第60章

Geoffreyhadrouseditatlast。

“Whenyoucometoyoursenses，“hesaid，“I’llrememberoldtimes——andreceiveyourapology。Tillyou_do_cometoyoursenses，goyourwaybyyourself。Ihavenomoretosaytoyou。“

Geoffreysethisteeth，andcameonestepnearer。Arnold’seyesmethis，withalookwhichsteadilyandfirmlychallengedhim——thoughhewasthestrongermanofthetwo——toforcethequarrelastepfurther，ifhedared。TheonehumanvirtuewhichGeoffreyrespectedandunderstoodwasthevirtueofcourage。Andthereitwasbeforehim——theundeniablecourageoftheweakerman。Thecallousscoundrelwastouchedontheonetenderplaceinhiswholebeing。Heturned，andwentonhiswayinsilence。

Leftbyhimself，Arnold’sheaddroppedonhisbreast。Thefriendwhohadsavedhislife——theonefriendhepossessed，whowasassociatedwithhisearliestandhappiestremembrancesofolddays——hadgrosslyinsultedhim：andhadlefthimdeliberately，withouttheslightestexpressionofregret。Arnold’saffectionatenature——simple，loyal，clingingwhereitoncefastened——waswoundedtothequick。Geoffrey’sfast-retreatingfigure，intheopenviewbeforehim，becameblurredandindistinct。Heputhishandoverhiseyes，andhid，withaboyishshame，thehottearsthattoldoftheheartache，andthathonoredthemanwhoshedthem。

Hewasstillstrugglingwiththeemotionwhichhadoverpoweredhim，whensomethinghappenedattheplacewheretheroadsmet。

Thefourroadspointedasnearlyasmightbetowardthefourpointsofthecompass。Arnoldwasnowontheroadtotheeastward，havingadvancedinthatdirectiontomeetGeoffrey，betweentwoandthreehundredyardsfromthefarm-houseinclosurebeforewhichhehadkepthiswatch。Theroadtothewestward，curvingawaybehindthefarm，ledtothenearestmarket-town。Theroadtothesouthwasthewaytothestation。AndtheroadtothenorthledbacktoWindygatesHouse。

WhileGeoffreywasstillfiftyyardsfromtheturningwhichwouldtakehimbacktoWindygates——whilethetearswerestillstandingthicklyinArnold’seyes——thegateofthefarminclosureopened。

Alightfour-wheelchaisecameoutwithamandriving，andawomansittingbyhisside。ThewomanwasAnneSilvester，andthemanwastheownerofthefarm。

Insteadoftakingthewaywhichledtothestation，thechaisepursuedthewestwardroadtothemarket-town。

Proceedinginthisdirection，thebacksofthepersonsinthevehiclewerenecessarilyturnedonGeoffrey，advancingbehindthemfromtheeastward。Hejustcarelesslynoticedtheshabbylittlechaise，andthenturnedoffnorthonhiswaytoWindygates。

BythetimeArnoldwascomposedenoughtolookroundhim，thechaisehadtakenthecurveintheroadwhichwoundbehindthefarmhouse。Hereturned——faithfultotheengagementwhichhehadundertaken——tohispostbeforetheinclosure。Thechaisewasthenaspeckinthedistance。Inaminutemoreitwasaspeckoutofsight。

So(touseSirPatrick’sphrase)hadthewomanbrokenthroughdifficultieswhichwouldhavestoppedaman。So，inhersoreneed，hadAnneSilvesterwonthesympathywhichhadgivenheraplace，bythefarmer’sside，inthevehiclethattookhimonhiso