Geoffrey’sstolidly-staringeyessuddenlybrightened。Alightofthedevil’sownstrikingilluminatedhim。Anideaofthedevil’sownbringingenteredhismind。Helookedstealthilyroundatthemanwhoselifehehadsaved——atthemanwhohaddevotedlyservedhiminreturn。Ahideouscunningleeredathismouthandpeepedoutofhiseyes。“ArnoldBrinkworthpretendedtobemarriedtoherattheinn。BythelordHarry!that’sawayoutofitthatneverstruckmebefore!“Withthatthoughtinhisheartheturnedbackagaintohishalf-finishedlettertoJulius。Foronceinhislifehewasstrongly，fiercelyagitated。Foronceinhislifehewasdaunted——andthatbyhisOwnThought!HehadwrittentoJuliusunderastrongsenseofthenecessityofgainingtimetodeludeAnneintoleavingScotlandbeforeheventuredonpayinghisaddressestoMrs。Glenarm。Hislettercontainedastringofclumsyexcuses，intendedtodelayhisreturntohisbrother’shouse。“No，“hesaidtohimself，ashereaditagain。“Whateverelsemaydo——_this_won’t!“HelookedroundoncemoreatArnold，andslowlytoretheletterintofragmentsashelooked。
　　InthemeantimeBlanchehadnotdoneyet。“No，“shesaid，whenArnoldproposedanadjournmenttothegarden；“Ihavesomethingmoretosay，andyouareinterestedinit，thistime。“Arnoldresignedhimselftolisten，andworsestilltoanswer，iftherewasnohelpforit，inthecharacterofaninnocentstrangerwhohadneverbeenneartheCraigFernieinn。
　　“Well，“Blancheresumed，“andwhatdoyouthinkhascomeofmylettertoAnne？“
　　“I’msureIdon’tknow。“
　　“Nothinghascomeofit!“
　　“Indeed？“
　　“Absolutelynothing!Iknowshereceivedtheletteryesterdaymorning。Ioughttohavehadtheanswerto-dayatbreakfast。“
　　“Perhapsshethoughtitdidn’trequireananswer。“
　　“Shecouldn’thavethoughtthat，forreasonsthatIknowof。
　　Besides，inmyletteryesterdayIimploredhertotellmeifitwasonelineonlywhether，inguessingatwhathertroublewas，SirPatrickandIhadnotguessedright。Andhereisthedaygettingon，andnoanswer!WhatamItoconclude？“
　　“Ireallycan’tsay!“
　　“Isitpossible，Arnold，thatwehave_not_guessedright，afterall？Isthewickednessofthatmanwhoblewthecandlesoutwickednessbeyondourdiscovering？ThedoubtissodreadfulthatIhavemadeupmymindnottobearitafterto-day。Icountonyoursympathyandassistancewhento-morrowcomes!“
　　Arnold’sheartsank。Somenewcomplicationwasevidentlygatheringroundhim。Hewaitedinsilencetoheartheworst。
　　Blanchebentforward，andwhisperedtohim。
　　“Thisisasecret，“shesaid。“Ifthatcreatureatthewriting-tablehasearsforanythingbutrowingandracing，hemustn’thearthis!Annemaycometomeprivatelyto-daywhileyouareallatluncheon。Ifshedoesn’tcomeandifIdon’thearfromher，thenthemysteryofhersilencemustbeclearedup；andYoumustdoit!“
　　“I!“
　　“Don’tmakedifficulties!Ifyoucan’tfindyourwaytoCraigFernie，Icanhelpyou。AsforAnne，youknowwhatacharmingpersonsheis，andyouknowshewillreceiveyouperfectly，formysake。Imustandwillhavesomenewsofher。Ican’tbreakthelawsofthehouseholdasecondtime。SirPatricksympathizes，buthewon’tstir。LadyLundieisabitterenemy。TheservantsarethreatenedwiththelossoftheirplacesifanyoneofthemgoesnearAnne。Thereisnobodybutyou。AndtoAnneyougoto-morrow，ifIdon’tseeherorhearfromherto-day!“
　　ThistothemanwhohadpassedasAnne’shusbandattheinn，andwhohadbeenforcedintothemostintimateknowledgeofAnne’smiserablesecret!ArnoldrosetoputMiltonaway，withthecomposureofsheerdespair。Anyothersecrethemight，inthelastresort，haveconfidedtothediscretionofathirdperson。
