Chapter 3: The Brink of Discovery

The morning of the interview between Mrs. Milroy and her daughter at the cottage was a morning of serious reflection for the squire at the great house.

Even Allan's easy-tempered nature had not been proof against the disturbing influences exercised on it by the events of the last three days. Midwinter's abrupt departure had vexed him; and Major Milroy's reception of his inquiries relating to Miss Gwilt weighed unpleasantly on his mind. Since his visit to the cottage, he had felt impatient and ill at ease, for the first time in his life, with everybody who came near him. Impatient with Pedgift Junior, who had called on the previous evening to announce his departure for London, on business, the next day, and to place his services at the disposal of his client; ill at ease with Miss Gwilt, at a secret meeting with her in the park that morning; and ill at ease in his own company, as he now sat moodily smoking in the solitude of his room. "I can't live this sort of life much longer," thought Allan. "If nobody will help me to put the awkward question to Miss Gwilt, I must stumble on some way of putting it for myself."

What way? The answer to that question was as hard to find as ever. Allan tried to stimulate his sluggish invention by walking up and down the room, and was disturbed by the appearance of the footman at the first turn.

"Now then! what is it?" he asked, impatiently.

"A letter, sir; and the person waits for an answer."

Allan looked at the address. It was in a strange handwriting. He opened the letter, and a little note inclosed in it dropped to the ground. The note was directed, still in the strange handwriting, to "Mrs. Mandeville, 18 Kingsdown Crescent, Bayswater. Favored by Mr. Armadale." More and more surprised, Allan turned for information to the signature at the end of the letter. It was "Anne Milroy."

"Anne Milroy?" he repeated. "It must be the major's wife. What can she possibly want with me?" By way of discovering what she wanted, Allan did at last what he might more wisely have done at first. He sat down to read the letter.

["Private."] "The Cottage, Monday.

"DEAR SIR--The name at the end of these lines will, I fear,
recall to you a very rude return made on my part, some time
since, for an act of neighborly kindness on yours. I can only
say in excuse that I am a great sufferer, and that, if I was
ill-tempered enough, in a moment of irritation under severe pain,
to send back your present of fruit, I have regretted doing so
ever since. Attribute this letter, if you please, to my desire to
make some atonement, and to my wish to be of service to our good
friend and landlord, if I possibly can.

"I have been informed of the question which you addressed to my
husband, the day before yesterday, on the subject of Miss Gwilt.
From all I have heard of you, I am quite sure that your anxiety
to know more of this charming person than you know now is an
anxiety proceeding from the most honorable motives. Believing
this, I feel a woman's interest--incurable invalid as I am--in
assisting you. If you are desirous of becoming acquainted with
Miss Gwilt's family circumstances without directly appealing
to Miss Gwilt herself, it rests with you to make the discovery;
and I will tell you how.

"It so happens that, some few days since, I wrote privately to
Miss Gwilt's reference on this very subject. I had long observed
that my governess was singularly reluctant to speak of her family
and her friends; and, without attributing her silence to other
than perfectly proper motives, I felt it my duty to my daughter
to make some inquiry on the subject. The answer that I have
received is satisfactory as far as it goes. My correspondent
informs me that Miss Gwilt's story is a very sad one, and that
her own conduct throughout has been praiseworthy in the extreme.
The circumstances (of a domestic nature, as I gather) are all
plainly stated in a collection of letters now in the possession
of Miss Gwilt's reference. This lady is perfectly willing to let
me see the letters; but not possessing copies of them, and being
personally responsible for their security, she is reluctant, if
it can be avoided, to trust them to the post; and she begs me
to wait until she or I can find some reliable person who can be
employed to transmit the packet from her hands to mine.

"Under these circumstances, it has struck me that you might
possibly, with your interest in the matter, be not unwilling to
take charge of the papers. If I am wrong in this idea, and if
you are not disposed, after what I have told you, to go to the
trouble and expense of a journey to London, you have only to burn
my letter and inclosure, and to think no more about it. If you
decide on becoming my envoy, I gladly provide you with the
necessary introduction to Mrs. Mandeville. You have only, on
presenting it, to receive the letters in a sealed packet, to send
them here on your return to Thorpe Ambrose, and to wait an early
communication from me acquainting you with the result.

"In conclusion, I have only to add that I see no impropriety in
your taking (if you feel so inclined) the course that I propose
to you. Miss Gwilt's manner of receiving such allusions as I have
made to her family circumstances has rendered it unpleasant for
me (and would render it quite impossible for you) to seek
information in the first instance from herself. I am certainly
justified in applying to her reference; and you are certainly not
to blame for being the medium of safely transmitting a sealed
communication with one lady to another. If I find in that
communication family secrets which cannot honorably be mentioned
to any third person, I shall, of course, be obliged to keep you
waiting until I have first appealed to Miss Gwilt. If I find
nothing recorded but what is to her honor, and what is sure to
raise her still higher in your estimation, I am undeniably doing
her a service by taking you into my confidence. This is how I
look at the matter; but pray don't allow me to influence _you_.

"In any case, I have one condition to make, which I am sure you
will understand to be indispensable. The most innocent actions
are liable, in this wicked world, to the worst possible
interpretation I must, therefore, request that you will consider
this communication as strictly _private_. I write to you in a
confidence which is on no account (until circumstances may, in my
opinion, justify the revelation of it) to extend beyond our two
selves,

"Believe me, dear sir, truly yours,

"ANNE MILROY."

In this tempting form the unscrupulous ingenuity of the major's wife had set the trap. Without a moment's hesitation, Allan followed his impulses, as usual, and walked straight into it, writing his answer and pursuing his own reflections simultaneously in a highly characteristic state of mental confusion.

"By Jupiter, this is kind of Mrs. Milroy!" ("My dear madam.") "Just the thing I wanted, at the time when I needed it most!" ("I don't know how to express my sense of your kindness, except by saying that I will go to London and fetch the letters with the greatest pleasure.") "She shall have a basket of fruit regularly every day, all through the season. " ("I will go at once, dear madam, and be back to-morrow.") "Ah, nothing like the women for helping one when one is in love! This is just what my poor mother would have done in Mrs. Milroy's place." ("On my word of honor as a gentleman, I will take the utmost care of the letters; and keep the thing strictly private, as you request.") "I would have given five hundred pounds to anybody who would have put me up to the right way to speak to Miss Gwilt; and here is this blessed woman does it for nothing." ("Believe me, my dear madam, gratefully yours, Allan Armadale.")

Having sent his reply out to Mrs. Milroy's messenger, Allan paused in a momentary perplexity. He had an appointment with Miss Gwilt in the park for the next morning. It was absolutely necessary to let her know that he would be unable to keep it. She had forbidden him to write, and he had no chance that day of seeing her alone. In this difficulty, he determined to let the necessary intimation reach her through the medium of a message to the major, announcing his departure for London on business, and asking if he could be of service to any member of the family. Having thus removed the only obstacle to his freedom of action, Allan consulted the time-table, and found, to his disappointment, that there was a good hour to spare before it would be necessary to drive to the railway station. In his existing frame of mind he would infinitely have preferred starting for London in a violent hurry.

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