第43章

(Geoffrey’sstolidly-staringeyessuddenlybrightened。Alightofthedevil’sownstrikingilluminatedhim。Anideaofthedevil’sownbringingenteredhismind。Helookedstealthilyroundatthemanwhoselifehehadsaved——atthemanwhohaddevotedlyservedhiminreturn。Ahideouscunningleeredathismouthandpeepedoutofhiseyes。“ArnoldBrinkworthpretendedtobemarriedtoherattheinn。BythelordHarry!that’sawayoutofitthatneverstruckmebefore!“Withthatthoughtinhisheartheturnedbackagaintohishalf-finishedlettertoJulius。Foronceinhislifehewasstrongly，fiercelyagitated。Foronceinhislifehewasdaunted——andthatbyhisOwnThought!HehadwrittentoJuliusunderastrongsenseofthenecessityofgainingtimetodeludeAnneintoleavingScotlandbeforeheventuredonpayinghisaddressestoMrs。Glenarm。Hislettercontainedastringofclumsyexcuses，intendedtodelayhisreturntohisbrother’shouse。“No，“hesaidtohimself，ashereaditagain。“Whateverelsemaydo——_this_won’t!“HelookedroundoncemoreatArnold，andslowlytoretheletterintofragmentsashelooked。)

InthemeantimeBlanchehadnotdoneyet。“No，“shesaid，whenArnoldproposedanadjournmenttothegarden；“Ihavesomethingmoretosay，andyouareinterestedinit，thistime。“Arnoldresignedhimselftolisten，andworsestilltoanswer，iftherewasnohelpforit，inthecharacterofaninnocentstrangerwhohadneverbeenneartheCraigFernieinn。

“Well，“Blancheresumed，“andwhatdoyouthinkhascomeofmylettertoAnne？“

“I’msureIdon’tknow。“

“Nothinghascomeofit!“

“Indeed？“

“Absolutelynothing!Iknowshereceivedtheletteryesterdaymorning。Ioughttohavehadtheanswerto-dayatbreakfast。“

“Perhapsshethoughtitdidn’trequireananswer。“

“Shecouldn’thavethoughtthat，forreasonsthatIknowof。

Besides，inmyletteryesterdayIimploredhertotellme(ifitwasonelineonly)whether，inguessingatwhathertroublewas，SirPatrickandIhadnotguessedright。Andhereisthedaygettingon，andnoanswer!WhatamItoconclude？“

“Ireallycan’tsay!“

“Isitpossible，Arnold，thatwehave_not_guessedright，afterall？Isthewickednessofthatmanwhoblewthecandlesoutwickednessbeyondourdiscovering？ThedoubtissodreadfulthatIhavemadeupmymindnottobearitafterto-day。Icountonyoursympathyandassistancewhento-morrowcomes!“

Arnold’sheartsank。Somenewcomplicationwasevidentlygatheringroundhim。Hewaitedinsilencetoheartheworst。

Blanchebent