第20章

“Yes，SirPatrick。LadyLundiehaskindlyorderedthegigtotakemetothestation，intimeforthenexttrain。“

“Whenareyoutobeready？“

Arnoldlookedathiswatch。“Inaquarterofanhour。“

“Verygood。Mindyou_are_ready。Stopaminute!youwillhaveplentyoftimetospeaktoBlanchewhenIhavedonewithyou。Youdon’tappeartometobesufficientlyanxiousaboutseeingyourownproperty。“

“IamnotveryanxioustoleaveBlanche，Sir——that’sthetruthofit。“

“NevermindBlanche。Blancheisnotbusiness。TheybothbeginwithaB——andthat’stheonlyconnectionbetweenthem。IhearyouhavegotoneofthefinesthousesinthispartofScotland。HowlongareyougoingtostayinScotland？Howlongareyougoingtostayinit？“

“Ihavearranged(asIhavealreadytoldyou，Sir)toreturntoWindygatesthedayafterto-morrow。“

“What!Hereisamanwithapalacewaitingtoreceivehim——andheisonlygoingtostoponecleardayinit!“

“Iamnotgoingtostopinitatall，SirPatrick——Iamgoingtostaywiththesteward。I’monlywantedtobepresentto-morrowatadinnertomytenants——and，whenthat’sover，there’snothingintheworldtopreventmycomingbackhere。Thestewardhimselftoldmesoinhislastletter。“

“Oh，ifthestewardtoldyouso，ofcoursethereisnothingmoretobesaid!“

“Don’tobjecttomycomingback!praydon’t，SirPatrick!I’llpromisetoliveinmynewhousewhenIhavegotBlanchetoliveinitwithme。Ifyouwon’tmind，I’llgoandtellheratoncethatitallbelongstoheraswellastome。“

“Gently!gently!youtalkasifyouweremarriedtoheralready!“

“It’sasgoodasdone，Sir!Where’sthedifficultyinthewaynow？“

Asheaskedthequestiontheshadowofsomethirdperson，advancingfromthesideofthesummer-house，wasthrownforwardontheopensunlitspaceatthetopofthesteps。Inamomentmoretheshadowwasfollowedbythesubstance——intheshapeofagroominhisridinglivery。Themanwasplainlyastrangertotheplace。Hestarted，andtouchedhishat，whenhesawthetwogentlemeninthesummer-house。

“Whatdoyouwant？“askedSirPatrick“Ibegyourpardon，Sir；Iwassentbymymaster——“

“Whoisyourmaster？“

“TheHonorableMr。Delamayn，Sir。“

“DoyoumeanMr。GeoffreyDelamayn？“askedArnold。

“No，Sir。Mr。Geoffrey’sbrother——Mr。Julius。Ihaveriddenoverfromthehouse，Sir，withamessagefrommymastertoMr。

Geoffrey。“

“Can’tyoufindhim？“

“TheytoldmeIshouldfindhimhereabouts，Sir。ButI’mastranger，anddon’trightlyknowwheretolook。“Hestopped，andtookacardoutofhispocket。“MymastersaiditwasveryimportantIshoulddeliverthisimmediately。Wouldyoubepleasedtotellme，gentlemen，ifyouhappentoknowwhereMr。Geoffreyis？“

ArnoldturnedtoSirPatrick。“Ihaven’tseenhim。Haveyou？“

“Ihavesmelthim，“answeredSirPatrick，“eversinceIhavebeeninthesummer-house。Thereisadetestabletaintoftobaccointheair——suggestive(disagreeablysuggestiveto_my_mind)ofyourfriend，Mr。Delamayn。“

Arnoldlaughed，andsteppedoutsidethesummer-house。

“Ifyouareright，SirPatrick，wewillfindhimatonce。“Helookedaround，andshouted，“Geoffrey!“

Avoicefromtherose-gardenshoutedback，“Hullo!“

“You’rewanted。Comehere!“

Geoffreyappeared，saunteringdoggedly，withhispipeinhismouth，andhishandsinhispockets。

“Whowantsme？“

“Agroom——fromyourbrother。“

Thatanswerappearedtoelectrifytheloungingandlazyathlete。

Geoffreyhurried，witheagersteps，tothesummer-house。HeaddressedthegroombeforethemanhadtimetospeakWithhorroranddismayinhisface，heexclaimed：

