“Blancheisgettingreadytogooutwithme。Wemeantohaveawalktogether。Ihavemanythingstosaytoher。Beforewego，I
　　havesomethingtosayto_you。_“
　　“Isitanythingveryserious？“
　　“Itismostserious。“
　　“Aboutme？“
　　“Aboutyou。Iknowwhereyouwentontheeveningofmylawn-partyatWindygates——youwenttoCraigFernie。“
　　“GoodHeavens!howdidyoufindout——？“
　　“Iknowwhomyouwenttomeet——MissSilvester。Iknowwhatissaidofyouandofher——youaremanandwife。“
　　“Hush!don’tspeaksoloud。Somebodymayhearyou!“
　　“Whatdoesitmatteriftheydo？Iamtheonlypersonwhomyouhavekeptoutofthesecret。Youallofyouknowithere。“
　　“Nothingofthesort!Blanchedoesn’tknowit。“
　　“What!NeitheryounorSirPatrickhastoldBlancheofthesituationyoustandinatthismoment？“
　　“Notyet。SirPatrickleavesittome。Ihaven’tbeenabletobringmyselftodoit。Don’tsayaword，Ientreatyou。Idon’tknowhowBlanchemayinterpretit。HerfriendisexpectedinLondonto-morrow。IwanttowaittillSirPatrickcanbringthemtogether。HerfriendwillbreakittoherbetterthanIcan。It’s_my_notion。SirPatrickthinksitagoodone。Stop!you’renotgoingawayalready？“
　　“ShewillbeheretolookformeifIstayanylonger。“
　　“Oneword!Iwanttoknow——“
　　“Youshallknowlaterintheday。“
　　Herladyshipappearedagainroundtheangleofthewall。Thenextwordsthatpassedwerewordsspokeninawhisper。
　　“Areyousatisfiednow，Blanche？“
　　“Haveyoumercyenoughleft，LadyLundie，totakemeawayfromthishouse？“
　　“Mydearchild!WhyelsedidIlookatthetime-tableinthehall？“
　　CHAPTERTHEFORTY-THIRD。
　　THEEXPLOSION。
　　ARNOLD’Smindwasfarfromeasywhenhewasleftbyhimselfagaininthesmoking-room。
　　AfterwastingsometimeinvainlytryingtoguessatthesourcefromwhichLadyLundiehadderivedherinformation，heputonhishat，andtookthedirectionwhichledtoBlanche’sfavoritewalkatHamFarm。Withoutabsolutelydistrustingherladyship’sdiscretion，theideahadoccurredtohimthathewoulddowelltojoinhiswifeandherstep-mother。Bymakingathirdattheinterviewbetweenthem，hemightpreventtheconversationfromassumingaperilouslyconfidentialturn。
　　Thesearchfortheladiesproveduseless。Theyhadnottakenthedirectioninwhichhesupposedthemtohavegone。
　　Hereturnedtothesmoking-room，andcomposedhimselftowaitforeventsaspatientlyashemight。Inthispassiveposition——withhisthoughtsstillrunningonLadyLundie——hismemoryrevertedtoabriefconversationbetweenSirPatrickandhimself，occasioned，onthepreviousday，byherladyship’sannouncementofherproposedvisittoHamFarm。SirPatrickhadatonceexpressedhisconvictionthathissister-in-law’sjourneysouthhadsomeacknowledgedpurposeatthebottomofit。
　　“Iamnotatallsure，Arnold“hehadsaid，“thatIhavedonewiselyinleavingherletterunanswered。AndIamstronglydisposedtothinkthatthesafestcoursewillbetotakeherintothesecretwhenshecomesto-morrow。Wecan’thelpthepositioninwhichweareplaced。ItwasimpossiblewithoutadmittingyourwifetoourconfidencetopreventBlanchefromwritingthatunluckylettertoher——and，evenifwehadpreventedit，shemusthaveheardinotherwaysofyourreturntoEngland。Idon’tdoubtmyowndiscretion，sofar；andIdon’tdoubttheconvenienceofkeepingherinthedark，asameansofkeepingherfrommeddlinginthisbusinessofyours，untilIhavehadtimetosetitright。
　　Butshemay，bysomeunluckyaccident，discoverthetruthforherself——and，inthatcase，IstronglydistrusttheinfluencewhichshemightattempttoexerciseonBlanche’smind。“
　　Thosewerethewords——andwhathadhappenedonthedayaftertheyhadbeenspoken？LadyLundie_had_discoveredthetruth；andshewas，atthatmoment，alonesomewherewithBlanche。Arnoldtookuphishatoncemore，andsetforthonthesearchfortheladiesinanotherdirection。
　　Thesecondexpeditionwasasfruitlessasthefirst。Nothingwastobeseen，andnothingwastobeheard，ofLadyLundieandBlanche。
