Anne’scolorrose。Anne’spridewasupinarmsonthespot。
“TheimpertinenceofLadyLundie’smessageisnomorethanI
shouldhaveexpectedfromher,“shesaid。“IamonlysurprisedatSirPatrick’sdeliveringit。“
“SirPatrick’smotiveswillappearpresently,“rejoinedtheincorrigibleoldgentleman。“Secondmessage:’Blanche’sfondestlove。IsdyingtobeacquaintedwithAnne’shusband,andtobeinformedofAnne’smarriedname。FeelsindescribableanxietyandapprehensiononAnne’saccount。InsistsonhearingfromAnneimmediately。Longs,assheneverlongedforanythingyet,toorderherpony-chaiseanddrivefullgalloptotheinn。Yields,underirresistiblepressure,totheexertionofherguardian’sauthority,andcommitstheexpressionofherfeelingstoSirPatrick,whoisaborntyrant,anddoesn’tintheleastmindbreakingotherpeople’shearts。’SirPatrick,speakingforhimself,placeshissister-in-law’sviewandhisniece’sview,sidebyside,beforetheladywhomhehasnowthehonorofaddressing,andonwhoseconfidenceheisespeciallycarefulnottointrude。RemindstheladythathisinfluenceatWindygates,howeverstrenuouslyhemayexertit,isnotlikelytolastforever。Requestshertoconsiderwhetherhissister-in-law’sviewandhisniece’sviewincollision,maynotleadtoveryundesirabledomesticresults;andleaveshertotakethecoursewhichseemsbesttoherselfunderthosecircumstances——Secondmessagedeliveredtextually。Time,threeminutes。Astormcomingon。Aquarterofanhour’sridefromheretotheshooting-cottage。Madam,Iwishyougood-evening。“
Hebowedlowerthanever——and,withoutawordmore,quietlylefttheroom。