“Leaving me behind?”

“Leaving you behind.  Somebody must stay with Blanche.  After having only been a fortnight married, must I remind you of that?”

“Don’t you think Mr. Crum will write before Monday?”

“It will be such a fortunate circumstance for us, if he does write, that I don’t venture to anticipate it.”

“You are down on our luck, Sir.”

“I detest slang, Arnold.  But slang, I own, expresses my state of mind, in this instance, with an accuracy which almost reconciles me to the use of it—­for once in a way.”

“Every body’s luck turns sooner or later,” persisted Arnold.  “I can’t help thinking our luck is on the turn at last.  Would you mind taking a bet, Sir Patrick?”

“Apply at the stables.  I leave betting, as I leave cleaning the horses, to my groom.”

With that crabbed answer he closed the conversation for the day.

The hours passed, and time brought the post again in due course—­and the post decided in Arnold’s favor!  Sir Patrick’s want of confidence in the favoring patronage of Fortune was practically rebuked by the arrival of a second letter from the Glasgow lawyer on the next day.

“I have the pleasure of announcing” (Mr. Crum wrote) “that I have heard from Miss Silvester, by the next postal delivery ensuing, after I had dispatched my letter to Ham Farm.  She writes, very briefly, to inform me that she has decided on establishing her next place of residence in London.  The reason assigned for taking this step—­which she certainly did not contemplate when I last saw her—­is that she finds herself approaching the end of her pecuniary resources.  Having already decided on adopting, as a means of living, the calling of a concert-singer, she has arranged to place her interests in the hands of an old friend of her late mother (who appears to have belonged also to the musical profession):  a dramatic and musical agent long established in the metropolis, and well known to her as a trustworthy and respectable man.  She sends me the name and address of this person—­a copy of which you will find on the inclosed slip of paper—­in the event of my having occasion to write to her, before she is settled in London.  This is the whole substance of her letter.  I have only to add, that it does not contain the slightest allusion to the nature of the errand on which she left Glasgow.”

Sir Patrick happened to be alone when he opened Mr. Crum’s letter.

His first proceeding, after reading it, was to consult the railway time-table hanging in the hall.  Having done this, he returned to the library—­wrote a short note of inquiry, addressed to the musical agent—­and rang the bell.

“Miss Silvester is expected in London, Duncan.  I want a discreet person to communicate with her.  You are the person.”

Duncan bowed.  Sir Pa trick handed him the note.

“If you start at once you will be in time to catch the train.  Go to that address, and inquire for Miss Silvester.  If she has arrived, give her my compliments, and say I will have the honor of calling on her (on Mr. Brinkworth’s behalf) at the earliest date which she may find it convenient to appoint.  Be quick about it—­and you will have time to get back before the last train.  Have Mr. and Mrs. Brinkworth returned from their drive?”