“Allright，oldfellow。Icantellyouhowtofindtheplaceaswegoalonginthegig。By-the-by，there’sonethingthat’sratherimportant。I’dbettermentionitwhileIthinkofit。“
　　“Whatisthat？“
　　“Youmustn’tpresentyourselfattheinninyourownname；andyoumustn’taskforherby_her_name。“
　　“WhoamItoaskfor？“
　　“It’salittleawkward。Shehasgonethereasamarriedwoman，incasethey’reparticularabouttakingherin——“
　　“Iunderstand。Goon。“
　　“Andshehasplannedtotellthembywayofmakingitallrightandstraightforbothofus，youknowthatsheexpectsherhusbandtojoinher。IfIhadbeenabletogoIshouldhaveaskedatthedoorfor’mywife。’Youaregoinginmyplace——“
　　“AndImustaskatthedoorfor’mywife，’orIshallexposeMissSilvestertounpleasantconsequences？“
　　“Youdon’tobject？“
　　“NotI!Idon’tcarewhatIsaytothepeopleoftheinn。It’sthemeetingwithMissSilvesterthatI’mafraidof。“
　　“I’llputthatrightforyou——neverfear!“
　　Hewentatoncetothetableandrapidlyscribbledafewlines——thenstoppedandconsidered。“Willthatdo？“heaskedhimself。“No；I’dbettersaysomethingspooneytoquiether。“Heconsideredagain，addedaline，andbroughthishanddownonthetablewithacheerysmack。“Thatwilldothebusiness!Readityourself，Arnold——it’snotsobadlywritten。“
　　Arnoldreadthenotewithoutappearingtosharehisfriend’sfavorableopinionofit。
　　“Thisisrathershort，“hesaid。
　　“HaveItimetomakeitlonger？“
　　“Perhapsnot。ButletMissSilvesterseeforherselfthatyouhavenotimetomakeitlonger。Thetrainstartsinlessthanhalfanhour。Putthetime。“
　　“Oh，allright!andthedatetoo，ifyoulike。“
　　Hehadjustaddedthedesiredwordsandfigures，andhadgiventherevisedlettertoArnold，whenSirPatrickreturnedtoannouncethatthegigwaswaiting。
　　“Come!“hesaid。“Youhaven’tamomenttolose!“
　　Geoffreystartedtohisfeet。Arnoldhesitated。
　　“ImustseeBlanche!“hepleaded。“Ican’tleaveBlanchewithoutsayinggood-by。Whereisshe？“
　　SirPatrickpointedtothesteps，withasmile。Blanchehadfollowedhimfromthehouse。Arnoldranouttoherinstantly。
　　“Going？“shesaid，alittlesadly。
　　“Ishallbebackintwodays，“Arnoldwhispered。“It’sallright!
　　SirPatrickconsents。“
　　Sheheldhimfastbythearm。ThehurriedpartingbeforeotherpeopleseemedtobenotapartingtoBlanche’staste。
　　“Youwilllosethetrain!“criedSirPatrick。
　　GeoffreyseizedArnoldbythearmwhichBlanchewasholding，andtorehim——literallytorehim——away。Thetwowereoutofsight，intheshrubbery，beforeBlanche’sindignationfoundwords，andaddresseditselftoheruncle。
　　“WhyisthatbrutegoingawaywithMr。Brinkworth？“sheasked。
　　“Mr。DelamayniscalledtoLondonbyhisfather’sillness，“
　　repliedSirPatrick。“Youdon’tlikehim？“
　　“Ihatehim!“
　　SirPatrickreflectedalittle。
　　“Sheisayounggirlofeighteen，“hethoughttohimself。“AndI
　　amanoldmanofseventy。Curious，thatweshouldagreeaboutanything。MorethancuriousthatweshouldagreeindislikingMr。
　　Delamayn。“
　　Herousedhimself，andlookedagainatBlanche。Shewasseatedatthetable，withherheadonherhand；absent，andoutofspirits——thinkingofArnold，andset，withthefutureallsmoothbeforethem，notthinkinghappily。
　　“Why，Blanche!Blanche!“criedSirPatrick，“onewouldthinkhehadgoneforavoyageroundtheworld。Yousillychild!hewillbebackagainthedayafterto-morrow。“
　　“Iwishhehadn’tgonewiththatman!“saidBlanche。“Iwishhehadn’tgotthatmanforafriend!“
　　“There!there!themanwasrudeenoughIown。Nevermind!hewillleavethemanatthesecondstation。Comebacktotheball-roomwithme。Danceitoff，mydear——danceitoff!“
　　“No，“returnedBlanche。“I’minnohumorfordancing。Ishallgoupstairs，andtalkaboutittoAnne。“
