第12章

Here，again，thereappearedtobesomethinginanameunknowntocelebrity，whichneverthelessproduceditseffect——not，thistime，onMissSilvester，butonSirPatrick。HelookedatMr。

Brinkworthwithasuddeninterestandcuriosity。Iftheladyofthehousehadnotclaimedhisattentionatthemomenthewouldevidentlyhavespokentothedarkyoungman。

ButitwasLadyLundie’sturntochooseasecondplayeronherside。Herbrother-in-lawwasapersonofsomeimportance；andshehadherownmotivesforingratiatingherselfwiththeheadofthefamily。ShesurprisedthewholecompanybychoosingSirPatrick。

“Mamma!“criedBlanche。“Whatcanyoubethinkingof？SirPatrickwon’tplay。Croquetwasn’tdiscoveredinhistime。“

SirPatrickneverallowed“histime“tobemadethesubjectofdisparagingremarksbytheyoungergenerationwithoutpayingtheyoungergenerationbackinitsowncoin。

“In_my_time，mydear，“hesaidtohisniece，“peoplewereexpectedtobringsomeagreeablequalitywiththemtosocialmeetingsofthissort。Inyourtimeyouhavedispensedwithallthat。Here，“remarkedtheoldgentleman，takingupacroquetmalletfromthetablenearhim，“isoneofthequalificationsforsuccessinmodernsociety。Andhere，“headded，takingupaball，“isanother。Verygood。Liveandlearn。I’llplay!I’llplay!“

LadyLundie(bornimpervioustoallsenseofirony)smiledgraciously。

“IknewSirPatrickwouldplay，“shesaid，“topleaseme，“

SirPatrickbowedwithsatiricalpoliteness。

“LadyLundie，“heanswered，“youreadmelikeabook。“Totheastonishmentofallpersonspresentunderfortyheemphasizedthosewordsbylayinghishandonhisheart，andquotingpoetry。

“ImaysaywithDryden，“addedthegallantoldgentleman：

“’OldasIam，forladies’loveunfit，ThepowerofbeautyIrememberyet。’“

LadyLundielookedunaffectedlyshocked。Mr。Delamaynwentastepfarther。Heinterferedonthespot——withtheairofamanwhofeelshimselfimperativelycalledupontoperformapublicduty。

“Drydenneversaidthat，“heremarked，“I’llanswerforit。“

SirPatrickwheeledroundwiththehelpofhisivorycane，andlookedMr。Delamaynhardintheface。

“DoyouknowDryden，Sir，betterthanIdo？“heasked。

TheHonorableGeoffreyanswered，modestly，“IshouldsayIdid。I

haverowedthreeraceswithhim，andwetrainedtogether。“

SirPatricklookedroundhimwithasoursmileoftriumph。

“Thenletmetellyou，Sir，“hesaid，“thatyoutrainedwithamanwhodiednearlytwohundredyearsago。“

Mr。Delamaynappealed，ingenuinebewilderment，tothecompanygenerally：

“Whatdoesthisoldgentlemanmean？“heasked。“IamspeakingofTomDryden，ofCorpus。EverybodyintheUniversityknows_him。_“

“Iamspeaking，“echoedSirPatrick，“ofJohnDrydenthePoet。

Apparently，everybodyintheUniversitydoes_not_know_him!“_

Mr。Delamaynanswered，withacordialearnestnessverypleasanttosee：

“Giveyoumywordofhonor，Ineverheardofhimbeforeinmylife!Don’tbeangry，Sir。_I’m_notoffendedwith_you。_“Hesmiled，andtookouthisbrier-woodpipe。“Gotalight？“heasked，inthefriendliestpossiblemanner。

SirPatrickanswered，withatotalabsenceofcordiality：

“Idon’tsmoke，Sir。“

Mr。Delamaynlookedathim，withouttakingtheslightestoffense：

“Youdon’tsmoke!“herepeated。“Iwonderhowyougetthroughyoursparetime？“

SirPatrickclosedtheconversation：

“Sir，“hesaid，withalowbow，“you_may_wonder。“

WhilethislittleskirmishwasproceedingLadyLundieandherstep-daughterhadorganizedthegame；andthecompany，playersandspectators，werebeginningtomovetowardthelawn。SirPatrickstoppedhisnieceonherwayout，withthedarkyoungmanincloseattendanceonher。

“LeaveMr。Brinkworthwithme，“hesaid。“Iwanttospeaktohim。“

Blancheissuedherordersimmediately。Mr。BrinkworthwassentencedtostaywithSirPatrickuntilshewantedhimforthegame。Mr。Brinkworthwondered，andobeyed。

