第17章

SHEtookhishand，andbeganwithalltheartofpersuasionthatshepossessed。

“Onequestion，Geoffrey，beforeIsaywhatIwanttosay。LadyLundiehasinvitedyoutostayatWindygates。Doyouacceptherinvitation？ordoyougobacktoyourbrother’sintheevening？“

“Ican’tgobackintheevening——they’veputavisitorintomyroom。I’mobligedtostayhere。Mybrotherhasdoneitonpurpose。JuliushelpsmewhenI’mhardup——andbulliesmeafterward。Hehassentmehere，ondutyforthefamily。SomebodymustbeciviltoLadyLundie——andI’mthesacrifice。“

Shetookhimupathislastword。“Don’tmakethesacrifice，“shesaid。“ApologizetoLadyLundie，andsayyouareobligedtogoback。“

“Why？“

“Becausewemustbothleavethisplaceto-day。“

Therewasadoubleobjectiontothat。IfheleftLadyLundie’s，hewouldfailtoestablishafuturepecuniaryclaimonhisbrother’sindulgence。AndifheleftwithAnne，theeyesoftheworldwouldseethem，andthewhispersoftheworldmightcometohisfather’sears。

“Ifwegoawaytogether，“hesaid，“good-bytomyprospects，andyourstoo。“

“Idon’tmeanthatweshallleavetogether，“sheexplained。“Wewillleaveseparately——andIwillgofirst。“

“Therewillbeahueandcryafteryou，whenyouaremissed。“

“Therewillbeadancewhenthecroquetisover。Idon’tdance——andIshallnotbemissed。Therewillbetime，andopportunitytogettomyownroom。IshallleavealetterthereforLadyLundie，andaletter“——hervoicetrembledforamoment——“andaletterforBlanche。Don’tinterruptme!Ihavethoughtofthis，asIhavethoughtofeverythingelse。TheconfessionIshallmakewillbethetruthinafewhours，ifit’snotthetruthnow。MyletterswillsayIamprivatelymarried，andcalledawayunexpectedlytojoinmyhusband。Therewillbeascandalinthehouse，Iknow。Buttherewillbenoexcuseforsendingafterme，whenIamundermyhusband’sprotection。Sofarasyouarepersonallyconcernedtherearenodiscoveriestofear——andnothingwhichitisnotperfectlysafeandperfectlyeasytodo。WaithereanhourafterIhavegonetosaveappearances；andthenfollowme。“

“Followyou？“interposedGeoffrey。“Where？“Shedrewherchairnearertohim，andwhisperedthenextwordsinhisear。

“Toalonelylittlemountaininn——fourmilesfromthis。“

“Aninn!“

“Whynot？“

“Aninnisapublicplace。“

Amovementofnaturalimpatienceescapedher——butshecontrolledherself，andwentonasquietlyasbefore：

“TheplaceImeanistheloneliestplaceintheneighborhood。Youhavenopryingeyestodreadthere。Ihavepickeditoutexpresslyforthatreason。It’sawayfromtherailway；it’sawayfromthehigh-road：it’skeptbyadecent，respectableScotchwoman——“

“Decent，respectableScotchwomenwhokeepinns，“interposedGeoffrey，“don’tcottontoyoungladieswhoaretravelingalone。

Thelandladywon’treceiveyou。“

Itwasawell-aimedobjection——butitmissedthemark。Awomanbentonhermarriageisawomanwhocanmeettheobjectionsofthewholeworld，single-handed，andrefutethemall。

“Ihaveprovidedforeverything，“shesaid，“andIhaveprovidedforthat。IshalltellthelandladyIamonmywedding-trip。I

shallsaymyhusbandissight-seeing，onfoot，amongthemountainsintheneighborhood——“

“Sheissuretobelievethat!“saidGeoffrey。

“Sheissureto_dis_believeit，ifyoulike。Lether!Youhaveonlytoappear，andtoaskforyourwife——andthereismystoryprovedtobetrue!Shemaybethemostsuspiciouswomanliving，aslongasIamalonewithher。Themomentyoujoinme，yousethersuspicionsatrest。Leavemetodomypart。Mypartisthehardone。Willyoudoyours？“

ItwasimpossibletosayNo：shehadfairlycutthegroundfromunderhisfeet。Heshiftedhisground。AnythingratherthansayYes!

