ArnoldexplainedthatGeoffrey，intheabsenceofanythingelsetowritehisexcusesontoAnne，hadwrittentoheronthefourthorblankpageofaletterwhichhadbeenaddressedtohimbyAnneherself。
　　“Didyoureadthatletter？“askedSirPatrick。
　　“ImighthavereaditifIhadliked。“
　　“Andyoudidn’treadit？“
　　“No。“
　　“Why？“
　　“Outofdelicacy。“
　　EvenSirPatrick’scarefullytrainedtemperwasnotproofagainstthis。“ThatisthemostmisplacedactofdelicacyIeverheardofinmylife!“criedtheoldgentleman，warmly。“Nevermind!it’suselesstoregretitnow。Atanyrate，youreadDelamayn’sanswertoMissSilvester’sletter？“
　　“Yes——Idid。“
　　“Repeatit——asnearlyasyoucanrememberatthisdistanceoftime。“
　　“Itwassoshort，“saidArnold，“thatthereishardlyanythingtorepeat。AswellasIremember，GeoffreysaidhewascalledawaytoLondonbyhisfather’sillness。HetoldMissSilvestertostopwhereshewas；andhereferredhertome，asmessenger。
　　That’sallIrecollectofitnow。“
　　“Cudgelyourbrains，mygoodfellow!thisisveryimportant。DidhemakenoallusiontohisengagementtomarryMissSilvesteratCraigFernie？Didn’thetrytopacifyherbyanapologyofsomesort？“
　　ThequestionrousedArnold’smemorytomakeanothereffort。
　　“Yes，“heanswered。“Geoffreysaidsomethingaboutbeingtruetohisengagement，orkeepinghispromiseorwordstothateffect。“
　　“You’resureofwhatyousaynow？“
　　“Iamcertainofit。“
　　SirPatrickmadeanothernote。
　　“Wasthelettersigned？“heasked，whenhehaddone。
　　“Yes。“
　　“Anddated？“
　　“Yes。“Arnold’smemorymadeasecondeffort，afterhehadgivenhissecondaffirmativeanswer。“Waitalittle，“hesaid。“I
　　remembersomethingelseabouttheletter。Itwasnotonlydated。
　　Thetimeofdayatwhichitwaswrittenwasputaswell。“
　　“Howcamehetodothat？“
　　“Isuggestedit。TheletterwassoshortIfeltashamedtodeliveritasitstood。Itoldhimtoputthetime——soastoshowherthathewasobligedtowriteinahurry。Heputthetimewhenthetrainstarted；andIthinkthetimewhentheletterwaswrittenaswell。“
　　“AndyoudeliveredthatlettertoMissSilvester，withyourownhand，assoonasyousawherattheinn？“
　　“Idid。“
　　SirPatrickmadeathirdnote，andpushedthepaperawayfromhimwithanairofsupremesatisfaction。
　　“Ialwayssuspectedthatlostlettertobeanimportantdocument，“hesaid——“orBishopriggswouldneverhavestolenit。
　　Wemustgetpossessionofit，Arnold，atanysacrifice。ThefirstthingtobedoneexactlyasIanticipated，istowritetotheGlasgowlawyer，andfindMissSilvester。“
　　“Waitalittle!“criedavoiceattheveranda。“Don’tforgetthatIhavecomebackfromBadentohelpyou!“
　　SirPatrickandArnoldbothlookedup。ThistimeBlanchehadheardthelastwordsthathadpassedbetweenthem。ShesatdownatthetablebySirPatrick’sside，andlaidherhandcaressinglyonhisshoulder。
　　“Youarequiteright，uncle，“shesaid。“I_am_sufferingthismorningfromthemaladyofhavingnothingtodo。AreyougoingtowritetoAnne？Don’t。Letmewriteinstead。“
　　SirPatrickdeclinedtoresignthepen。
　　“ThepersonwhoknowsMissSilvester’saddress，“hesaid，“isalawyerinGlasgow。Iamgoingtowritetothelawyer。Whenhesendsuswordwheresheis——then，Blanche，willbethetimetoemployyourgoodofficesinwinningbackyourfriend。“
