“Bideawee!There’saneo’themhasdrawnbridleatthehottle，andhe’sspeerin’aftertheleddythatcam’herealane。Theleddy’syourleddy，assureassaxpence。Idoot，“saidMr。
　　Bishopriggs，walkingawaytothewindow，“_that’s_whatye’vegottodowithit。“
　　ArnoldlookedatAnne。
　　“Doyouexpectanybody？“
　　“IsitGeoffrey？“
　　“Impossible。GeoffreyisonhiswaytoLondon。“
　　“Thereheis，anyway，“resumedMr。Bishopriggs，atthewindow。
　　“He’sloupin’downfromhishorse。He’sturningthisway。Lordsaveus!“heexclaimed，withastartofconsternation，“whatdoI
　　see？Thatincarnatedeevil，SirPaitrickhimself!“
　　Arnoldsprangtohisfeet。
　　“DoyoumeanSirPatrickLundie？“
　　Annerantothewindow。
　　“It_is_SirPatrick!“shesaid。“Hideyourselfbeforehecomesin!“
　　“Hidemyself？“
　　“Whatwillhethinkifheseesyouwith_me？“_
　　HewasBlanche’sguardian，andhebelievedArnoldtobeatthatmomentvisitinghisnewproperty。Whathewouldthinkwasnotdifficulttoforesee。ArnoldturnedforhelptoMr。Bishopriggs。
　　“WherecanIgo？“
　　Mr。Bishopriggspointedtothebedroomdoor。
　　“Whar’canyego？There’sthenuptialchamber!“
　　“Impossible!“
　　Mr。Bishopriggsexpressedtheutmostextremityofhumanamazementbyalongwhistle，ononenote。
　　“Whew!Isthatthewayyetalko’thenuptialchamberalready？“
　　“Findmesomeotherplace——I’llmakeitworthyourwhile。“
　　“Eh!there’smypaintry!Itrowthat’ssomeotherplace；andthedoor’sattheendo’thepassage。“
　　Arnoldhurriedout。Mr。Bishopriggs——evidentlyundertheimpressionthatthecasebeforehimwasacaseofelopement，withSirPatrickmixedupinitinthecapacityofguardian——addressedhimself，infriendlyconfidence，toAnne。
　　“Mycertie，mistress!it’sillwarkdeceivin’SirPaitrick，ifthat’swhatye’vedune。Yemustknow，IwasanceabitclerkbodyinhischambersatEmbro——“
　　ThevoiceofMistressInchbare，callingforthehead-waiter，roseshrillandimperativefromtheregionsofthebar。Mr。
　　Bishopriggsdisappeared。Anneremained，standinghelplessbythewindow。ItwasplainbythistimethattheplaceofherretreathadbeendiscoveredatWindygates。Theonedoubttodecide，now，waswhetheritwouldbewiseornottoreceiveSirPatrick，forthepurposeofdiscoveringwhetherhecameasfriendorenemytotheinn。
　　CHAPTERTHEELEVENTH。
　　SIRPATRICK。
　　THEdoubtwaspracticallydecidedbeforeAnnehaddeterminedwhattodo。Shewasstillatthewindowwhenthesitting-roomdoorwasthrownopen，andSirPatrickappeared，obsequiouslyshowninbyMr。Bishopriggs。
　　“Ye’rekindlywelcome，SirPaitrick。Hech，Sirs!thesightofyouisgudeforsaireyne。“
　　SirPatrickturnedandlookedatMr。Bishopriggs——ashemighthavelookedatsometroublesomeinsectwhichhehaddrivenoutofthewindow，andwhichhadreturnedonhimagain。
　　“What，youscoundrel!haveyoudriftedintoanhonestemploymentatlast？“
　　Mr。Bishopriggsrubbedhishandscheerfully，andtookhistonefromhissuperior，withsupplereadiness“Ye’realwaysintherightofit，SirPaitrick!Wut，raalwutinthatabootthehonestemployment，andmedriftingintoit。Lord’ssake，Sir，hoowellyewear!“
　　DismissingMr。Bishopriggsbyasign，SirPatrickadvancedtoAnne。
　　“Iamcommittinganintrusion，madamwhichmust，Iamafraid，appearunpardonableinyoureyes，“hesaid。“MayIhopeyouwillexcusemewhenIhavemadeyouacquaintedwithmymotive？“
　　Hespokewithscrupulouspoliteness。HisknowledgeofAnnewasoftheslightestpossiblekind。Likeothermen，hehadfelttheattractionofherunaffectedgraceandgentlenessonthefewoccasionswhenhehadbeeninhercompany——andthatwasall。Ifhehadbelongedtothepresentgenerationhewould，underthecircumstances，havefallenintooneofthebesettingsinsofEnglandinthesedays——thetendencytoborrowanillustrationfromthestageto“strikeanattitude“inthepresenceofasocialemergency。Amanofthepresentperiod，inSirPatrick’sposition，wouldhavestruckanattitudeofwhatiscalled