“ByJupiter!Ratcatcherhasrelapsed!“

SirPatrickandArnoldlookedateachotherinblankamazement。

“Thebesthorseinmybrother’sstables!“criedGeoffrey，explaining，andappealingtothem，inabreath。“Ileftwrittendirectionswiththecoachman，Imeasuredouthisphysicforthreedays；Ibledhim，“saidGeoffrey，inavoicebrokenbyemotion——“Ibledhimmyself，lastnight。“

“Ibegyourpardon，Sir——“beganthegroom。

“What’stheuseofbeggingmypardon？You’reapackofinfernalfools!Where’syourhorse？I’llrideback，andbreakeveryboneinthecoachman’sskin!Where’syourhorse？“

“Ifyouplease，Sir，itisn’tRatcatcher。Ratcatcher’sallright。“

“Ratcatcher’sallright？Thenwhatthedevilisit？“

“It’samessage，Sir。“

“Aboutwhat？“

“Aboutmylord。“

“Oh!Aboutmyfather？“Hetookouthishandkerchief，andpasseditoverhisforehead，withadeepgaspofrelief。“IthoughtitwasRatcatcher，“hesaid，lookingatArnold，withasmile。Heputhispipeintohismouth，andrekindledthedyingashesofthetobacco。“Well？“hewenton，whenthepipewasinworkingorder，andhisvoicewascomposedagain：“What’supwithmyfather？“

“AtelegramfromLondon，Sir。Badnewsofmylord。“

Themanproducedhismaster’scard。

Geoffreyreadonit(writteninhisbrother’shandwriting)thesewords：

“Ihaveonlyamomenttoscribblealineonmycard。Ourfatherisdangerouslyill——hislawyerhasbeensentfor。ComewithmetoLondonbythefirsttrain。Meetatthejunction。“

Withoutawordtoanyoneofthethreepersonspresent，allsilentlylookingathim，Geoffreyconsultedhiswatch。Annehadtoldhimtowaithalfanhour，andtoassumethatshehadgoneifhefailedtohearfromherinthattime。Theintervalhadpassed——andnocommunicationofanysorthadreachedhim。Theflightfromthehousehadbeensafelyaccomplished。AnneSilvesterwas，atthatmoment，onherwaytothemountaininn。

CHAPTERTHESEVENTH。

THEDEBT。

ARNOLDwasthefirstwhobrokethesilence。“Isyourfatherseriouslyill？“heasked。

Geoffreyansweredbyhandinghimthecard。

SirPatrick，whohadstoodapart(whilethequestionofRatcatcher’srelapsewasunderdiscussion)sardonicallystudyingthemannersandcustomsofmodernEnglishyouth，nowcameforward，andtookhispartintheproceedings。LadyLundieherselfmusthaveacknowledgedthathespokeandactedasbecametheheadofthefamily，onthisoccasion。

“AmIrightinsupposingthatMr。Delamayn’sfatherisdangerouslyill？“heasked，addressinghimselftoArnold。

“Dangerouslyill，inLondon，“Arnoldanswered。“GeoffreymustleaveWindygateswithme。ThetrainIamtravelingbymeetsthetrainhisbrotheristravelingby，atthejunction。Ishallleavehimatthesecondstationfromhere。“

“Didn’tyoutellmethatLadyLundiewasgoingtosendyoutotherailwayinagig？“

“Yes。“

“Iftheservantdrives，therewillbethreeofyou——andtherewillbenoroom。“

“Wehadbetteraskforsomeothervehicle，“suggestedArnold。

SirPatricklookedathiswatch。Therewasnotimetochangethecarriage。HeturnedtoGeoffrey。“Canyoudrive，Mr。Delamayn？“

Stillimpenetrablysilent，Geoffreyrepliedbyanodofthehead。

Withoutnoticingtheunceremoniousmannerinwhichhehadbeenanswered，SirPatrickwenton：

“Inthatcase，youcanleavethegiginchargeofthestation-master。I’lltelltheservantthathewillnotbewantedtodrive。“

“Letmesaveyouthetrouble，SirPatrick，“saidArnold。

SirPatrickdeclined，byagesture。Heturnedagain，withundiminishedcourtesy，toGeoffrey。“Itisoneofthedutiesofhospitality，Mr。Delamayn，tohastenyourdeparture，underthesesadcircumstances。LadyLundieisengagedwithherguests。Iwillseemyselfthatthereisnounnecessarydelayinsendingyoutothestation。“Hebowed——andleftthesummer-house。