　　“Youwilldonothingofthesort!“saidathirdvoice，suddenlyjoiningintheconversation。
　　Bothuncleandniecelookedup，andfoundLadyLundieatthetopofthesummer-housesteps。
　　“Iforbidyoutomentionthatwoman’snameagaininmyhearing，“
　　pursuedherladyship。“SirPatrick!Iwarnedyouifyouremember？thatthematterofthegovernesswasnotamattertobetrifledwith。Myworstanticipationsarerealized。MissSilvesterhasleftthehouse!“
　　ITwasstillearlyintheafternoonwhentheguestsatLadyLundie’slawn-partybegantocomparenotestogetherincorners，andtoagreeinarrivingatageneralconvictionthat“somethingwaswrong。“
　　Blanchehadmysteriouslydisappearedfromherpartnersinthedance。LadyLundiehadmysteriouslyabandonedherguests。Blanchehadnotcomeback。LadyLundiehadreturnedwithanartificialsmile，andapreoccupiedmanner。Sheacknowledgedthatshewas“notverywell。“ThesameexcusehadbeengiventoaccountforBlanche’sabsence——and，againsometimepreviously，toexplainMissSilvester’swithdrawalfromthecroquet!Awitamongthegentlemendeclareditremindedhimofdecliningaverb。“Iamnotverywell；thouartnotverywell；sheisnotverywell“——andsoon。SirPatricktoo!OnlythinkofthesociableSirPatrickbeinginastateofseclusion——pacingupanddownbyhimselfintheloneliestpartofthegarden。Andtheservantsagain!ithadevenspreadtotheservants!_They_werepresumingtowhisperincorners，liketheirbetters。Thehouse-maidsappeared，spasmodically，wherehousemaidshadnobusinesstobe。Doorsbangedandpetticoatswhiskedintheupperregions。Somethingwrong——dependuponit，somethingwrong!“Wehadmuchbettergoaway。Mydear，orderthecarriage“——“Louisa，love，nomoredancing；yourpapaisgoing。“——“_Good_-afternoon，LadyLundie!“——“Haw!thanksverymuch!“——“_So_sorryfordearBlanche!“——“Oh，it’sbeen_too_charming!“SoSocietyjabbereditspoor，nonsensicallittlejargon，andgotitselfpolitelyoutofthewaybeforethestormcame。
　　ThiswasexactlytheconsummationofeventsforwhichSirPatrickhadbeenwaitingintheseclusionofthegarden。
　　Therewasnoevadingtheresponsibilitywhichwasnowthrustuponhim。LadyLundiehadannounceditasasettledresolution，onherpart，totraceAnnetotheplaceinwhichshehadtakenrefuge，anddiscoverpurelyintheinterestsofvirtuewhethersheactuallywasmarriedornot。Blanchealreadyoverwroughtbytheexcitementofthedayhadbrokenintoanhystericalpassionoftearsonhearingthenews，andhadthen，onrecovering，takenaviewofherownofAnne’sflightfromthehouse。AnnewouldneverhavekepthermarriageasecretfromBlanche；AnnewouldneverhavewrittensuchaformalfarewellletterasshehadwrittentoBlanche——ifthingsweregoingassmoothlywithherasshewastryingtomakethembelieveatWindygates。SomedreadfultroublehadfallenonAnneandBlanchewasdeterminedasLadyLundiewasdeterminedtofindoutwhereshehadgone，andtofollow，andhelpher。
　　ItwasplaintoSirPatricktowhombothladieshadopenedtheirhearts，atseparateinterviewsthathissister-in-law，inoneway，andhisnieceinanother，wereequallylikely——ifnotdulyrestrained——toplungeheadlongintoactsofindiscretionwhichmightleadtoveryundesirableresults。AmaninauthoritywassorelyneededatWindygatesthatafternoon——andSirPatrickwasfaintoacknowledgethathewastheman。
　　“Muchistobesaidfor，andmuchistobesaidagainstasinglelife，“thoughttheoldgentleman，walkingupanddownthesequesteredgarden-pathtowhichhehadretired，andapplyinghimselfatshorterintervalsthanusualtotheknobofhisivorycane。“This，however，is，Itakeit，certain。Aman’smarriedfriendscan’tpreventhimfromleadingthelifeofabachelor，ifhepleases。Buttheycan，anddo，takedevilishgoodcarethathesha’n’tenjoyit!“