the convenient curtained recesses opening
out of the inner wall of the library. "We shall be private enough here,"
he said.

Sir Patrick made a final effort to escape the proposed conference--an
undisguised effort, this time.

"Pray forgive me, Mr. Delamayn. Are you quite sure that you apply to the
right person, in applying to _me?_"

"You're a Scotch lawyer, ain't you?"

"Certainly."

"And you understand about Scotch marriages--eh?"

Sir Patrick's manner suddenly altered.

"Is _that_ the subject you wish to consult me on?" he asked.

"It's not me. It's my friend."

"Your friend, then?"

"Yes. It's a scrape with a woman. Here in Scotland. My friend don't know
whether he's married to her or not."

"I am at your service, Mr. Delamayn."

To Geoffrey's relief--by no means unmixed with surprise--Sir Patrick not
only showed no further reluctance to be consulted by him, but actually
advanced to meet his wishes, by leading the way to the recess that was
nearest to them. The quick brain of the old lawyer had put Geoffrey's
application to him for assistance, and Blanche's application to him for
assistance, together; and had built its own theory on the basis thus
obtained. "Do I see a connection between the present position of
Blanche's governess, and the present position of Mr. Delamayn's
'friend?'" thought Sir Patrick. "Stranger extremes than _that_ have met
me in my experience. Something may come out of this."

The two strangely-assorted companions seated themselves, one on each
side of a little table in the recess. Arnold and the other guests had
idled out again on to the lawn. The surgeon with his prints, and the
ladies with their invitations, were safely absorbed in a distant part
of the library. The conference between the two men, so trifling in
appearance, so terrible in its destined influence, not over Anne's
future only, but over the future of Arnold and Blanche, was, to all
practical purposes, a conference with closed doors.

"Now," said Sir Patrick, "what is the question?"

"The question," said Geoffrey, "is whether my friend is married to her
or not?"

"Did he mean to marry her?"

"No."

"He being a single man, and she being a single woman, at the time? And
both in Scotland?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Now tell me the circumstances."

Geoffrey hesitated. The art of stating circumstances implies the
cultivation of a very rare gift--the gift of arranging ideas. No one
was better acquainted with t