第44章

“Ibelieveourfriendsareinthegarden，“saidArnold。“SirPatrickmaybeamongthem。I’llgoandsee。“

TheinstanthisbackwasturnedGeoffreysnatchedupasheetofnote-paper。“BeforeIforgetit!“hesaidtohimself。Hewrotetheword“Memorandum“atthetopofthepage，andaddedtheselinesbeneathit：

“Heaskedforherbythenameofhiswifeatthedoor。Hesaid，atdinner，beforethelandladyandthewaiter，’Itaketheseroomsformywife。’Hemade_her_sayhewasherhusbandatthesametime。Afterthathestoppedallnight。WhatdothelawyerscallthisinScotland？——(Query：amarriage？)“

Afterfoldingupthepaperhehesitatedforamoment。“No!“hethought，“Itwon’tdototrusttowhatMissLundiesaidaboutit。

Ican’tbecertaintillIhaveconsultedSirPatrickhimself。“

Heputthepaperawayinhispocket，andwipedtheheavyperspirationfromhisforehead。Hewaspale——for_him，_

strikinglypale——whenArnoldcameback。

“Anythingwrong，Geoffrey？——you’reaswhiteasashes。“

“It’stheheat。Where’sSirPatrick？“

“Youmayseeforyourself。“

Arnoldpointedtothewindow。SirPatrickwascrossingthelawn，onhiswaytothelibrarywithanewspaperinhishand；andtheguestsatWindygateswereaccompanyinghim。SirPatrickwassmiling，andsayingnothing。Theguestsweretalkingexcitedlyatthetopsoftheirvoices。Therehadapparentlybeenacollisionofsomekindbetweentheoldschoolandthenew。ArnolddirectedGeoffrey’sattentiontothestateofaffairsonthelawn。

“HowareyoutoconsultSirPatrickwithallthosepeopleabouthim？“

“I’llconsultSirPatrick，ifItakehimbythescruffoftheneckandcarryhimintothenextcounty!“Herosetohisfeetashespokethosewords，andemphasizedthemunderhisbreathwithanoath。

SirPatrickenteredthelibrary，withtheguestsathisheels。

CHAPTERTHENINETEENTH。

CLOSEONIT。

THEobjectoftheinvasionofthelibrarybythepartyinthegardenappearedtobetwofold。

SirPatrickhadenteredtheroomtorestorethenewspapertotheplacefromwhichhehadtakenit。Theguests，tothenumberoffive，hadfollowedhim，toappealinabodytoGeoffreyDelamayn。

Betweenthesetwoapparentlydissimilarmotivestherewasaconnection，notvisibleonthesurface，whichwasnowtoassertitself。

Ofthefiveguests，twoweremiddle-agedgentlemenbelongingtothatlarge，butindistinct，divisionofthehumanfamilywhomthehandofNaturehaspaintedinunobtrusiveneutraltint。Theyhadabsorbedtheideasoftheirtimewithsuchreceptivecapacityastheypossessed；andtheyoccupiedmuchthesameplaceinsocietywhichthechorusinanoperaoccupiesonthestage。Theyechoedtheprevalentsentimentofthemoment；andtheygavethesolo-talkertimetofetchhisbreath。

Thethreeremainingguestswereontherightsideofthirty。Allprofoundlyversedinhorse-racing，inathleticsports，inpipes，beer，billiards，andbetting。Allprofoundlyignorantofeverythingelseunderthesun。Allgentlemenbybirth，andallmarkedassuchbythestampof“aUniversityeducation。“TheymaybepersonallydescribedasfaintreflectionsofGeoffrey；andtheymaybenumericallydistinguished(intheabsenceofallotherdi