第40章

getbackIwilltakecarethataninvitationissenttohertopayhernextvisitatmyhouse。Itremains，ofcourse，tobeseenwhetheryouarefortunateenoughtoproduceafavorableimpressiononher。Inthemeantimeyouwillbedoingeverythingthatmyfathercanaskofyou，ifyoumaketheattempt。“

Geoffreyimpatientlydismissedthatpartofthequestionfromallconsideration。

“Ifshedon’tcottontoamanwho’sgoingtorunintheGreatRaceatFulham，“hesaid，“thereareplentyasgoodassheiswhowill!That’snotthedifficulty。Bother_that!_“

“Itellyouagain，Ihavenothingtodowithyourdifficulties，“

Juliusresumed。“TaketherestofthedaytoconsiderwhatIhavesaidtoyou。Ifyoudecidetoaccepttheproposal，Ishallexpectyoutoproveyouareinearnestbymeetingmeatthestationto-night。WewilltravelbacktoScotlandtogether。YouwillcompleteyourinterruptedvisitatLadyLundie’s(itisimportant，inmyinterests，thatyoushouldtreatapersonofherpositioninthecountywithallduerespect)；andmywifewillmakethenecessaryarrangementswithMrs。Glenarm，inanticipationofyourreturntoourhouse。Thereisnothingmoretobesaid，andnofurthernecessityofmystayinghere。Ifyoujoinmeatthestationto-night，yoursister-in-lawandIwilldoallwecantohelpyou。IfItravelbacktoScotlandalone，don’ttroubleyourselftofollow——Ihavedonewithyou。“Heshookhandswithhisbrother，andwentout。

Leftalone，Geoffreylithispipeandsentforthelandlord。

“Getmeaboat。Ishallscullmyselfuptheriverforanhourortwo。Andputinsometowels。Imaytakeaswim。“

Thelandlordreceivedtheorder——withacautionaddressedtohisillustriousguest。

“Don’tshowyourselfinfrontofthehouse，Sir!Ifyouletthepeopleseeyou，they’reinsuchastateofexcitement，thepolicewon’tanswerforkeepingtheminorder。“

“Allright。I’llgooutbythebackway。“

Hetookaturnupanddowntheroom。Whatwerethedifficultiestobeovercomebeforehecouldprofitbythegoldenprospectwhichhisbrotherhadofferedtohim？TheSports？No!Thecommitteehadpromisedtodefertheday，ifhewishedit——andamonth’straining，inhisphysicalcondition，wouldbeamplyenoughforhim。HadheanypersonalobjectiontotryinghisluckwithMrs。Glenarm？Nothe!Anywomanwoulddo——providedhisfatherwassatisfied，andthemoneywasallright。Theobstaclewhichwasreallyinhiswaywastheobstacleofthewomanwhomhehadruined。Anne!TheoneinsuperabledifficultywasthedifficultyofdealingwithAnne。

“We’llseehowitlooks，“hesaidtohimself，“afterapulluptheriver!“

ThelandlordandthepoliceinspectorsmugledhimoutbythebackwayunknowntotheexpectantpopulaceinfrontThetwomenstoodontheriver-bankadmiringhim，ashepulledawayfromthem，withhislong，powerful，easy，beautifulstroke。

“That’swhatIcalltheprideandflowerofEngland!“saidtheinspector。“Hasthebettingonhimbegun？“

“Sixtofour，“saidthelandlord，“andnotakers。“

Juliuswentearlytothestationthatnight。Hismotherwasveryanxious。“Don’tletGeoffreyfindanexcuseinyourexample，“shesaid，“ifheislate。“

ThefirstpersonwhomJuliussawongettingoutofthecarriagewasGeoffrey——withhistickettaken，andhisportmanteauinchargeoftheguard。

FOURTHSCENE——WINDYGATES。

THELibraryatWindygateswasthelargestandthehandsomestroominthehouse。ThetwogranddivisionsunderwhichLiteratureisusuallyarrangedinthesedaysoccupiedthecustomaryplacesinit。Ontheshelveswhichranroundthewallswerethebookswhichhumanityingeneralrespects——anddoesnotread。Onthetablesdistributedoverthefloorwerethebookswhichhumanityingeneralreads——and