Having admitted this, may I count on receiving your permission to explain the motive of my visit ?" Necessarily suspicious of him, as coming from Windygates, Anne answered in few and formal words, as coldly as before.
"Explain it, Sir Patrick, if you please, as briefly as possible." Sir Patrick bowed.

He was not in the least offended; he was even (if the confession may be made without degrading him in the public estimation) privately amused.

Conscious of having honestly presented himself at the inn in Anne's interests, as well as in the interests of the ladies at Windygates, it appealed to his sense of humor to find himself kept at arm's-length by the very woman whom he had come to benefit.

The temptation was strong on him to treat his errand from his own whimsical point of view.

He gravely took out his watch, and noted the time to a second, before he spoke again.
"I have an event to relate in which you are interested," he said.