第63章

Hestopped，noticingsomethingentirelynewinthelookwithwhichtheyoungladywasregardinghim。

“Begyourpardon，“saidGeoffrey。“Doyouwishtospeaktome？“

Blanche’sfaceflushedallover。Herunclecametotherescue。

“MissLundieandIhopeyouhavesleptwellMr。Delamayn，“saidSirPatrick，jocosely。

“That’sall。“

“Oh？That’sall？“saidGeoffreystilllookingatBlanche。“Begyourpardonagain。Deucedlongwalk，anddeucedheavydinner。

Naturalconsequence——anap。“

SirPatrickeyedhimclosely。ItwasplainthathehadbeenhonestlypuzzledatfindinghimselfanobjectofspecialattentiononBlanche’spart。“Seeyouinthebilliard-room？“hesaid，carelessly，andfollowedhiscompanionsoutoftheroom——asusual，withoutwaitingforananswer。

“Mindwhatyouareabout，“saidSirPatricktohisniece。“Thatmanisquickerthanhelooks。Wecommitaseriousmistakeifweputhimonhisguardatstarting。“

“Itsha’n’thappenagain，uncle，“saidBlanche。“Butthinkof_his_beinginAnne’sconfidence，andof_my_beingshutoutofit!“

“Inhisfriend’sconfidence，youmean，mydear；and(ifweonlyavoidawakeninghissuspicion)thereisnoknowinghowsoonhemaysayordosomethingwhichmayshowuswhohisfriendis。“

“Butheisgoingbacktohisbrother’sto-morrow——hesaidsoatdinner-time。“

“Somuchthebetter。Hewillbeoutofthewayofseeingstrangethingsinacertainyounglady’sface。Hisbrother’shouseiswithineasyreachofthis；andIamhislegaladviser。Myexperiencetellsmethathehasnotdoneconsultingmeyet——andthathewillletoutsomethingmorenexttime。SomuchforourchanceofseeingthelightthroughMr。Delamayn——ifwecan’tseeitinanyotherway。Andthatisnotouronlychance，remember。I

havesomethingtotellyouaboutBishopriggsandthelostletter。“

“Isitfound？“

“No。Isatisfiedmyselfaboutthat——Ihaditsearchedfor，undermyowneye。Theletterisstolen，Blanche；andBishopriggshasgotit。Ihaveleftalineforhim，inMrs。Inchbare’scare。Theoldrascalismissedalreadybythevisitorsattheinn，justasItoldyouhewouldbe。Hismistressisfeelingthepenaltyofhavingbeenfoolenoughtoventherilltemperonherhead-waiter。ShelaysthewholeblameofthequarrelonMissSilvester，ofcourse。BishopriggsneglectedeverybodyattheinntowaitonMissSilvester。Bishopriggswasinsolentonbeingremonstratedwith，andMissSilvesterencouragedhim——andsoon。

Theresultwillbe——nowMissSilvesterhasgone——thatBishopriggswillreturntoCraigFerniebeforetheautumnisover。Wearesailingwithwindandtide，mydear。Come，andlearntoplaywhist。“

Herosetojointhecard-players。Blanchedetainedhim。

“Youhaven’ttoldmeonethingyet，“shesaid。“Whoeverthemanmaybe，isAnnemarriedtohim？“

“Whoeverthemanmaybe，“returnedSirPatrick，“hehadbetternotattempttomarryanybodyelse。“

Sothenieceunconsciouslyputthequestion，andsotheuncleunconsciouslygavetheansweronwhichdependedthewholehappinessofBlanche’slifetocome，The“man!“Howlightlytheybothtalkedofthe“man!“Wouldnothinghappentorousethefaintestsuspicion——intheirmindsorinArnold’smind——thatArnoldwasthe“man“himself？

“Youmeanthatshe_is_married？“said