“Isuppose_you_knowhowwearetobemarried？“heasked。“AllI

cansayis——_I_don’t。“

“Youdo!“sheretorted。“YouknowthatweareinScotland。Youknowthatthereareneitherforms，ceremonies，nordelaysinmarriage，here。TheplanIhaveproposedtoyousecuresmybeingreceivedattheinn，andmakesiteasyandnaturalforyoutojoinmethereafterward。Therestisinourownhands。Amanandawomanwhowishtobemarried(inScotland)haveonlytosecurethenecessarywitnessesandthethingisdone。Ifthelandladychoosestoresentthedeceptionpracticedonher，afterthat，thelandladymaydoasshepleases。Weshallhavegainedourobjectinspiteofher——and，whatismore，weshallhavegaineditwithoutriskto_you。_“

“Don’tlayitallonmyshoulders，“Geoffreyrejoined。“Youwomengoheadlongateverything。Saywearemarried。Wemustseparateafterward——orhowarewetokeepitasecret？“

“Certainly。Youwillgoback，ofcourse，toyourbrother’shouse，asifnothinghadhappened。“

“Andwhatistobecomeof_you？_“

“IshallgotoLondon。“

“WhatareyoutodoinLondon？“

“Haven’tIalreadytoldyouthatIhavethoughtofeverything？

WhenIgettoLondonIshallapplytosomeofmymother’soldfriends——friendsofhersinthetimewhenshewasamusician。

EverybodytellsmeIhaveavoice——ifIhadonlycultivatedit。

I_will_cultivateit!Icanlive，andliverespectably，asaconcertsinger。Ihavesavedmoneyenoughtosupportme，whileI

amlearning——andmymother’sfriendswillhelpme，forhersake。“

So，inthenewlifethatshewasmarkingout，wasshenowunconsciouslyreflectinginherselfthelifeofhermotherbeforeher。Herewasthemother’scareerasapublicsinger，chosen(inspiteofalleffortstopreventit)bythechild!Here(thoughwithothermotives，andunderothercircumstances)wasthemother’sirregularmarriageinIreland，onthepointofbeingfollowedbythedaughter’sirregularmarriageinScotland!Andhere，strangerstill，wasthemanwhowasanswerableforit——thesonofthemanwhohadfoundtheflawintheIrishmarriage，andhadshownthewaybywhichhermotherwasthrownontheworld!

“MyAnneismysecondself。Sheisnotcalledbyherfather’sname；sheiscalledbymine。SheisAnneSilvesterasIwas。WillsheendlikeMe？“——Theanswertothosewords——thelastwordsthathadtrembledonthedyingmother’slips——wascomingfast。Throughthechancesandchangesofmanyyears，thefuturewaspressingnear——andAnneSilvesterstoodonthebrinkofit。

“Well？“sheresumed。“Areyouattheendofyourobjections？Canyougivemeaplainansweratlast？“

No!Hehadanotherobjectionreadyasthewordspassedherlips。

“Supposethewitnessesattheinnhappentoknowme？“hesaid。

“Supposeitcomestomyfather’searsinthatway？“

“Supposeyoudrivemetomydeath？“sheretorted，startingtoherfeet。“Yourfathershallknowthetruth，inthatcase——Iswearit!“

Herose，onhisside，anddrewbackfromher。Shefollowedhimup。Therewasaclappingofhands，atthesamemoment，onthelawn。Somebodyhadevidentlymadeabrilliantstrokewhichpromisedtodecidethegame。TherewasnosecuritynowthatBlanchemightnotreturnagain。Therewaseveryprospect，thegamebeingover，thatLadyLundiewouldbefree。Annebroughttheinterviewtoitscrisis，withoutwastingamomentmore。

“Mr。GeoffreyDelamayn，“shesaid。“Youhavebargainedforaprivatemarriage，andIhaveconsented。Areyou，orareyounot，readytomarrymeonyourownterms？“

“Givemeaminutetothink!“

“Notaninstant。Onceforall，isitYes，orNo？“

Hecouldn’tsay“Yes，“eventhen。Buthesaidwhatwasequivalenttoit。Heasked，savagely，“Whereistheinn？“

Sheputherarminhis，andwhispered，rapidly，“Passtheroadontherightthatleadstotherailway。Followthepathoverthemoor，andthesheep-trackupthehill。Thefirsthouseyoucometoafterthatistheinn。Youunderstand!“

Henoddedhishead，withasullenfrown，andtookhispipeoutofhispocketagain。

“Letitalonethistime，“hesaid，meetinghereye。“Mymind’supset。Whenaman’smind’supset，amancan’tsmoke。What’sthenameoftheplace？“

“CraigFernie。“

“WhoamItoaskforatthedoor？“

“Foryourwife。“

“Supposetheywantyoutogiveyournamewhenyougetthere？“

“IfImustgiveaname，IshallcallmyselfMrs。，insteadofMiss，Silvester。ButIshalldomybesttoavoidgivinganyname。

Andyouwilldoyourbesttoavoidmakingamistake，byonlyaskingformeasyourwife。Isthereanythingelseyouwanttoknow？“

“Yes。“

“Bequickaboutit!Whatisit？“

“HowamItoknowyouhavegotawayfromhere？“

“Ifyoudon’thearfrommeinhalfanhourfromthetimewhenI

haveleftyou，youmaybesureIhavegotaway。Hush!“

Twovoices，inconversation，wereaudibleatthebottomofthesteps——LadyLundie’svoiceandSirPatrick’s。Annepointedtothedoorinthebackwallofthesummer-house。Shehadjustpulledittoagain，afterGeoffreyhadpassedthroughit，whenLadyLundieandSirPatrickappearedatthetopofthesteps。