　　Hedrewthewritingmaterialsoncemorewithinhisreach，and，suspendingtheremainderofArnold’sexaminationforthepresent，beganhislettertoMr。Crum。
　　Blanchepleadedhardforanoccupationofsomesort。“Cannobodygivemesomethingtodo？“sheasked。“Glasgowissuchalongwayoff，andwaitingissuchwearywork。Don’tsittherestaringatme，Arnold!Can’tyousuggestsomething？“
　　Arnold，foronce，displayedanunexpectedreadinessofresource。
　　“Ifyouwanttowrite，“hesaid，“youoweLadyLundiealetter。
　　It’sthreedayssinceyouheardfromher——andyouhaven’tansweredheryet。“
　　SirPatrickpaused，andlookedupquicklyfromhiswriting-desk。
　　“LadyLundie？“hemuttered，inquiringly。
　　“Yes，“saidBlanche。“It’squitetrue；Ioweheraletter。AndofcourseIoughttotellherwehavecomebacktoEngland。Shewillbefinelyprovokedwhenshehearswhy!“
　　TheprospectofprovokingLadyLundieseemedtorouseBlanchesdormantenergies。Shetookasheetofheruncle’snote-paper，andbeganwritingheranswerthenandthere。
　　SirPatrickcompletedhiscommunicationtothelawyer——afteralookatBlanche，whichexpressedanythingratherthanapprovalofherpresentemployment。Havingplacedhiscompletednoteinthepostbag，hesilentlysignedtoArnoldtofollowhimintothegarden。Theywentouttogether，leavingBlancheabsorbedoverherlettertoherstep-mother。
　　“Ismywifedoinganythingwrong？“askedArnold，whohadnoticedthelookwhichSirPatrickhadcastonBlanche。
　　“Yourwifeismakingmischiefasfastasherfingerscanspreadit。“
　　Arnoldstared。“ShemustanswerLadyLundie’sletter，“hesaid。
　　“Unquestionably。“
　　“AndshemusttellLadyLundiewehavecomeback。“
　　“Idon’tdenyit。“
　　“Thenwhatistheobjectiontoherwriting？“
　　SirPatricktookapinchofsnuff——andpointedwithhisivorycanetothebeeshummingbusilyabouttheflower-bedsinthesunshineoftheautumnmorning。
　　“I’llshowyoutheobjection，“hesaid。“SupposeBlanchetoldoneofthoseinveteratelyintrusiveinsectsthatthehoneyintheflowershappens，throughanunexpectedaccident，tohavecometoanend——doyouthinkhewouldtakethestatementforgranted？No。
　　Hewouldplungehead-foremostintothenearestflower，andinvestigateitforhimself。“
　　“Well？“saidArnold。
　　“Well——thereisBlancheinthebreakfast-roomtellingLadyLundiethatthebridaltourhappens，throughanunexpectedaccident，tohavecometoanend。DoyouthinkLadyLundieisthesortofpersontotakethestatementforgranted？Nothingofthesort!
　　LadyLundie，likethebee，willinsistoninvestigatingforherself。Howitwillend，ifshediscoversthetruth——andwhatnewcomplicationsshemaynotintroduceintoamatterwhich，Heavenknows，iscomplicatedenoughalready——Ileaveyoutoimagine。_My_poorpowersofprevisionarenotequaltoit。“
　　BeforeArnoldcouldanswer，Blanchejoinedthemfromthebreakfast-room。
　　“I’vedoneit，“shesaid。“Itwasanawkwardlettertowrite——andit’sacomforttohaveitover。“
　　“Youhavedoneit，mydear，“remarkedSirPatrick，quietly。“Anditmaybeacomfort。Butit’snotover。“
　　“Whatdoyoumean？“
　　“Ithink，Blanche，weshallhearfromyourstep-motherbyreturnofpost。“