, impatiently. "Blanche's distress is
intelligible enough. But here is my niece apparently answerable for this
unhappy woman's disappearance. Can you explain what my niece has got to
do with it?"

"I! Blanche herself is completely mystified. How should _I_ know?"

Answering in those terms, he spoke with perfect sincerity. Anne's vague
distrust of the position in which they had innocently placed themselves
at the inn had produced no corresponding effect on Arnold at the time.
He had not regarded it; he had not even understood it. As a necessary
result, not the faintest suspicion of the motive under which Anne was
acting existed in his mind now.

Sir Patrick put the letter into his pocket-book, and abandoned all
further attempt at interpreting the meaning of it in despair.

"Enough, and more than enough, of groping in the dark," he said. "One
point is clear to me after what has happened up stairs this morning. We
must accept the position in which Miss Silvester has placed us. I shall
give up all further effort to trace her from this moment."

"Surely that will be a dreadful disappointment to Blanche, Sir Patrick?"

"I don't deny it. We must face that result."

"If you are sure there is nothing else to be done, I suppose we must."

"I am not sure of anything of the sort, Master Arnold! There are two
chances still left of throwing light on this matter, which are both of
them independent of any thing that Miss Silvester can do to keep it in
the dark."

"Then why not try them, Sir? It seems hard to drop Miss Silvester when
she is in trouble."

"We can't help her against her own will," rejoined Sir Patrick. "And
we can't run the risk, after that nervous attack this morning, of
subjecting Blanche to any further suspense. I have thought of my niece's
interests throughout this business; and if I now change my mind, and
decline to agitate her by more experiments, ending (quite possibly) in
more failures, it is because I am thinking of her interests still. I
have no other motive. However numerous my weaknesses may be, ambition
to distinguish myself as a detective policeman is not one of them. The
case, from the police point of view, is by no means a lost case. I
drop it, nevertheless, for Blanche's sake. Instead of encouraging her
thoughts to dwell on this melancholy business, we must apply the remedy
suggested by our medical friend."

"How is that to be done?" asked Arnold.

The sly twist of humor began to show itsel