第30章

“Bideawee!There’saneo’themhasdrawnbridleatthehottle，andhe’sspeerin’aftertheleddythatcam’herealane。Theleddy’syourleddy，assureassaxpence。Idoot，“saidMr。

Bishopriggs，walkingawaytothewindow，“_that’s_whatye’vegottodowithit。“

ArnoldlookedatAnne。

“Doyouexpectanybody？“

“IsitGeoffrey？“

“Impossible。GeoffreyisonhiswaytoLondon。“

“Thereheis，anyway，“resumedMr。Bishopriggs，atthewindow。

“He’sloupin’downfromhishorse。He’sturningthisway。Lordsaveus!“heexclaimed，withastartofconsternation，“whatdoI

see？Thatincarnatedeevil，SirPaitrickhimself!“

Arnoldsprangtohisfeet。

“DoyoumeanSirPatrickLundie？“

Annerantothewindow。

“It_is_SirPatrick!“shesaid。“Hideyourselfbeforehecomesin!“

“Hidemyself？“

“Whatwillhethinkifheseesyouwith_me？“_

HewasBlanche’sguardian，andhebelievedArnoldtobeatthatmomentvisitinghisnewproperty。Whathewouldthinkwasnotdifficulttoforesee。ArnoldturnedforhelptoMr。Bishopriggs。

“WherecanIgo？“

Mr。Bishopriggspointedtothebedroomdoor。

“Whar’canyego？There’sthenuptialchamber!“

“Impossible!“

Mr。Bishopriggsexpressedtheutmostextremityofhumanamazementbyalongwhistle，ononenote。

“Whew!Isthatthewayyetalko’thenuptialchamberalready？“

“Findmesomeotherplace——I’llmakeitworthyourwhile。“

“Eh!there’smypaintry!Itrowthat’ssomeotherplace；andthedoor’sattheendo’thepassage。“

Arnoldhurriedout。Mr。Bishopriggs——evidentlyundertheimpressionthatthecasebeforehimwasacaseofelopement，withSirPatrickmixedupinitinthecapacityofguardian——addressedhimself，infriendlyconfidence，toAnne。

“Mycertie，mistress!it’sillwarkdeceivin’SirPaitrick，ifthat’swhatye’vedune。Yemustknow，IwasanceabitclerkbodyinhischambersatEmbro——“

ThevoiceofMistressInchbare，callingforthehead-waiter，roseshrillandimperativefromtheregionsofthebar。Mr。

Bishopriggsdisappeared。Anneremained，standinghelplessbythewindow。ItwasplainbythistimethattheplaceofherretreathadbeendiscoveredatWindygates。Theonedoubttodecide，now，waswhetheritwouldbewiseornottoreceiveSirPatrick，forthepurposeofdiscoveringwhetherhecameasfriendorenemytotheinn。

CHAPTERTHEELEVENTH。

SIRPATRICK。

THEdoubtwaspracticallydecidedbeforeAnnehaddeterminedwhattodo。Shewasstillatthewindowwhenthesitting-roomdoorwasthrownopen，andSirPatrickappeared，obsequiouslyshowninbyMr。Bishopriggs。

“Ye’rekindlywelcome，SirPaitrick。Hech，Sirs!thesightofyouisgudeforsaireyne。“

SirPatrickturnedandlookedatMr。Bishopriggs——ashemighthavelookedatsomet