第34章

MRS。INCHBAREwasthefirstpersonwhoactedintheemergency。

Shecalledforlights；andsternlyrebukedthehouse-maid，whobroughtthem，fornothavingclosedthehousedoor。“Yefecklessne’er-do-weel!“criedthelandlady；“thewind’sblawnthecandlesoot。“

Thewomandeclared(withperfecttruth)thatthedoorhadbeenclosed。AnawkwarddisputemighthaveensuedifBlanchehadnotdivertedMrs。Inchbare’sattentiontoherself。Theappearanceofthelightsdisclosedher，wetthroughwithherarmsroundAnne’sneck。Mrs。Inchbaredigressedatoncetothepressingquestionofchangingtheyounglady’sclothes，andgaveAnnetheopportunityoflookingroundher，unobserved。Arnoldhadmadehisescapebeforethecandleshadbeenbroughtin。

InthemeantimeBlanche’sattentionwasabsorbedinherowndrippingskirts。

“Goodgracious!I’mabsolutelydistillingrainfromeverypartofme。AndI’mmakingyou，Anne，aswetasIam!Lendmesomedrythings。Youcan’t？Mrs。Inchbare，whatdoesyourexperiencesuggest？WhichhadIbetterdo？Gotobedwhilemyclothesarebeingdried？orborrowfromyourwardrobe——thoughyou_are_aheadandshoulderstallerthanIam？“

Mrs。Inchbareinstantlybustledouttofetchthechoicestgarmentsthatherwardrobecouldproduce。ThemomentthedoorhadclosedonherBlanchelookedroundtheroominherturn。

Therightsofaffectionhavingbeenalreadyasserted，theclaimsofcuriositynaturallypressedforsatisfactionnext。

“Somebodypassedmeinthedark，“shewhispered。“Wasityourhusband？I’mdyingtobeintroducedtohim。And，ohmydear!what_is_yourmarriedname？“

Anneanswered，coldly，“Waitalittle。Ican’tspeakaboutityet。“

“Areyouill？“askedBlanche。

“Iamalittlenervous。“

“Hasanythingunpleasanthappenedbetweenyouandmyuncle？Youhaveseenhim，haven’tyou？“

“Yes。“

“Didhegiveyoumymessage？“

“Hegavemeyourmessage——Blanche!youpromisedhimtostayatWindygates。Why，inthenameofheaven，didyoucomehereto-night？“

“IfyouwerehalfasfondofmeasIamofyou，“returnedBlanche，“youwouldn’taskthat。Itriedhardtokeepmypromise，butIcouldn’tdoit。Itwasallverywell，whilemyunclewaslayingdownthelaw——withLadyLundieinarage，andthedogsbarking，andthedoorsbanging，andallthat。Theexcitementkeptmeup。Butwhenmyunclehadgone，andthedreadfulgray，quiet，rainyeveningcame，andithadallcalmeddownagain，therewasnobearingit。Thehouse——withoutyou——waslikeatomb。IfIhadhadArnoldwithmeImighthavedoneverywell。ButIwasallbymyself。Thinkofthat!Notasoultospeakto!Therewasn’tahorriblethingthatcouldpossiblyhappentoyouthatIdidn’tfancywasgoingtohappen。Iwentintoyouremptyroomandlookedatyourthings。_That_settledit，mydarling!Irusheddownstairs——carriedaway，positivelycarriedaway，byanImpulsebeyondhumanresistance。HowcouldIhelpit？IaskanyreasonablepersonhowcouldIhelpit？IrantothestablesandfoundJacob。Impulse——allimpulse!Isaid，’Getthepony-chaise——Imusthaveadrive——Idon’tcareifitrains——youcomewithme。’Allinabreath，andallimpulse!Jacobbehavedlikeanangel。Hesaid，’Allright，miss。’IamperfectlycertainJacobwoulddieformeifIaskedhim。Heisdrinkinghotgrogatthismoment，topreventhimfromcatchingcold，bymyexpressorders。Hehadthepony-chaiseoutintwominutes；andoffwewent。LadyLundie，