第37章

Ta-ta，Julius。Youknowwheretofindme。Come，anddine。We’llgiveyouasteakatNagle’sthatwillmakeamanofyou。“

Hewentout。Thetallfootmeneyedhislordship’ssecondsonwithunaffectedrespect。Theyhadseenhim，inpublic，attheannualfestivaloftheChristian-Pugilistic-Association，with“thegloves“on。Hecouldhavebeatenthebiggestmaninthehallwithinaninchofhislifeinthreeminutes。Theporterbowedashethrewopenthedoor。ThewholeinterestandattentionofthedomesticestablishmentthenpresentwasconcentratedonGeoffrey。

Juliuswentupstairstohismotherwithoutattractingtheslightestnotice。

ThemonthwasAugust。Thestreetswereempty。Thevilestbreezethatblows——ahoteastwindinLondon——wasthebreezeabroadonthatday。EvenGeoffreyappearedtofeeltheinfluenceoftheweatherasthecabcarriedhimfromhisfather’sdoortothehotel。Hetookoffhishat，andunbuttonedhiswaistcoat，andlithiseverlastingpipe，andgrowledandgrumbledbetweenhisteethintheintervalsofsmoking。Wasitonlythehotwindthatwrungfromhimthesedemonstrationsofdiscomfort？Orwastheresomesecretanxietyinhismindwhichassistedthedepressinginfluencesoftheday？Therewasasecretanxietyinhismind。

Andthenameofitwas——Anne。

Asthingsactuallywereatthatmoment，whatcoursewashetotakewiththeunhappywomanwhowaswaitingtohearfromhimattheScotchinn？

Towrite？ornottowrite？ThatwasthequestionwithGeoffrey。

Thepreliminarydifficulty，relatingtoaddressingalettertoAnneattheinn，hadbeenalreadyprovidedfor。Shehaddecided——ifitprovednecessarytogivehername，beforeGeoffreyjoinedher——tocallherselfMrs。，insteadofMiss，Silvester。A

letteraddressedto“Mrs。Silvester“mightbetrustedtofinditswaytoherwithoutcausinganyembarrassment。Thedoubtwasnothere。Thedoubtlay，asusual，betweentwoalternatives。Whichcoursewoulditbewisesttotake？——toinformAnne，bythatday’spost，thatanintervalofforty-eighthoursmustelapsebeforehisfather’srecoverycouldbeconsideredcertain？Ortowaittilltheintervalwasover，andbeguidedbytheresult？

Consideringthealternativesinthecab，hedecidedthatthewisecoursewastotemporizewithAnne，byreportingmattersastheythenstood。

Arrivedatthehotel，hesatdowntowritetheletter——doubted——andtoreitup——doubtedagain——andbeganagain——doubtedoncemore——andtoreupthesecondletter——rosetohisfeet——andownedtohimself(inunprintablelanguage)thathecouldn’tforthelifeofhimdecidewhichwassafest——towriteortowait。

Inthisdifficulty，hishealthyphysicalinstinctssenthimtohealthyphysicalremediesforrelief。“Mymind’sinamuddle，“

saidGeoffrey。“I’lltryabath。“

Itwasanelaboratebath，proceedingthroughmanyrooms，andcombiningmanyposturesandapplications。Hesteamed。Heplunged。

Hesimmered。Hestoodunderapipe，andreceivedacataractofcoldwateronhishead。Hewaslaidonhisback；hewaslaidonhisstomach；hewasrespectfullypoundedandkneaded，fromheadtofoot，bytheknucklesofaccomplishedpractitioners。Hecameoutofitall，sleek，clearrosy，beautiful。Hereturnedtothehotel，andtookupthewritingmaterials——andbeholdtheintolerableindecisionseizedhimagain，decliningtobewashedout!ThistimehelaiditalltoAnne。“Thatinfernalwomanwillbetheruinofme，“saidGeoffrey，takinguphishat。“Imusttrythedumb-bells。“

Thepursuitofthenewremedyforstimulatingasluggishbraintookhimtoapublichouse，keptbytheprofessionalpedestrianwhohadthehonoroftraininghimwhenhecontendedatAthleticSports。

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