第59章

Hehadinterpretedhisfriend’sabsenceexactlyashisfriendhadanticipated：hecouldonlyassumethatGeoffreyhadgonetokeepaprivateappointmentwithAnne。MissSilvester’sappearanceatWindygatesalone，andMissSilvester’sanxietytohearthenamesofthegentlemenwhowerestayinginthehouse，seemed，underthesecircumstances，topointtotheplainconclusionthatthetwohad，insomeway，unfortunatelymissedeachother。Butwhatcouldbethemotiveofherflight？WhethersheknewofsomeotherplaceinwhichshemightmeetGeoffrey？orwhethershehadgonebacktotheinn？orwhethershehadactedundersomesuddenimpulseofdespair？——werequestionswhichArnoldwasnecessarilyquiteincompetenttosolve。TherewasnochoicebuttowaituntilanopportunityofferedofreportingwhathadhappenedtoGeoffreyhimself。

Afterthelapseofhalfanhour，thesoundofsomeapproachingvehicle——thefirstsoundofthesortthathehadheard——attractedArnold’sattention。Hestartedup，andsawthepony-chaiseapproachinghimalongtheroadfromthestation。SirPatrick，thistime，wascompelledtodrivehimself——Duncanwasnotwithhim。OndiscoveringArnold，hestoppedthepony。

“So!so!“saidtheoldgentleman。“Youhaveheardallaboutit，I

see？Youunderstandthatthisistobeasecretfromeverybody，tillfurthernotice？Verygood，Hasanythinghappenedsinceyouhavebeenhere？“

“Nothing。Haveyoumadeanydiscoveries，SirPatrick？“

“None。Igottothestationbeforethetrain。NosignsofMissSilvesteranywhere。IhaveleftDuncanonthewatch——withordersnottostirtillthelasttrainhaspassedto-night。“

“Idon’tthinkshewillturnupatthestation，“saidArnold。“I

fancyshehasgonebacktoCraigFernie。“

“Quitepossible。IamnowonmywaytoCraigFernie，tomakeinquiriesabouther。Idon’tknowhowlongImaybedetained，orwhatitmayleadto。IfyouseeBlanchebeforeIdotellherI

haveinstructedthestation-mastertoletmeknow(ifMissSilvesterdoestaketherailway)whatplaceshebooksfor。Thankstothatarrangement，wesha’n’thavetowaitfornewstillDuncancantelegraphthathehasseenhertoherjourney’send。Inthemeantime，youunderstandwhatyouarewantedtodohere？“

“Blanchehasexplainedeverythingtome。“

“Sticktoyourpost，andmakegooduseofyoureyes。Youwereaccustomedtothat，youknow，whenyouwereatsea。It’snogreathardshiptopassafewhoursinthisdelicioussummerair。Iseeyouhavecontractedthevilemodernhabitofsmoking——thatwillbeoccupationenoughtoamuseyou，nodoubt!Keeptheroadsinview；and，ifshedoescomeyourway，