第53章

“Uncle!Ihavebeenwatchingyouforthelastminuteortwo。“

“Atmyage，Blanche？thatispayingmeaveryprettycompliment。“

“DoyouknowwhatIhaveseen？“

“Youhaveseenanoldgentlemaninwantofhislunch。“

“Ihaveseenanoldgentlemanwithsomethingonhismind。Whatisit？“

“Suppressedgout，mydear。“

“Thatwon’tdo!Iamnottobeputoffinthatway。Uncle!Iwanttoknow——“

“Stopthere，Blanche!Ayoungladywhosaysshe’wantstoknow，’

expressesverydangeroussentiments。Eve’wantedtoknow’——andseewhatitledto。Faust’wantedtoknow’——andgotintobadcompany，asthenecessaryresult。“

“Youarefeelinganxiousaboutsomething，“persistedBlanche。

“And，whatismore，SirPatrick，youbehavedinamostunaccountablemanneralittlewhilesince。“

“When？“

“WhenyouwentandhidyourselfwithMr。Delamayninthatsnugcornerthere。Isawyouleadthewayin，whileIwasatworkonLadyLundie’sodiousdinner-invitations。“

“Oh!youcallthatbeingatwork，doyou？Iwonderwhethertherewaseverawomanyetwhocouldgivethewholeofhermindtoanyearthlythingthatshehadtodo？“

“Nevermindthewomen!WhatsubjectincommoncouldyouandMr。

Delamaynpossiblyhavetotalkabout？AndwhydoIseeawrinklebetweenyoureyebrows，nowyouhavedonewithhim？——awrinklewhichcertainlywasn’ttherebeforeyouhadthatprivateconferencetogether？“

Beforeanswering，SirPatrickconsideredwhetherheshouldtakeBlancheintohisconfidenceornot。TheattempttoidentifyGeoffrey’sunnamed“lady，“whichhewasdeterminedtomake，wouldleadhimtoCraigFernie，andwouldnodoubtendinobliginghimtoaddresshimselftoAnne。Blanche’sintimateknowledgeofherfriendmightunquestionablybemadeusefultohimunderthesecircumstances；andBlanche’sdiscretionwastobetrustedinanymatterinwhichMissSilvester’sinterestswereconcerned。Ontheotherhand，cautionwasimperativelynecessary，inthepresentimperfectstateofhisinformation——andcaution，inSirPatrick’smind，carriedtheday。Hedecidedtowaitandseewhatcamefirstofhisinvestigationattheinn。

“Mr。Delamaynconsultedmeonadrypointoflaw，inwhichafriendofhiswasinterested，“saidSirPatrick。“Youhavewastedyourcuriosity，mydear，onasubjecttotallyunworthyofalady’snotice。“

Blanche’spenetrationwasnottobedeceivedonsucheasytermsasthese。“Whynotsayatoncethatyouwon’ttellme？“sherejoined。“_You_shuttingyourselfupwithMr。Delamayntotalklaw!_You_lookingabsentandanxiousaboutitafterward!Iamaveryunhappygirl!“saidBlanche，withalittle，bittersigh。

“ThereissomethinginmethatseemstorepelthepeopleIlove。

NotawordinconfidencecanIgetfromAnne。AndnotawordinconfidencecanIgetfromyou。AndIdosolongtosympathize!

It’sveryhard。IthinkIshallgotoArnold。“

SirPatricktookhisniece’shand。

“Stopaminute，Blanche。Abo