第115章

SirPatrickwaitedinthehall。Eventhemomentarydelayofenteringoneofthereception-roomswasmorethanhecouldendureatthatmoment。Anne’shappinesswashopelesslysacrificedalready。Thepreservationofherpersonalsafety——whichSirPatrickfirmlybelievedtobeindanger——wastheoneservicewhichitwaspossibletorendertohernow。Theperilouspositioninwhichshestoodtowardherhusband——asanimmovableobstacle，whileshelived，betweenGeoffreyandMrs。Glenarm——wasbeyondthereachofremedy。ButitwasstillpossibletopreventherfrombecomingtheinnocentcauseofGeoffrey’specuniaryruin，bystandinginthewayofareconciliationbetweenfatherandson。

ResolutetoleavenomeansuntriedofservingAnne’sinterests，SirPatrickhadallowedArnoldandBlanchetogotohisownresidenceinLondon，alone，andhadnotevenwaitedtosayafarewellwordtoanyofthepersonswhohadtakenpartintheinquiry。“HerlifemaydependonwhatIcandoforheratHolchesterHouse!“Withthatconvictioninhim，hehadleftPortlandPlace。Withthatconvictioninhim，hehadsenthismessagetoLadyHolchester，andwasnowwaitingforthereply。

Theservantappearedagainonthestairs。SirPatrickwentuptomeethim。

“Herladyshipwillseeyou，Sir，forafewminutes。“

Thedoorofanupperroomwasopened；andSirPatrickfoundhimselfinthepresenceofGeoffrey’smother。Therewasonlytimetoobservethatshepossessedtheremainsofrarepersonalbeauty，andthatshereceivedhervisitorwithagraceandcourtesywhichimplied(underthecircumstances)aconsiderateregardfor_his_positionattheexpenseofherown。

“Youhavesomethingtosaytome，SirPatrick，onthesubjectofmysecondson。Iamingreataffliction。Ifyoubringmebadnews，Iwilldomybesttobearit。MayItrusttoyourkindnessnottokeepmeinsuspense？“

“Itwillhelpmetomakemyintrusionaslittlepainfulaspossibletoyourladyship，“repliedSirPatrick，“ifIampermittedtoaskaquestion。HaveyouheardofanyobstacletothecontemplatedmarriageofMr。GeoffreyDelamaynandMrs。

Glenarm？“

EventhatdistantreferencetoAnneproducedanominouschangefortheworseinLadyHolchester’smanner。

“Ihaveheardoftheobstacletowhichyouallude，“shesaid。

“Mrs。Glenarmisanintimatefriendofmine。ShehasinformedmethatapersonnamedSilvester，animpudentadventuress——“

“Ibegyourladyship’spardon。YouaredoingacruelwrongtothenoblestwomanIhaveevermetwith。“

“Icannotundertake，SirPatrick，toenterintoyourreasonsforadmiringher。Herconducttowardmysonhas，Irepeat，beentheconductofanimpudentadventuress。“

ThosewordsshowedSirPatricktheutterhopeles