第28章

“Ihavereasonsforbeingafraid，“shesaid。“OnethatIcan’tgive；andonethatIcan。SupposeBlancheheardofwhatyouhavedone？Thelongeryoustayhere——themorepeopleyousee——themorechancethereisthatshe_might_hearofit。“

“Andwhatifshedid？“askedArnold，inhisownstraightforwardway。“Doyouthinkshewouldbeangrywithmeformakingmyselfusefulto_you？_“

“Yes，“rejoinedAnne，sharply，“ifshewasjealousofme。“

Arnold’sunlimitedbeliefinBlancheexpresseditself，withouttheslightestcompromise，intwowords：

“That’simpossible!“

Anxiousasshewas，miserableasshewas，afaintsmileflittedoverAnne’sface。

“SirPatrickwouldtellyou，Mr。Brinkworth，thatnothingisimpossiblewherewomenareconcerned。“Shedroppedhermomentarylightnessoftone，andwentonasearnestlyasever。“Youcan’tputyourselfinBlanche’splace——Ican。Oncemore，Ibegyoutogo。Idon’tlikeyourcominghere，inthisway!Idon’tlikeitatall!“

Sheheldoutherhandtotakeleave。Atthesamemomenttherewasaloudknockatthedooroftheroom。

Annesankintothechairatherside，andutteredafaintcryofalarm。Arnold，perfectlyimpenetrabletoallsenseofhisposition，askedwhattherewastofrightenher——andansweredtheknockinthetwocustomarywords：

“Comein!“

THEknockatthedoorwasrepeated——alouderknockthanbefore。

“Areyoudeaf？“shoutedArnold。

Thedooropened，littlebylittle，aninchatatime。Mr。

Bishopriggsappearedmysteriously，withtheclothfordinneroverhisarm，andwithhissecondincommandbehindhim，bearing“thefurnishingofthetable“(asitwascalledatCraigFernie)onatray。

“Whatthedeucewereyouwaitingfor？“askedArnold。“Itoldyoutocomein。“

“And_I_tauld_you，_“answeredMr。Bishopriggs，“thatIwadnacomeinwithoutknockingfirst。Eh，man!“hewenton，dismissinghissecondincommand，andlayingtheclothwithhisownvenerablehands，“d’yethinkI’velivedinthishottleinblindedeegnoranceofhooyoungmarriedcouplespassthetimewhenthey’relefttothemselves？Twaknocksatthedoor——andanuncotroubleinopeningit，afterthat——isjoosttheleastyecandoforthem!Whar’doyethink，noo，I’llsettheplacesforyouandyourleddythere？“

Annewalkedawaytothewindow，inundisguiseddisgust。ArnoldfoundMr。Bishopriggstobequiteirresistible。Heanswered，humoringthejoke，“Oneatthetopandoneatthebottomofthetable，Isuppose？“

“Oneattapandoneatbottom？“repeatedMr。Bishopriggs，inhighdisdain。“De’ilabitofit!Baithyerchairsasclosetogetheraschairscanbe。Hech!hech!——haven’tIcaught’em，aftergoodnessknowshoomanypreleeminaryknocksatthedoor，diningontheirhusbands’knees，andsteemulatingaman’sappetitebyfeedinghimatthefork’sendlikeachild？Eh!“sighedthesageofCraigFernie，“it’sashortlifewi’thatnuptialbusiness，andamerryone!Amouthforyerbillin’andcooin’；anda’theresto’yerdaysforwonderingyewereeversuchafule，andwishingitwasa’