　　Butawoman’ssecret——withawoman’sreputationdependingonhiskeepingit——wasnottobeconfidedtoanybody，underanystressofcircumstanceswhatever。“IfGeoffreydoesn’tgetmeoutof_this，_，“hethought，“IshallhavenochoicebuttoleaveWindygatesto-morrow。“
　　Ashereplacedthebookontheshelf，LadyLundieenteredthelibraryfromthegarden。
　　“Whatareyoudoinghere？“shesaidtoherstep-daughter。
　　“Improvingmymind，“repliedBlanche。“Mr。BrinkworthandIhavebeenreadingMilton。“
　　“Canyoucondescendsofar，afterreadingMiltonallthemorning，astohelpmewiththeinvitationsforthedinnernextweek？“
　　“If_you_cancondescend，LadyLundie，afterfeedingthepoultryallthemorning，ImustbehumilityitselfafteronlyreadingMilton!“
　　Withthatlittleinterchangeoftheacidamenitiesoffeminineintercourse，step-motherandstep-daughterwithdrewtoawriting-table，toputthevirtueofhospitalityinpracticetogether。
　　Arnoldjoinedhisfriendattheotherendofthelibrary。
　　Geoffreywassittingwithhiselbowsonthedesk，andhisclenchedfistsdugintohischeeks。Greatdropsofperspirationstoodonhisforehead，andthefragmentsofatornletterlayscatteredallroundhim。Heexhibitedsymptomsofnervoussensibilityforthefirsttimeinhislife——hestartedwhenArnoldspoketohim。
　　“What’sthematter，Geoffrey？“
　　“Alettertoanswer。AndIdon’tknowhow。“
　　“FromMissSilvester？“askedArnold，droppinghisvoicesoastopreventtheladiesattheotherendoftheroomfromhearinghim。
　　“No，“answeredGeoffrey，inalowervoicestill。
　　“HaveyouheardwhatBlanchehasbeensayingtomeaboutMissSilvester？“
　　“Someofit。“
　　“DidyouhearBlanchesaythatshemeanttosendmetoCraigFernieto-morrow，ifshefailedtogetnewsfromMissSilvesterto-day？“
　　“No。“
　　“Thenyouknowitnow。ThatiswhatBlanchehasjustsaidtome。“
　　“Well？“
　　“Well——there’salimittowhatamancanexpectevenfromhisbestfriend。Ihopeyouwon’taskmetobeBlanche’smessengerto-morrow。Ican’t，andwon’t，gobacktotheinnasthingsarenow。“
　　“Youhavehadenoughofit——eh？“
　　“IhavehadenoughofdistressingMissSilvester，andmorethanenoughofdeceivingBlanche。“
　　“Whatdoyoumeanby’distressingMissSilvester？’“
　　“Shedoesn’ttakethesameeasyviewthatyouandIdo，Geoffrey，ofmypassingheroffonthepeopleoftheinnasmywife。“
　　Geoffreyabsentlytookupapaper-knife。Stillwithhisheaddown，hebeganshavingoffthetopmostlayerofpaperfromtheblotting-padunderhishand。Stillwithhisheaddown，heabruptlybrokethesilenceinawhisper。
　　“Isay!“
　　“Yes？“
　　“Howdidyoumanagetopassheroffasyourwife？“
　　“Itoldyouhow，asweweredrivingfromthestationhere。“
　　“Iwasthinkingofsomethingelse。Tellmeagain。“
　　Arnoldtoldhimoncemorewhathadhappenedattheinn。Geoffreylistened，withoutmakinganyremark。Hebalancedthepaper-knifevacantlyononeofhisfingers。Hewasstrangelysluggishandstrangelysilent。
　　“All_that_isdoneandended，“saidArnoldshakinghimbytheshoulder。“ItrestswithyounowtogetmeoutofthedifficultyI’mplacedinwithBlanche。ThingsmustbesettledwithMissSilvesterto-day。“
　　“Things_shall_besettled。“
　　“Shallbe？Whatareyouwaitingfor？“
　　“I’mwaitingtodowhatyoutoldme。“
　　“WhatItoldyou？“
　　“Didn’tyoutellmetoconsultSirPatrickbeforeImarriedher？“
　　“Tobesure!soIdid。“
　　“Well——IamwaitingforachancewithSirPatrick。“
　　“Andthen？“
　　“Andthen——“HelookedatArnoldforthefirsttime。“Then，“hesaid，“youmayconsideritsettled。“
　　“Themarriage？“
　　Hesuddenlylookeddownagainattheblotting-pad。“Yes——themarriage。“
　　Arnoldofferedhishandincongratulation。Geoffreynevernoticedit。Hiseyeswereofftheblotting-padagain。Hewaslookingoutofthewindownearhim。
　　“Don’tIhearvoicesoutside？“heasked。