第21章

Arnoldsaidawordofsympathytohisfriend，whentheywerealone。

“Iamsorryforthis，Geoffrey。IhopeandtrustyouwillgettoLondonintime。“

Hestopped。TherewassomethinginGeoffrey’sface——astrangemixtureofdoubtandbewilderment，ofannoyanceandhesitation——whichwasnottobeaccountedforasthenaturalresultofthenewsthathehadreceived。Hiscolorshiftedandchanged；hepickedfretfullyathisfinger-nails；helookedatArnoldasifhewasgoingtospeak——andthenlookedawayagain，insilence。

“Istheresomethingamiss，Geoffrey，besidesthisbadnewsaboutyourfather？“askedArnold。

“I’minthedevil’sownmess，“wastheanswer。

“CanIdoanythingtohelpyou？“

Insteadofmakingadirectreply，Geoffreyliftedhismightyhand，andgaveArnoldafriendlyslapontheshoulderwhichshookhimfromheadtofoot。Arnoldsteadiedhimself，andwaited——wonderingwhatwascomingnext。

“Isay，oldfellow!“saidGeoffrey。

“Yes。“

“DoyourememberwhentheboatturnedkeelupwardinLisbonHarbor？“

Arnoldstarted。Ifhecouldhavecalledtomindhisfirstinterviewinthesummer-housewithhisfather’soldfriendhemighthaverememberedSirPatrick’spredictionthathewouldsoonerorlaterpay，withinterest，thedebtheowedtothemanwhohadsavedhislife。Asitwashismemoryrevertedataboundtothetimeoftheboat-accident。Intheardorofhisgratitudeandtheinnocenceofhisheart，healmostresentedhisfriend’squestionasareproachwhichhehadnotdeserved。

“DoyouthinkIcaneverforget，“hecried，warmly，“thatyouswamashorewithmeandsavedmylife？“

Geoffreyventuredastepnearertotheobjectthathehadinview。

“Onegoodturndeservesanother，“hesaid，“don’tit？“

Arnoldtookhishand。“Onlytellme!“heeagerlyrejoined——“onlytellmewhatIcando!“

“Youaregoingto-daytoseeyournewplace，ain’tyou？“

“Yes。“

“Canyouputoffgoingtillto-morrow？“

“Ifit’sanythingserious——ofcourseIcan!“

Geoffreylookedroundattheentrancetothesummer-house，tomakesurethattheywerealone。

“Youknowthegovernesshere，don’tyou？“hesaid，inawhisper。

“MissSilvester？“

“Yes。I’vegotintoalittledifficultywithMissSilvester。Andthereisn’talivingsoulIcanasktohelpmebut_you。_“

“YouknowIwillhelpyou。Whatisit？“

“Itisn’tsoeasytosay。Nevermind——you’renosainteither，areyou？You’llkeepitasecret，ofcourse？Lookhere!I’veactedlikeaninfernalfool。I’vegoneandgotthegirlintoascrape——“

Arnolddrewback，suddenlyunderstandinghim。

“Goodheavens，Geoffrey!Youdon’tmean——“

“Ido!Waitabit——that’snottheworstofit。Shehasleftthehouse。“

“Leftthehouse？“

“Left，forgoodandall。Shecan’tcomebackagain。“

“Whynot？“

“Beca