第41章

“I’vepromisedtoholdmytongue，oncealready。Whatdoyouwantmore？“

“Iamanxious，Geoffrey。IwasatCraigFernie，remember，whenBlanchecamethere!Shehasbeentellingmeallthathappened，poordarling，inthefirmpersuasionthatIwasmilesoffatthetime。IswearIcouldn’tlookherintheface!Whatwouldshethinkofme，ifsheknewthetruth？Praybecareful!praybecareful!“

Geoffrey’spatiencebegantofailhim。

“Wehadallthisout，“hesaid，“onthewayherefromthestation。What’sthegoodofgoingoverthegroundagain？“

“You’requiteright，“saidArnold，good-humoredly。“Thefactis——I’moutofsorts，thismorning。Mymindmisgivesme——Idon’tknowwhy。“

“Mind？“repeatedGeoffrey，inhighcontempt。“It’sflesh——that’swhat’sthematterwith_you。_You’renighonastoneoveryourrightweight。Mindhehanged!Amaninhealthytrainingdon’tknowthathehasgotamind。Takeaturnwiththedumb-bells，andarunuphillwithagreat-coaton。Sweatitoff，Arnold!Sweatitoff!“

Withthatexcellentadvice，heturnedtoleavetheroomforthethirdtime。Fateappearedtohavedeterminedtokeephimimprisonedinthelibrary，thatmorning。Onthisoccasion，itwasaservantwhogotintheway——aservant，withaletterandamessage。“Themanwaitsforanswer。“

Geoffreylookedattheletter。Itwasinhisbrother’shandwriting。HehadleftJuliusatthejunctionaboutthreehourssince。WhatcouldJuliuspossiblyhavetosaytohimnow？

Heopenedtheletter。JuliushadtoannouncethatFortunewasfavoringthemalready。HehadheardnewsofMrs。Glenarm，assoonashereachedhome。Shehadcalledonhiswife，duringhisabsenceinLondon——shehadbeeninvitedtothehouse——andshehadpromisedtoaccepttheinvitationearlyintheweek。“Earlyintheweek，“Juliuswrote，“maymeanto-morrow。MakeyourapologiestoLadyLundie；andtakecarenottooffendher。Saythatfamilyreasons，whichyouhopesoontohavethepleasureofconfidingtoher，obligeyoutoappealoncemoretoherindulgence——andcometo-morrow，andhelpustoreceiveMrs。

Glenarm。“

EvenGeoffreywasstartled，whenhefoundhimselfmetbyasuddennecessityforactingonhisowndecision。Anneknewwherehisbrotherlived。SupposeAnne(notknowingwhereelsetofindhim)

appeare