第31章

Anne’scolorrose。Anne’spridewasupinarmsonthespot。

“TheimpertinenceofLadyLundie’smessageisnomorethanI

shouldhaveexpectedfromher，“shesaid。“IamonlysurprisedatSirPatrick’sdeliveringit。“

“SirPatrick’smotiveswillappearpresently，“rejoinedtheincorrigibleoldgentleman。“Secondmessage：’Blanche’sfondestlove。IsdyingtobeacquaintedwithAnne’shusband，andtobeinformedofAnne’smarriedname。FeelsindescribableanxietyandapprehensiononAnne’saccount。InsistsonhearingfromAnneimmediately。Longs，assheneverlongedforanythingyet，toorderherpony-chaiseanddrivefullgalloptotheinn。Yields，underirresistiblepressure，totheexertionofherguardian’sauthority，andcommitstheexpressionofherfeelingstoSirPatrick，whoisaborntyrant，anddoesn’tintheleastmindbreakingotherpeople’shearts。’SirPatrick，speakingforhimself，placeshissister-in-law’sviewandhisniece’sview，sidebyside，beforetheladywhomhehasnowthehonorofaddressing，andonwhoseconfidenceheisespeciallycarefulnottointrude。RemindstheladythathisinfluenceatWindygates，howeverstrenuouslyhemayexertit，isnotlikelytolastforever。Requestshertoconsiderwhetherhissister-in-law’sviewandhisniece’sviewincollision，maynotleadtoveryundesirabledomesticresults；andleaveshertotakethecoursewhichseemsbesttoherselfunderthosecircumstances——Secondmessagedeliveredtextually。Time，threeminutes。Astormcomingon。Aquarterofanhour’sridefromheretotheshooting-cottage。Madam，Iwishyougood-evening。“

Hebowedlowerthanever——and，withoutawordmore，quietlylefttheroom。

Anne’sfirstimpulsewas(excusablyenough，poorsoul)animpulseofresentment。

“Thankyou，SirPatrick!“shesaid，withabitterlookattheclosingdoor。“Thesympathyofsocietywithafriendlesswomancouldhardlyhavebeenexpressedinamoreamusingway!“

Thelittleirritationofthemomentpassedoffwiththemoment。

Anne’sownintelligenceandgoodsenseshowedherthepositioninitstruerlight。

SherecognizedinSirPatrick’sabruptdepartureSirPatrick’sconsiderateresolutiontospareherfromenteringintoanydetailsonthesubjectofherpositionattheinn。Hehadgivenherafriendlywarning；andhehaddelicatelylefthertodecideforherselfastotheassistancewhichshemightrenderhiminmaintainingtranquillityatWindygates。Shewentatoncetoaside-tableintheroom，onwhichwritingmaterialswereplaced，andsatdowntowritetoBlanche。

“IcandonothingwithLadyLundie，“shethought。“ButIhavemoreinfluencethananybodyelseoverBlancheandIcanpreventthecollisionbetweenthemwhichSirPatric