第122章

“Whatmaythatbe？“

“Youarelivinghereveryunhappily，Geoffrey，withyourwife。“

“Whosaysso？Idon’t，forone。“

Juliuslaidhishandkindlyonhisbrother’sarm。

“Don’ttriflewithsuchaseriousmatterasthis，“hesaid。“Yourmarriageis，ineverysenseoftheword，amisfortune——notonlytoyoubuttoyourwife。Itisimpossiblethatyoucanlivetogether。Ihavecomeheretoaskyoutoconsenttoaseparation。

Dothat——andtheprovisionmadeforyouintheunsignedcodicilisyours。Whatdoyousay？“

Geoffreyshookhisbrother’shandoffhisarm。

“Isay——No!“heanswered。

LadyHolchesterinterferedforthefirsttime。

“Yourbrother’sgenerousofferdeservesabetteranswerthanthat，“shesaid。

“Myanswer，“reiteratedGeoffrey，“is——No!“

Hesatbetweenthemwithhisclenchedfistsrestingonhisknees——absolutelyimpenetrabletoanythingthateitherofthemcouldsay。

“Inyoursituation，“saidJulius，“arefusalissheermadness。I

won’tacceptit。“

“Doasyoulikeaboutthat。Mymind’smadeup。Iwon’tletmywifebetakenawayfromme。Hereshestays。“

ThebrutaltoneinwhichhehadmadethatreplyrousedLadyHolchester’sindignation。

“Takecare!“shesaid。“Youarenotonlybehavingwiththegrossestingratitudetowardyourbrother——youareforcingasuspicionintoyourmother’smind。Youhavesomemotivethatyouarehidingfromus。“

HeturnedonhismotherwithasuddenferocitywhichmadeJuliusspringtohisfeet。Thenextinstanthiseyeswereontheground，andthedevilthatpossessedhimwasquietagain。

“SomemotiveI’mhidingfromyou？“herepeated，withhisheaddown，andhisutterancethickerthanever。“I’mreadytohavemymotivepostedalloverLondon，ifyoulike。I’mfondofher。“

Helookedupashesaidthelastwords。LadyHolchesterturnedawayherhead——recoilingfromherownson。SooverwhelmingwastheshockinflictedonherthateventhestronglyrootedprejudicewhichMrs。Glenarmhadimplantedinhermindyieldedtoit。AtthatmomentsheabsolutelypitiedAnne!

“Poorcreature!“saidLadyHolchester。

Hetookinstantoffenseatthosetwowords。“Iwon’thavemywifepitiedbyanybody。“Withthatreply，hedashedintothepassage；

andcalledout，“Anne!comedown!“

Hersoftvoiceanswered；herlightfootfallwasheardonthestairs。Shecameintotheroom。Juliusadvanced，tookherhand，andhelditkindlyinhis。“Wearehavingalittlefamilydiscussion，“hesaid，tryingtogiveherconfidence。“AndGeoffreyisgettinghotoverit，asusual。“

Geoffreyappealedsternlytohismother。

“Lookather!“hesaid。“Isshestarved？Issheinrags？Isshecoveredwithbruises？“HeturnedtoAnne。“Theyhavecomeheretoproposeaseparation。TheybothbelieveIhateyou。Idon’thateyou。I’magoodChristian。IoweittoyouthatI’mcutoutofmyfather’swill。Iforgiveyouthat。IoweittoyouthatI’vel