　　chivalrousrespect；andwouldhaveaddressedAnneinatoneofready-madesympathy，whichitwassimplyimpossibleforastrangerreallytofeel。SirPatrickaffectednothingofthesort。Oneofthebesettingsinsof_his_timewasthehabitualconcealmentofourbetterselves——uponthewhole，afarlessdangerousnationalerrorthanthehabitualadvertisementofourbetterselves，whichhasbecomethepractice，publicandprivately，ofsocietyinthisage。SirPatrickassumed，ifanything，lesssympathyonthisoccasionthanhereallyfelt。
　　Courteoustoallwomen，hewasascourteousasusualtoAnne——andnomore。
　　“Iamquiteataloss，Sir，toknowwhatbringsyoutothisplace。Theservanthereinformsmethatyouareoneofapartyofgentlemenwhohavejustpassedbytheinn，andwhohaveallgoneonexceptyourself。“InthoseguardedtermsAnneopenedtheinterviewwiththeunwelcomevisitor，onherside。
　　SirPatrickadmittedthefact，withoutbetrayingtheslightestembarrassment。
　　“Theservantisquiteright，“hesaid。“Iamoneoftheparty。
　　AndIhavepurposelyallowedthemtogoontothekeeper’scottagewithoutme。Havingadmittedthis，mayIcountonreceivingyourpermissiontoexplainthemotiveofmyvisit？“
　　Necessarilysuspiciousofhim，ascomingfromWindygates，Anneansweredinfewandformalwords，ascoldlyasbefore。
　　“Explainit，SirPatrick，ifyouplease，asbrieflyaspossible。“
　　SirPatrickbowed。Hewasnotintheleastoffended；hewaseveniftheconfessionmaybemadewithoutdegradinghiminthepublicestimationprivatelyamused。ConsciousofhavinghonestlypresentedhimselfattheinninAnne’sinterests，aswellasintheinterestsoftheladiesatWindygates，itappealedtohissenseofhumortofindhimselfkeptatarm’s-lengthbytheverywomanwhomhehadcometobenefit。Thetemptationwasstrongonhimtotreathiserrandfromhisownwhimsicalpointofview。Hegravelytookouthiswatch，andnotedthetimetoasecond，beforehespokeagain。
　　“Ihaveaneventtorelateinwhichyouareinterested，“hesaid。
　　“AndIhavetwomessagestodeliver，whichIhopeyouwillnotobjecttoreceive。TheeventIundertaketodescribeinoneminute。ThemessagesIpromisetodisposeofintwominutesmore。
　　Totaldurationofthisintrusiononyourtime——threeminutes。“
　　HeplacedachairforAnne，andwaiteduntilshehadpermittedhim，byasign，totakeasecondchairforhimself。
　　“Wewillbeginwiththeevent，“heresumed。“YourarrivalatthisplaceisnosecretatWindygates。Youwereseenonthefoot-roadtoCraigFerniebyoneofthefemaleservants。Andtheinferencenaturallydrawnis，thatyouwereonyourwaytotheinn。Itmaybeimportantforyoutoknowthis；andIhavetakenthelibertyofmentioningitaccordingly。“Heconsultedhiswatch。“Eventrelated。Time，oneminute。“
　　Hehadexcitedhercuriosity，tobeginwith。“Whichofthewomensawme？“sheasked，impulsively。
　　SirPatrickwatchinhanddeclinedtoprolongtheinterviewbyansweringanyincidentalinquirieswhichmightariseinthecourseofit。
　　“Pardonme，“herejoined；“Iampledgedtooccupythreeminutesonly。Ihavenoroomforthewoman。Withyourkindpermission，I
　　willgetontothemessagesnext。“
　　Anneremainedsilent。SirPatrickwenton。
　　“Firstmessage：’LadyLundie’scomplimentstoherstep-daughter’slategoverness——withwhosemarriednamesheisnotacquainted。
　　LadyLundieregretstosaythatSirPatrick，asheadofthefamily，hasthreatenedtoreturntoEdinburgh，unlesssheconsentstobeguidedbyhisadviceinthecourseshepursueswiththelategoverness。LadyLundie，accordingly，foregoesherintentionofcallingattheCraigFernieinn，toexpresshersentimentsandmakeherinquiriesinperson，andcommitstoSirPatrickthedutyofexpressinghersentiments；reservingtoherselftherightofmakingherinquiriesatthenextconvenientopportunity。Throughthemediumofherbrother-in-law，shebegstoinformthelategovernessthatallintercourseisatanendbetweenthem，andthatshedeclinestoactasreferenceincaseoffutureemergency。’——Messagetextuallycorrect。ExpressiveofLadyLundie’sviewofyoursuddendeparturefromthehouse。Time，twominutes。“