首页 >出版文学> Man and Wife>第63章

第63章

  Hestopped,noticingsomethingentirelynewinthelookwithwhichtheyoungladywasregardinghim。
  “Begyourpardon,“saidGeoffrey。“Doyouwishtospeaktome?“
  Blanche’sfaceflushedallover。Herunclecametotherescue。
  “MissLundieandIhopeyouhavesleptwellMr。Delamayn,“saidSirPatrick,jocosely。
  “That’sall。“
  “Oh?That’sall?“saidGeoffreystilllookingatBlanche。“Begyourpardonagain。Deucedlongwalk,anddeucedheavydinner。
  Naturalconsequence——anap。“
  SirPatrickeyedhimclosely。ItwasplainthathehadbeenhonestlypuzzledatfindinghimselfanobjectofspecialattentiononBlanche’spart。“Seeyouinthebilliard-room?“hesaid,carelessly,andfollowedhiscompanionsoutoftheroom——asusual,withoutwaitingforananswer。
  “Mindwhatyouareabout,“saidSirPatricktohisniece。“Thatmanisquickerthanhelooks。Wecommitaseriousmistakeifweputhimonhisguardatstarting。“
  “Itsha’n’thappenagain,uncle,“saidBlanche。“Butthinkof_his_beinginAnne’sconfidence,andof_my_beingshutoutofit!“
  “Inhisfriend’sconfidence,youmean,mydear;andifweonlyavoidawakeninghissuspicionthereisnoknowinghowsoonhemaysayordosomethingwhichmayshowuswhohisfriendis。“
  “Butheisgoingbacktohisbrother’sto-morrow——hesaidsoatdinner-time。“
  “Somuchthebetter。Hewillbeoutofthewayofseeingstrangethingsinacertainyounglady’sface。Hisbrother’shouseiswithineasyreachofthis;andIamhislegaladviser。Myexperiencetellsmethathehasnotdoneconsultingmeyet——andthathewillletoutsomethingmorenexttime。SomuchforourchanceofseeingthelightthroughMr。Delamayn——ifwecan’tseeitinanyotherway。Andthatisnotouronlychance,remember。I
  havesomethingtotellyouaboutBishopriggsandthelostletter。“
  “Isitfound?“
  “No。Isatisfiedmyselfaboutthat——Ihaditsearchedfor,undermyowneye。Theletterisstolen,Blanche;andBishopriggshasgotit。Ihaveleftalineforhim,inMrs。Inchbare’scare。Theoldrascalismissedalreadybythevisitorsattheinn,justasItoldyouhewouldbe。Hismistressisfeelingthepenaltyofhavingbeenfoolenoughtoventherilltemperonherhead-waiter。ShelaysthewholeblameofthequarrelonMissSilvester,ofcourse。BishopriggsneglectedeverybodyattheinntowaitonMissSilvester。Bishopriggswasinsolentonbeingremonstratedwith,andMissSilvesterencouragedhim——andsoon。
  Theresultwillbe——nowMissSilvesterhasgone——thatBishopriggswillreturntoCraigFerniebeforetheautumnisover。Wearesailingwithwindandtide,mydear。Come,andlearntoplaywhist。“
  Herosetojointhecard-players。Blanchedetainedhim。
  “Youhaven’ttoldmeonethingyet,“shesaid。“Whoeverthemanmaybe,isAnnemarriedtohim?“
  “Whoeverthemanmaybe,“returnedSirPatrick,“hehadbetternotattempttomarryanybodyelse。“
  Sothenieceunconsciouslyputthequestion,andsotheuncleunconsciouslygavetheansweronwhichdependedthewholehappinessofBlanche’slifetocome,The“man!“Howlightlytheybothtalkedofthe“man!“Wouldnothinghappentorousethefaintestsuspicion——intheirmindsorinArnold’smind——thatArnoldwasthe“man“himself?
  “Youmeanthatshe_is_married?“saidBlanche。
  “Idon’tgoasfarasthat。“
  “Youmeanthatsheis_not_married?“
  “Idon’tgosofaras_that。_“
  “Oh!thelaw!“
  “Provoking,isn’tit,mydear?Icantellyou,professionally,thatinmyopinionshehasgroundstogoonifsheclaimstobetheman’swife。ThatiswhatImeantbymyanswer;and,untilweknowmore,thatisallIcansay。“
  “Whenshallweknowmore?Whenshallwegetthetelegram?“
  “Notforsomehoursyet。Come,andlearntoplaywhist。“
  “IthinkIwouldrathertalktoArnold,uncle,ifyoudon’tmind。“
  “Byallmeans!Butdon’ttalktohimaboutwhatIhavebeentellingyouto-night。HeandMr。Delamaynareoldassociates,remember;andhemightblunderintotellinghisfriendwhathisfriendhadbetternotknow。Sadisn’tit?formetobeinstillingtheselessonsofduplicityintotheyouthfulmind。A
  wisepersononcesaid,’Theolderamangetstheworsehegets。’
  Thatwiseperson,mydear,hadmeinhiseye,andwasperfectlyright。“
  Hemitigatedthepainofthatconfessionwithapinchofsnuff,andwenttothewhisttabletowaituntiltheendoftherubbergavehimaplaceatthegame。
  BLANCHEfoundherloverasattentiveasusualtoherslightestwish,butnotinhiscustomarygoodspirits。Hepleadedfatigue,afterhislongwatchatthecross-roads,asanexcuseforhisdepression。AslongastherewasanyhopeofareconciliationwithGeoffrey,hewasunwillingtotellBlanchewhathadhappenedthatafternoon。Thehopegrewfainterandfainterastheeveningadvanced。Arnoldpurposelysuggestedavisittothebilliard-room,andjoinedthegame,withBlanche,togiveGeoffreyanopportunityofsayingthefewgraciouswordswhichwouldhavemadethemfriendsagain。Geoffreyneverspokethewords;heobstinatelyignoredArnold’spresenceintheroom。
  Atthecard-tablethewhistwentoninterminably。LadyLundie,SirPatrick,andthesurgeon,wereallinveterateplayers,evenlymatched。SmithandJonesjoiningthegamealternatelywereaidstowhist,exactlyastheywereaidstoconversation。Thesamesafeandmodestmediocrityofstyledistinguishedtheproceedingsofthesetwogentlemeninalltheaffairsoflife。
  Thetimeworeontomidnight。TheywenttobedlateandtheyroselateatWindygatesHouse。Underthathospitableroof,nointrusivehints,intheshapeofflatcandlesticksexhibitingthemselveswithostentatiousvirtueonside-tables,hurriedtheguesttohisroom;novilebellranghimruthlesslyoutofbedthenextmorning,andinsistedonhisbreakfastingatagivenhour。Lifehassurelyhardshipsenoughthatareinevitablewithoutgratuitouslyaddingthehardshipofabsolutegovernment,administeredbyaclock?
