第38章

“Makeamemorandumofthename，“LordHolchesterwenton。“AnneSilvester。Herfatherandmotheraredead。Iknewherfatherinformertimes。Hermotherwasill-used。Itwasabadbusiness。I

havebeenthinkingofitagain，forthefirsttimeformanyyears。Ifthegirlisaliveandabouttheworldshemayrememberourfamilyname。Helpher，Julius，ifsheeverwantshelp，andappliestoyou。“Thepainfulcontractionpassedacrosshisfaceoncemore。WerehisthoughtstakinghimbacktothememorablesummereveningattheHampsteadvilla？Didheseethedesertedwomanswooningathisfeetagain？“Aboutyourelection？“heasked，impatiently。“Mymindisnotusedtobeidle。Giveitsomethingtodo。“

Juliusstatedhispositionasplainlyandasbrieflyashecould。

Thefatherfoundnothingtoobjecttointhereport——excepttheson’sabsencefromthefieldofaction。HeblamedLadyH

olchesterforsummoningJuliustoLondon。Hewasannoyedathisson’sbeingthere，atthebedside，whenheoughttohavebeenaddressingtheelectors。“It’sinconvenient，Julius，“hesaid，petulantly。“Don’tyouseeityourself？“

HavingpreviouslyarrangedwithhismothertotakethefirstopportunitythatofferedofriskingareferencetoGeoffrey，Juliusdecidedto“seeit“inalightforwhichhisfatherwasnotprepared。Theopportunitywasbeforehim。Hetookitonthespot。

“Itisnoinconveniencetome，Sir，“hereplied，“anditisnoinconveniencetomybrothereither。Geoffreywasanxiousaboutyoutoo。GeoffreyhascometoLondonwithme。“

LordHolchesterlookedathiseldestsonwithagrimly-satiricalexpressionofsurprise。

“HaveInotalreadytoldyou，“herejoined，“thatmymindisnotaffectedbymyillness？Geoffreyanxiousaboutme!Anxietyisoneofthecivilizedemotions。Maninhissavagestateisincapableoffeelingit。“

“Mybrotherisnotasavage，Sir。“

“Hisstomachisgenerallyfull，andhisskiniscoveredwithlinenandcloth，insteadofredochreandoil。Sofar，certainly，yourbrotheriscivilized。Inallotherrespectsyourbrotherisasavage。“

“Iknowwhatyoumean，Sir。ButthereissomethingtobesaidforGeoffrey’swayoflife。Hecultivateshiscourageandhisstrength。Courageandstrengtharefinequalities，surely，intheirway？“

“Excellentqualities，asfarastheygo。Ifyouwanttoknowhowfarthatis，challengeGeoffreytowriteasentenceofdecentEnglish，andseeifhiscouragedoesn’tfailhimthere。Givehimhisbookstoreadforhisdegree，and，strongasheis，hewillbetakenillatthesightofthem。Youwishmetoseeyourbrother。Nothingwillinducemetoseehim，untilhiswayoflife(asyoucallit)isalteredaltogether。Ihavebutonehopeofitseverbeingalterednow。Itisbarelypossiblethattheinfluenceofasensiblewoman——possessedofsuchadvantagesofbirthandfortuneasmaycompelrespect，evenfromasavage——mightproduceitseffectonGeoffrey。Ifhewishestofindhiswaybackintothishouse，lethimfindhiswaybackintogoodsocietyfirst，andbringmeadaughter-in-lawtopleadhiscauseforhim——whomhismo