonallyconcernedtherearenodiscoveriestofear——andnothingwhichitisnotperfectlysafeandperfectlyeasytodo。WaithereanhourafterIhavegonetosaveappearances；andthenfollowme。“
　　“Followyou？“interposedGeoffrey。“Where？“Shedrewherchairnearertohim，andwhisperedthenextwordsinhisear。
　　“Toalonelylittlemountaininn——fourmilesfromthis。“
　　“Aninn!“
　　“Whynot？“
　　“Aninnisapublicplace。“
　　Amovementofnaturalimpatienceescapedher——butshecontrolledherself，andwentonasquietlyasbefore：
　　“TheplaceImeanistheloneliestplaceintheneighborhood。Youhavenopryingeyestodreadthere。Ihavepickeditoutexpresslyforthatreason。It’sawayfromtherailway；it’sawayfromthehigh-road：it’skeptbyadecent，respectableScotchwoman——“
　　“Decent，respectableScotchwomenwhokeepinns，“interposedGeoffrey，“don’tcottontoyoungladieswhoaretravelingalone。
　　Thelandladywon’treceiveyou。“
　　Itwasawell-aimedobjection——butitmissedthemark。Awomanbentonhermarriageisawomanwhocanmeettheobjectionsofthewholeworld，single-handed，andrefutethemall。
　　“Ihaveprovidedforeverything，“shesaid，“andIhaveprovidedforthat。IshalltellthelandladyIamonmywedding-trip。I
　　shallsaymyhusbandissight-seeing，onfoot，amongthemountainsintheneighborhood——“
　　“Sheissuretobelievethat!“saidGeoffrey。
　　“Sheissureto_dis_believeit，ifyoulike。Lether!Youhaveonlytoappear，andtoaskforyourwife——andthereismystoryprovedtobetrue!Shemaybethemostsuspiciouswomanliving，aslongasIamalonewithher。Themomentyoujoinme，yousethersuspicionsatrest。Leavemetodomypart。Mypartisthehardone。Willyoudoyours？“
　　ItwasimpossibletosayNo：shehadfairlycutthegroundfromunderhisfeet。Heshiftedhisground。AnythingratherthansayYes!
　　“Isuppose_you_knowhowwearetobemarried？“heasked。“AllI
　　cansayis——_I_don’t。“
　　“Youdo!“sheretorted。“YouknowthatweareinScotland。Youknowthatthereareneitherforms，ceremonies，nordelaysinmarriage，here。TheplanIhaveproposedtoyousecuresmybeingreceivedattheinn，andmakesiteasyandnaturalforyoutojoinmethereafterward。Therestisinourownhands。AmanandawomanwhowishtobemarriedinScotlandhaveonlytosecurethenecessarywitnessesandthethingisdone。Ifthelandladychoosestoresentthedeceptionpracticedonher，afterthat，thelandladymaydoasshepleases。Weshallhavegainedourobjectinspiteofher——and，whatismore，weshallhavegaineditwithoutriskto_you。_“
　　“Don’tlayitallonmyshoulders，“Geoffreyrejoined。“Youwomengoheadlongateverything。Saywearemarried。Wemustseparateafterward——orhowarewetokeepitasecret？“
　　“Certainly。Youwillgoback，ofcourse，toyourbrother’shouse，asifnothinghadhappened。“
　　“Andwhatistobecomeof_you？_“
　　“IshallgotoLondon。“
　　“WhatareyoutodoinLondon？“
　　“Haven’tIalreadytoldyouthatIhavethoughtofeverything？
　　WhenIgettoLondonIshallapplytosomeofmymother’soldfriends——friendsofhersinthetimewhenshewasamusician。
　　EverybodytellsmeIhaveavoice——ifIhadonlycultivatedit。
　　I_will_cultivateit!Icanlive，andliverespectably，asaconcertsinger。Ihavesavedmoneyenoughtosupportme，whileI
　　amlearning——andmymother’sfriendswillhelpme，forhersake。“
　　So，inthenewlifethatshewasmarkingout，wasshenowunconsciouslyreflectinginherselfthelifeofhermotherbeforeher。Herewasthemother’scareerasapublicsinger，choseninspiteofalleffortstopreventitbythechild!Herethoughwithothermotives，andunderothercircumstanceswasthemother’sirregularmarriageinIreland，onthepointofbeingfollowedbythedaughter’sirregularmarriageinScotland!Andhere，strangerstill，wasthemanwhowasanswerableforit——thesonofthemanwhohadfoundtheflawintheIrishmarriage，andhadshownthewaybywhichhermotherwasthrownontheworld!
