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canonlyexplainthethingveryimperfectly。Therearecertainpainfulcircumstancesassociatedinhislordship’smemorywiththislady，orwithsomememberofherfamily。Wecanonlygatherthathedidsomething——intheearlypartofhisprofessionalcareer——whichwasstrictlywithinthelimitsofhisduty，butwhichapparentlyledtoverysadresults。Somedayssinceheunfortunatelyheard(eitherthroughMrs。GlenarmorthroughMrs。

JuliusDelamayn)ofMissSilvester’sappearanceatSwanhavenLodge。Noremarkonthesubjectescapedhimatthetime。Itwasonlythismorning，whenthecodicilgivingthelegacytoGeoffreywaswaitingtobeexecuted，thathisrealfeelinginthemattercameout。Toourastonishment，herefusedtosignit。’FindAnneSilvester’(wastheonlyanswerwecouldgetfromhim)；’andbringhertomybedside。Youallsaymysonisguiltlessofinjuringher。Iamlyingonmydeath-bed。Ihaveseriousreasonsofmyown——Ioweittothememoryofthedead——toassuremyselfofthetruth。IfAnneSilvesterherselfacquitshimofhavingwrongedher，IwillprovideforGeoffrey。Nototherwise。’WewentthelengthofremindinghimthathemightdiebeforeMissSilvestercouldbefound。Ourinterferencehadbutoneresult。HedesiredthelawyertoaddasecondcodiciltotheWill——whichheexecutedonthespot。ItdirectshisexecutorstoinquireintotherelationsthathaveactuallyexistedbetweenAnneSilvesterandhisyoungerson。IfwefindreasontoconcludethatGeoffreyhasgravelywrongedher，wearedirectedtopayheralegacy——providedthatsheisasinglewomanatthetime。“

“Andhermarriageviolatestheprovision!“exclaimedSirPatrick。

“Yes。Thecodicilactuallyexecutedisnowworthless。AndtheothercodicilremainsunsigneduntilthelawyercanproduceMissSilvester。HehasleftthehousetoapplytoGeoffreyatFulham，astheonlymeansatourdisposaloffindingthelady。Somehourshavepassed——andhehasnotyetreturned。“

“Itisuselesstowaitforhim，“saidSirPatrick。“WhilethelawyerwasonhiswaytoFulham，LordHolchester’ssonwasonhiswaytoPortlandPlace。Thisisevenmoreseriousthanyousuppose。Tellme，whatunderlesspressingcircumstancesIshouldhavenorighttoask。ApartfromtheunexecutedcodicilwhatisGeoffreyDelamayn’spositioninthewill？“

“Heisnotevenmentionedinit。“

“Haveyougotthewill？“

Mr。Marchwoodunlockedadrawer，andtookitout。

SirPatrickinstantlyrosefromhischair。“Nowaitingforthelawyer!“herepeated，vehemently。“Thisisamatteroflifeanddeath。LadyHolchesterbitterlyresentsherson’smarriage。ShespeaksandfeelsasafriendofMrs。Glenarm。DoyouthinkLordHolchesterwouldtakethesameviewifheknewofit？“

“Itdependsentirelyonthecircumstances。“

“SupposeIinformedhim——asIinformyouinconfidence——thathisson_has_gravelywrongedMissSilvester？AndsupposeIfollowedthatupbytellinghimthathissonhasmadeatonementbymarryingher？“

“Afterthefeelingthathehasshowninthematter，Ibelievehewouldsignthecodicil。“

“Then，forGod’ssake，letmeseehim!“

“Imustspeaktothedoctor。“

“Doitinstantly!“

Withthewillinhishand，Mr。Marchwoodadvancedtothebedroomdoor。Itwasopenedfromwithinbeforehecouldgettoit。Thedoctorappearedonthethreshold。HehelduphishandwarninglywhenMr。Marchwoodattemptedtospeaktohim。

“GotoLadyHolchest