第62章

“Pointthepersonout。“Shesaidthewordswithaself-possessionwhichwonheruncle’sheartyapproval。Blanchehaddonewondersforagirlinherteens。

“Look!“saidSirPatrick；“andtellmewhatyousee。“

“IseeLadyLundie，attheotherendoftheroom，withthemapofPerthshireandtheBaronialAntiquitiesofScotlandonthetable。

AndIseeeverybodybutyouandmeobligedtolistentoher。“

“Everybody？“

Blanchelookedcarefullyroundtheroom，andnoticedGeoffreyintheoppositecorner；fastasleepbythistimeinhisarm-chair。

“Uncle!youdon’tmean——？“

“Thereistheman。“

“Mr。Delamayn——!“

“Mr。Delamaynknowseverything。“

Blancheheldmechanicallybyheruncle’sarm，andlookedatthesleepingmanasifhereyescouldneverseeenoughofhim。

“YousawmeinthelibraryinprivateconsultationwithMr。

Delamayn，“resumedSirPatrick。“Ihavetoacknowledge，mydear，thatyouwerequiterightinthinkingthisasuspiciouscircumstance，AndIamnowtojustifymyselfforhavingpurposelykeptyouinthedarkuptothepresenttime。“

Withthoseintroductorywords，hebrieflyrevertedtotheearlieroccurrencesoftheday，andthenadded，bywayofcommentary，astatementoftheconclusionswhicheventshadsuggestedtohisownmind。

Theevents，itmayberemembered，werethreeinnumber。First，Geoffrey’sprivateconferencewithSirPatrickonthesubjectofIrregularMarriagesinScotland。Secondly，AnneSilvester’sappearanceatWindygates。Thirdly，Anne’sflight。

TheconclusionswhichhadthereuponsuggestedthemselvestoSirPatrick’smindweresixinnumber。

First，thataconnectionofsomesortmightpossiblyexistbetweenGeoffrey’sacknowledgeddifficultyabouthisfriend，andMissSilvester’spresumeddifficultyaboutherself。Secondly，thatGeoffreyhadreallyputtoSirPatrick——nothisowncase——butthecaseofafriend。Thirdly，thatGeoffreyhadsomeinterest(ofnoharmlesskind)inestablishingthefactofhisfriend’smarriage。Fourthly，thatAnne’sanxiety(asdescribedbyBlanche)tohearthenamesofthegentlemenwhowerestayingatWindygates，pointed，inallprobability，toGeoffrey。Fifthly，thatthislastinferencedisturbedthesecondconclusion，andreopenedthedoubtwhetherGeoffreyhadnotbeenstatinghisowncase，afterall，underpretenseofstatingthecaseofafriend。

Sixthly，thattheonewayofobtaininganyenlightenmentonthispoint，andonalltheotherpointsinvolvedinmystery，wastogotoCraigFernie，andconsultMrs。Inchbare’sexperienceduringtheperiodofAnne’sresidenceattheinn。SirPatrick’sapologyforkeepingallthisasecretfromhisniecefollowed。Hehadshrunkfromagitatingheronthesubjectuntilhecouldbesureofprovinghisconclusionstobetrue。Theproofhadbeenobtained；andhewasnow，therefore，readytoopenhismindtoBlanchewithoutreserve。

“Somuch，mydear，“proceededSirPatrick，“forthosenecessaryexplanationswhicharealsothenecessarynuisancesofhumanintercourse。YounowknowasmuchasIdidwhenIarrive