　　“MyAnneismysecondself。Sheisnotcalledbyherfather’sname；sheiscalledbymine。SheisAnneSilvesterasIwas。WillsheendlikeMe？“——Theanswertothosewords——thelastwordsthathadtrembledonthedyingmother’slips——wascomingfast。Throughthechancesandchangesofmanyyears，thefuturewaspressingnear——andAnneSilvesterstoodonthebrinkofit。
　　“Well？“sheresumed。“Areyouattheendofyourobjections？Canyougivemeaplainansweratlast？“
　　No!Hehadanotherobjectionreadyasthewordspassedherlips。
　　“Supposethewitnessesattheinnhappentoknowme？“hesaid。
　　“Supposeitcomestomyfather’searsinthatway？“
　　“Supposeyoudrivemetomydeath？“sheretorted，startingtoherfeet。“Yourfathershallknowthetruth，inthatcase——Iswearit!“
　　Herose，onhisside，anddrewbackfromher。Shefollowedhimup。Therewasaclappingofhands，atthesamemoment，onthelawn。Somebodyhadevidentlymadeabrilliantstrokewhichpromisedtodecidethegame。TherewasnosecuritynowthatBlanchemightnotreturnagain。Therewaseveryprospect，thegamebeingover，thatLadyLundiewouldbefree。Annebroughttheinterviewtoitscrisis，withoutwastingamomentmore。
　　“Mr。GeoffreyDelamayn，“shesaid。“Youhavebargainedforaprivatemarriage，andIhaveconsented。Areyou，orareyounot，readytomarrymeonyourownterms？“
　　“Givemeaminutetothink!“
　　“Notaninstant。Onceforall，isitYes，orNo？“
　　Hecouldn’tsay“Yes，“eventhen。Buthesaidwhatwasequivalenttoit。Heasked，savagely，“Whereistheinn？“
　　Sheputherarminhis，andwhispered，rapidly，“Passtheroadontherightthatleadstotherailway。Followthepathoverthemoor，andthesheep-trackupthehill。Thefirsthouseyoucometoafterthatistheinn。Youunderstand!“
　　Henoddedhishead，withasullenfrown，andtookhispipeoutofhispocketagain。
　　“Letitalonethistime，“hesaid，meetinghereye。“Mymind’supset。Whenaman’smind’supset，amancan’tsmoke。What’sthenameoftheplace？“
　　“CraigFernie。“
　　“WhoamItoaskforatthedoor？“
　　“Foryourwife。“
　　“Supposetheywantyoutogiveyournamewhenyougetthere？“
　　“IfImustgiveaname，IshallcallmyselfMrs。，insteadofMiss，Silvester。ButIshalldomybesttoavoidgivinganyname。
　　Andyouwilldoyourbesttoavoidmakingamistake，byonlyaskingformeasyourwife。Isthereanythingelseyouwanttoknow？“
　　“Yes。“
　　“Bequickaboutit!Whatisit？“
　　“HowamItoknowyouhavegotawayfromhere？“
　　“Ifyoudon’thearfrommeinhalfanhourfromthetimewhenI
　　haveleftyou，youmaybesureIhavegotaway。Hush!“
　　Twovoices，inconversation，wereaudibleatthebottomofthesteps——LadyLundie’svoiceandSirPatrick’s。Annepointedtothedoorinthebackwallofthesummer-house。Shehadjustpulledittoagain，afterGeoffreyhadpassedthroughit，whenLadyLundieandSirPatrickappearedatthetopofthesteps。