Duringtheexerciseofthisactofauthorityacircumstanceoccurredattheotherendofthesummer-house。Takingadvantageoftheconfusioncausedbythegeneralmovementtothelawn，MissSilvestersuddenlyplacedherselfclosetoMr。Delamayn。

“Intenminutes，“shewhispered，“thesummer-housewillbeempty。

Meetmehere。“

TheHonorableGeoffreystarted，andlookedfurtivelyatthevisitorsabouthim。

“Doyouthinkit’ssafe？“hewhisperedback。

Thegoverness’ssensitivelipstrembled，withfearorwithanger，itwashardtosaywhich。

“Iinsistonit!“sheanswered，andlefthim。

Mr。Delamaynknittedhishandsomeeyebrowsashelookedafterher，andthenleftthesummer-houseinhisturn。Therose-gardenatthebackofthebuildingwassolitaryforthemoment。Hetookouthispipeandhidhimselfamongtheroses。Thesmokecamefromhismouthinhotandhastypuffs。Hewasusuallythegentlestofmasters——tohispipe。Whenhehurriedthatconfidentialservant，itwasasuresignofdisturbanceintheinnerman。

BUTtwopersonswerenowleftinthesummer-house——ArnoldBrinkworthandSirPatrickLundie。

“Mr。Brinkworth，“saidtheoldgentleman，“Ihavehadnoopportunityofspeakingtoyoubeforethis；and(asIhearthatyouaretoleaveus，to-day)Imayfindnoopportunityatalatertime。Iwanttointroducemyself。Yourfatherwasoneofmydearestfriends——letmemakeafriendofyourfather’sson。“

Heheldouthishands，andmentionedhisname。

Arnoldrecognizeditdirectly。“Oh，SirPatrick!“hesaid，warmly，“ifmypoorfatherhadonlytakenyouradvice——“

“Hewouldhavethoughttwicebeforehegambledawayhisfortuneontheturf；andhemighthavebeenalivehereamongus，insteadofdyinganexileinaforeignland，“saidSirPatrick，finishingthesentencewhichtheotherhadbegun。“Nomoreofthat!Let’stalkofsomethingelse。LadyLundiewrotetomeaboutyoutheotherday。Shetoldmeyourauntwasdead，andhadleftyouheirtoherpropertyinScotland。Isthattrue？——Itis？——I

congratulateyouwithallmyheart。Whyareyouvisitinghere，insteadoflookingafteryourhouseandlands？Oh!it’sonlythree-and-twentymilesfromthis；andyou’regoingtolookafteritto-day，bythenexttrain？Quiteright。And——what？

what？——comingbackagainthedayafterto-morrow？Whyshouldyoucomeback？Somespecialattractionhere，Isuppose？Ihopeit’stherightsortofattraction。You’reveryyoung——you’reexposedtoallsortsoftemptations。Haveyougotasolidfoundationofgoodsenseatthebottomofyou？Itisnotinheritedfromyourpoorfather，ifyouhave。Youmusthavebeenamereboywhenheruinedhischildren’sprospects。Howhaveyoulivedfromthattimetothis？Whatwereyoudoingwhenyouraunt’swillmadeanidlemanofyouforlife？“

Thequestionwasasearchingone。Arnoldansweredit，withouttheslightesthesitation；speakingwithanunaffectedmodestyandsimplicitywhichatoncewonSirPatrick’sheart。

“IwasaboyatEton，Sir，“hesaid，“whenmyfather’slossesruinedhim。Ihadtoleaveschool，andgetmyownliving；andI

havegotit，inaroughishway，fromthattimetothis。InplainEnglish，Ihavefollowedthesea——inthemerchant-service。“

“InplainerEnglishstill，youmetadversitylikeabravelad，andyouhavefairlyearnedthegoodluckthathasfallentoyou，“

rejoinedSirPatrick。“Givemeyourhand——Ihavetakenalikingtoyou。You’renotliketheotheryoungfellowsofthepresenttime。Ishallcallyou’Arnold。’Youmus’n’treturnthecomplimentandcallme’Patrick，’mind——I’mtoooldtobetreatedinthatway。Well，andhowdoyougetonhere？Whatsortofawomanismysister-in-law？andwhatsortofahouseisthis？“

Arnoldburstoutlaughing。

“Thoseareextraordinaryquestionsforyoutoputtome，“hesaid。“Youtalk，Sir，asifyouwereastrangerhere!“

SirPatricktouchedaspringintheknobofhisivorycane。A

littlegoldlidflewup，anddisclosedthesnuff-boxhiddeninside。Hetookapinch，andchuckledsatiricallyoversomepassingthought，whichhedidnotthinkitnecessarytocommunicatetohisyoungfriend。