  ItwasaquarterpasttwelvewhenLadyLundieroseblandlyfromthewhist-table,andsaidthatshesupposedsomebodymustsettheexampleofgoingtobed。SirPatrickandSmith,thesurgeonandJones,agreedonalastrubber。Blanchevanishedwhileherstepmother’seyewasonher;andappearedagaininthedrawing-room,whenLadyLundiewassafeinthehandsofhermaid。
  NobodyfollowedtheexampleofthemistressofthehousebutArnold。Heleftthebilliard-roomwiththecertaintythatitwasallovernowbetweenGeoffreyandhimself。NoteventheattractionofBlancheprovedstrongenoughtodetainhimthatnight。Hewenthiswaytobed。
  Itwaspastoneo’clock。Thefinalrubberwasatanend,theaccountsweresettledatthecard-table;thesurgeonhadstrolledintothebilliard-room,andSmithandJoneshadfollowedhim,whenDuncancamein,atlast,withthetelegraminhishand。
  Blancheturnedfromthebroad,calmautumnmoonlightwhichhaddrawnhertothewindow,andlookedoverheruncle’sshoulderwhileheopenedthetelegram。
  Shereadthefirstline——andthatwasenough。Thewholescaffoldingofhopebuiltroundthatmorselofpaperfelltothegroundinaninstant。ThetrainfromKirkandrewhadreachedEdinburghattheusualtime。Everypassengerinithadpassedundertheeyesofthepolice,andnothinghadbeenseenofanypersonwhoansweredthedescriptiongivenofAnne!
  SirPatrickpointedtothetwolastsentencesinthetelegram:
  “InquiriestelegraphedtoFalkirk。Ifwithanyresult,youshallknow。“
  “Wemusthopeforthebest,Blanche。Theyevidentlysuspectherofhavinggotoutatthejunctionofthetworailwaysforthepurposeofgivingthetelegraphtheslip。Thereisnohelpforit。Gotobed,child——gotobed。“
  Blanchekissedheruncleinsilenceandwentaway。Thebrightyoungfacewassadwiththefirsthopelesssorrowwhichtheoldmanhadyetseeninit。Hisniece’spartinglookdweltpainfullyonhismindwhenhewasupinhisroom,withthefaithfulDuncangettinghimreadyforhisbed。
  “Thisisabadbusiness,Duncan。Idon’tliketosaysotoMissLundie;butIgreatlyfearthegovernesshasbaffledus。“
  “Itseemslikely,SirPatrick。Thepooryoungladylooksquiteheart-brokenaboutit。“
  “Younoticedthattoo,didyou?Shehaslivedallherlife,yousee,withMissSilvester;andthereisaverystrongattachmentbetweenthem。Iamuneasyaboutmyniece,Duncan。Iamafraidthisdisappointmentwillhaveaseriouseffectonher。“
  “She’syoung,SirPatrick。“
  “Yes,myfriend,she’syoung;buttheyoungwhentheyaregoodforanythinghavewarmhearts。Winterhasn’tstolenon_them,_
  Duncan!Andtheyfeelkeenly。“
  “Ithinkthere’sreasontohope,Sir,thatMissLundiemaygetoveritmoreeasilythanyousuppose。“
  “Whatreason,pray?“
  “Apersoninmypositioncanhardlyventuretospeakfreely,Sir,onadelicatematterofthiskind。“
  SirPatrick’stemperflashedout,half-seriously,half-whimsically,asusual。
  “IsthatasnapatMe,youolddog?IfIamnotyourfriend,aswellasyourmaster,whois?Am_I_inthehabitofkeepinganyofmyharmlessfellow-creaturesatadistance?IdespisethecantofmodernLiberalism;butit’snotthelesstruethatIhave,allmylife,protestedagainsttheinhumanseparationofclassesinEngland。Weare,inthatrespect,bragaswemayofournationalvirtue,themostunchristianpeopleinthecivilizedworld。“
  “Ibegyourpardon,SirPatrick——“
  “Godhelpme!I’mtalkingpolitiesatthistimeofnight!It’syourfault,Duncan。Whatdoyoumeanbycastingmystationinmyteeth,becauseIcan’tputmynight-caponcomfortablytillyouhavebrushedmyhair?Ihaveagoodmindtogetupandbrushyours。There!there!I’muneasyaboutmyniece——nervousirritability,mygoodfellow,that’sall。Let’shearwhatyouhavetosayaboutMissLundie。Andgoonwithmyhair。Anddon’tbeahumbug。“