第98章

“Full，myleddy(praiseProvidence)，fraethebasementtotheceiling。“

“Youhadavisitor，Ithink，sometimesinceofwhomIknowsomething？Aperson——“Shepaused，andputastrongconstraintonherself。Therewasnoalternativebuttoyieldtothehardnecessityofmakingherinquiryintelligible。“Alady，“sheadded，“whocametoyouaboutthemiddleoflastmonth。“

“Couldyerleddyshipcondescendonhername？“

LadyLundieputastillstrongerconstraintonherself。

“Silvester，“shesaid，sharply。

“Presairveusa’!“criedMrs。Inchbare。“Itwillneverbethesamethatcam’driftin’inbyhersel’——wi’abitbaginherhand，andahusbandleftdaidlinganhourormairontheroadbehindher？“

“Ihavenodoubtitisthesame。“

“Willshebeafreendo’yerleddyship’s？“askedMrs。Inchbare，feelinghergroundcautiously。

“Certainlynot!“saidLadyLundie。“Ifeltapassingcuriosityabouther——nothingmore。“

Mrs。Inchbarelookedrelieved。“Totellyetruth，myleddy，therewasnaelovelostbetweenus。Shehadamaisterfu’tempero’herain——andIwasweelpleasedwhenI’dseenthelastofher。“

“Icanquiteunderstandthat，Mrs。Inchbare——Iknowsomethingofhertempermyself。DidIunderstandyoutosaythatshecametoyourhotelalone，andthatherhusbandjoinedhershortlyafterward？“

“E’ensae，yerleddyship。Iwasno’freetogi’herhouse-roominthehottletillherhusbanddaidledinatherheelsandansweredforher。“

“IfancyImusthaveseenherhusband，“saidLadyLundie。“Whatsortofamanwashe？“

Mrs。InchbarerepliedinmuchthesamewordswhichshehadusedinansweringthesimilarquestionputbySirPatrick。

“Eh!hewasoweryoungforthelikeo’_her。_Aprattyman，myleddy——betwixttallandshort；wi’bonnybrowneyesandcheeks，andfinecoal-blaikhair。Anicedouce-spokenlad。Ihaenaethingtosayagainsthim——exceptthathecam’lateoneday，andtookleg-bailbetimesthenextmorning，andleftmadambehind，aloadonmyhands。“

TheanswerproducedpreciselythesameeffectonLadyLundiewhichithadproducedonSirPatrick。She，also，feltthatitwastoovaguelyliketoomanyyoungmenofnouncommonhumorandcomplexiontobereliedon。Butherladyshippossessedoneimmenseadvantageoverherbrother-in-lawinattemptingtoarriveatthetruth。_She_suspectedArnold——anditwaspossible，inhercase，toassistMrs。Inchbare’smemorybyhintscontributedfromherownsuperiorresourcesofexperienceandobservation。

“Hadheanythingabouthimofthelookandwayofasailor？“sheasked。“Anddidyounotice，whenyouspoketohim，thathehadahabitofplayingwithalocketonhiswatch-chain？“

Thereheis，hetafftoaT!“criedMrs。Inchbare。“Yerleddyship’sweelacquentedwi’him——there’snaedooto’that。“

“IthoughtIhadseenhim，“saidLadyLundie。“Amodest，well-behavedyoungman，Mrs。Inchbare，asyousay。Don’tletmekeepyouanylongerfromthepoultry-yard。Iamtransgressingthedoctor’sordersinseeinganybody。Wequiteunderstandeachothernow，don’twe？Verygladtohaveseenyou。Good-evening。“

SoshedismissedMrs。Inchbare，whenMrs。Inchbarehadservedherpurpose。

Mostwomen，inherposition，would