第123章

“Itwilldoforme。Idon’tknowgoodEnglishwhenIseeit。“

Withthatfrankacknowledgment——towhichthegreatmajorityofhiscompanionsatschoolandcollegemighthavesubscribedwithoutdoingtheslightestinjusticetothepresentstateofEnglisheducation——Geoffreydrewhischairtothetable，andopenedoneofthevolumesofhisrecordofcrime。

Theeveningnewspaperwaslyingonthesofa。Juliustookitup，andseatedhimselfoppositetohisbrother。Henoticed，withsomesurprise，thatGeoffreyappearedtohaveaspecialobjectinconsultinghisbook。Insteadofbeginningatthefirstpage，herantheleavesthroughhisfingers，andturnedthemdownatcertainplaces，beforeheenteredonhisreading。IfJuliushadlookedoverhisbrother’sshoulder，insteadofonlylookingathimacrossthetable，hewouldhaveseenthatGeoffreypassedbyallthelightercrimesreportedintheCalendar，andmarkedforhisownprivatereadingthecasesofmurderonly。

THEnighthadadvanced。Itwascloseontwelveo’clockwhenAnneheardtheservant’svoice，outsideherbedroomdoor，askingleavetospeakwithherforamoment。

“Whatisit？“

“Thegentlemandownstairswishestoseeyou，ma’am。“

“DoyoumeanMr。Delamayn’sbrother？“

“Yes。“

“WhereisMr。Delamayn？“

“Outinthegarden，ma’am。“

Annewentdownstairs，andfoundJuliusaloneinthedrawing-room。

“Iamsorrytodisturbyou，“hesaid。“IamafraidGeoffreyisill。Thelandladyhasgonetobed，Iamtold——andIdon’tknowwheretoapplyformedicalassistance。Doyouknowofanydoctorintheneighborhood？“

Anne，likeJulius，wasaperfectstrangertotheneighborhood。

Shesuggestedmakinginquiryoftheservant。Onspeakingtothegirl，itturnedoutthatsheknewofamedicalman，livingwithintenminutes’walkofthecottage。Shecouldgiveplaindirectionsenablinganypersontofindtheplace——butshewasafraid，atthathourofthenightandinthatlonelyneighborhood，togooutbyherself。

“Isheseriouslyill？“Anneasked。

“Heisinsuchastateofnervousirritability，“saidJulius，“thathecan’tremainstillfortwomomentstogetherinthesameplace。Itbeganwithincessantrestlessnesswhilehewasreadinghere。Ipersuadedhimtogotobed。Hecouldn’tliestillforaninstant——hecamedownagain，burningwithfever，andmorerestlessthanever。HeisoutinthegardeninspiteofeverythingIcoulddotopreventhim；trying，ashesays，to’runitoff。’Itappearstobeseriousto_me。_。Comeandjudgeforyourself。“

HeledAnneintothenextroom；and，openingtheshutter，pointedtothegarden。

Thecloudshadclearedoff；thenightwasfine。TheclearstarlightshowedGeoffrey，strippedtohisshirtanddrawers，runningroundandroundthegarden。HeapparentlybelievedhimselftobecontendingattheFulhamfoot-race。Attimes，asthewhitefigurecircledroundandroundinthestar-light，theyheardhimcheering