　　Arnold’swatchtoldhimthatitwasnotfarfromthetimewhenSirPatrickmightbeexpectedtoreturn。Inallprobability，whilehehadbeenlookingforthem，theladieshadgonebackbysomeotherwaytothehouse。Heenteredtheroomsontheground-floor，oneafteranother。Theywereallempty。Hewentupstairs，andknockedatthedoorofBlanche’sroom。Therewasnoanswer。Heopenedthedoorandlookedin。Theroomwasempty，liketheroomsdownstairs。But，closetotheentrance，therewasatriflingcircumstancetoattractnotice，intheshapeofanotelyingonthecarpet。Hepickeditup，andsawthatitwasaddressedtohiminthehandwritingofhiswife。
　　Heopenedit。Thenotebegan，withouttheusualformofaddress，inthesewords：
　　“Iknowtheabominablesecretthatyouandmyunclehavehiddenfromme。Iknow_your_infamy，and_her_infamy，andthepositioninwhich，thankstoyouandtoher，Inowstand。Reproacheswouldbewastedwords，addressedtosuchamanasyouare。IwritetheselinestotellyouthatIhaveplacedmyselfundermystep-mother’sprotectioninLondon。Itisuselesstoattempttofollowme。Otherswillfindoutwhethertheceremonyofmarriagewhichyouwentthroughwithmeisbindingonyouornot。Formyself，Iknowenoughalready。Ihavegone，nevertocomeback，andnevertoletyouseemeagain——Blanche。“
　　Hurryingheadlongdownthestairswithbutoneclearideainhismind——theideaofinstantlyfollowinghiswife——ArnoldencounteredSirPatrick，standingbyatableinthehall，onwhichcardsandnotesleftbyvisitorswereusuallyplaced，withanopenletterinhishand。Seeinginaninstantwhathadhappened，hethrewoneofhisarmsroundArnold，andstoppedhimatthehouse-door。
　　“Youareaman，“hesaid，firmly。“Bearitlikeaman。“
　　Arnold’sheadfellontheshoulderofhiskindoldfriend。Heburstintotears。
　　SirPatricklettheirrepressibleoutbreakofgriefhaveitsway。
　　Inthosefirstmoments，silencewasmercy。Hesaidnothing。TheletterwhichhehadbeenreadingfromLadyLundie，itisneedlesstosay，droppedunheededathisfeet。
　　Arnoldliftedhishead，anddashedawaythetears。
　　“Iamashamedofmyself，“hesaid。“Letmego。“
　　“Wrong，mypoorfellow——doublywrong!“returnedSirPatrick。
　　“Thereisnoshameinsheddingsuchtearsasthose。Andthereisnothingtobedonebyleaving_me。_“
　　“Imustandwillseeher!“
　　“Readthat，“saidSirPatrick，pointingtotheletteronthefloor。“Seeyourwife？Yourwifeiswiththewomanwhohaswrittenthoselines。Readthem。“
　　Arnoldreadthem。
　　“DEARSIRPATRICK，——Ifyouhadhonoredmewithyourconfidence，I
　　shouldhavebeenhappytoconsultyoubeforeIinterferedtorescueBlanchefromthepositioninwhichMr。Brinkworthhasplacedher。Asitis，yourlatebrother’schildisundermyprotectionatmyhouseinLondon。If_you_attempttoexerciseyourauthority，itmustbebymainforce——Iwillsubmittonothingless。IfMr。Brinkworthattemptstoexercise_his_
　　authority，heshallestablishhisrighttodosoifhecaninapolice-court。
　　“Verytrulyyours，JULIALUNDIE。
　　Arnold’sresolutionwasnottobeshakenevenbythis。“WhatdoI
　　care，“heburstout，hotly，“whetherIamdraggedthroughthestreetsbythepoliceornot!I_will_seemywife。I_will_
　　clearmyselfofthehorriblesuspicionshehasaboutme。Youhaveshownmeyourletter。Lookatmine!“
　　SirPatrick’sclearsensesawthewildwordsthatBlanchehadwrittenintheirtruelight。
　　“Doyouholdyourwiferesponsibleforthatletter？“beasked。“I
　　seeherstep-motherineverylineofit。Youdescendtosomethingunworthyofyou，ifyouseriouslydefendyourselfagainst_this!_
　　Youcan’tseeit？Youpersistinholdingtoyourownview？Write，then。Youcan’tgettoher——yourlettermay。No!Whenyouleavethishouse，youleaveitwithme。Ihaveconcededsomethingonmyside，inallowingyoutowrite。Iinsistonyourconcedingsomething，onyourside，inreturn。Comeintothelibrary!I
　　answerforsettingthingsrightbetweenyouandBlanche，ifyouwillplaceyourinterestsinmyhands。Doyoutrustmeornot？“
　　Arnoldyielded。Theywentintothelibrarytogether。SirPatrickpointedtothewriting-table。“Relieveyourmindthere，“hesaid。
　　“AndletmefindyouareasonablemanagainwhenIcomeback。“
　　Whenhereturnedtothelibrarytheletterwaswritten；andArnold’smindwassofarrelieved——forthetimeatleast。
　　“IshalltakeyourlettertoBlanchemyself，“saidSirPatrick，“bythetrainthatleavesforLondoninhalfanhour’stime。“