Viewed by the new light in which he saw Geoffrey's character after the quarrel on the heath, the letter conveyed but one conclusion to his mind.

Geoffrey had deserted her.
"Well ?" said Sir Patrick.

"Do you understand what it means ?" "I understand Blanche's wretchedness when she read it." He said no more than that.

It was plain that no information which he could afford--even if he had considered himself at liberty to give it--would be of the slightest use in assisting Sir Patrick to trace Miss Silvester, under present circumstances, There was--unhappily--no temptation to induce him to break the honorable silence which he had maintained thus far.

And--more unfortunately still--assuming the temptation to present itself, Arnold's capacity to resist it had never been so strong a capacity as it was now.
To the two powerful motives which had hitherto tied his tongue--respect for Anne's reputation, and reluctance to reveal to Blanche the deception which he had been compelled to practice on her at the inn--to these two motives there was now added a third.