第48章

Shakehands!“Thetwochoralgentlemenwereenchantedwithhim。

“TheEnglisharistocracy——eh，Smith？““Bloodandbreeding——ah，Jones!“

Assoonashehadspoken，Arnold’sconsciencereproachedhim：notforbetting(whoisashamedof_that_formofgamblinginEngland？)butfor“backingthedoctor。“Withthebestintentiontowardhisfriend，hewasspeculatingonthefailureofhisfriend’shealth。HeanxiouslyassuredGeoffreythatnomanintheroomcouldbemoreheartilypersuadedthatthesurgeonwaswrongthanhimself。“Idon’tcryofffromthebet，“hesaid。“But，mydearfellow，prayunderstandthatIonlytakeittoplease_you。_“

“Botherallthat!“answeredGeoffrey，withthesteadyeyetobusiness，whichwasoneofthechoicestvirtuesinhischaracter。

“Abet’sabet——andhangyoursentiment!“HedrewArnoldbythearmoutofear-shotoftheothers。“Isay!“heasked，anxiously。

“DoyouthinkI’vesettheoldfogy’sbackup？“

“DoyoumeanSirPatrick？“

Geoffreynodded，andwenton。

“Ihaven’tputthatlittlemattertohimyet——aboutmarryinginScotland，youknow。SupposehecutsuproughwithmeifItryhimnow？“Hiseyewanderedcunningly，asheputthequestion，tothefartherendoftheroom。Thesurgeonwaslookingoveraport-folioofprints。Theladieswerestillatworkontheirnotesofinvitation。SirPatrickwasaloneatthebook-shelvesimmersedinavolumewhichhehadjusttakendown。

“Makeanapology，“suggestedArnold。“SirPatrickmaybealittleirritableandbitter；buthe’sajustmanandakindman。Sayyouwerenotguiltyofanyintentionaldisrespecttowardhim——andyouwillsayenough。“

“Allright!“

SirPatrick，deepinanoldVenetianeditionofTheDecameron，foundhimselfsuddenlyrecalledfrommedievalItalytomodernEngland，bynolessapersonthanGeoffreyDelamayn。

“Whatdoyouwant？“heasked，coldly。

“Iwanttomakeanapology，“saidGeoffrey。“Letby-gonesbeby-gones——andthatsortofthing。Iwasn’tguiltyofanyintentionaldisrespecttowardyou。Forgiveandforget。Nothalfabadmotto，Sir——eh？“

Itwasclumsilyexpressed——butstillitwasanapology。NotevenGeoffreycouldappealtoSirPatrick’scourtesyandSirPatrick’sconsiderationinvain。

“Notawordmore，Mr。Delamayn!“saidthepoliteoldman。“AcceptmyexcusesforanythingwhichImayhavesaidtoosharply，onmyside；andletusbyallmeansforgettherest。“

Havingmettheadvancemadetohim，inthoseterms，hepaused，expectingGeoffreytoleavehimfreetoreturntotheDecameron。

Tohisunutterableastonishment，Geoffreysuddenlystoopedoverhim，andwhisperedinhisear，“Iwantawordinprivatewithyou。“

SirP