Blanche trembled from head to foot, and made no reply.
“I am going into the garden, to speak to Mr. Brinkworth through the smoking-room window,” pursued her ladyship. “Have you the courage to come with me; to wait behind out of sight; and to hear what he says with his own lips? I am not afraid of putting it to that test. Are you?”
The tone in which she asked the question roused Blanche’s spirit.
“If I believed him to be guilty,” she said, resolutely, “I should not have the courage. I believe him to be innocent. Lead the way, Lady Lundie, as soon as you please.”
They left the room—Blanche’s own room at Ham Farm—and descended to the hall. Lady Lundie stopped, and consulted the railway time-table hanging near the house-door.
“There is a train to London at a quarter to twelve,” she said. “How long does it take to walk to the station?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You will soon know. Answer my question.”
“It’s a walk of twenty minutes to the station.”
Lady Lundie referred to her watch. “There will be just time,” she said.