第127章

“Youhadsomethingtotellme，“shesaid。“Youspokeofachange。“

“True。Thelandladyhereisaverystrangeperson；andshehasdoneaverystrangething。ShehasgivenGeoffreynoticetoquittheselodgings。“

“Noticetoquit？“Annerepeated，inamazement。

“Yes。Inaformalletter。Shehandedittomeopen，assoonasI

wasupthismorning。Itwasimpossibletogetanyexplanationfromher。Thepoordumbcreaturesimplywroteonherslate：’Hemayhavehismoneyback，ifhelikes：heshallgo!’Greatlytomysurprise(forthewomaninspireshimwiththestrongestaversion)

Geoffreyrefusestogountilhistermisup。Ihavemadethepeacebetweenthemforto-day。Mrs。Dethridge。veryreluctantly，consentstogivehimfour-and-twentyhours。Andtherethematterrestsatpresent。“

“Whatcanhermotivebe？“saidAnne。

“It’suselesstoinquire。Hermindisevidentlyoffitsbalance。

Onethingisclear，Geoffreyshallnotkeepyouheremuchlonger。

Thecomingchangewillremoveyoufromthisdismalplace——whichisonethinggained。AnditisquitepossiblethatnewscenesandnewsurroundingsmayhavetheirinfluenceonGeoffreyforgood。

Hisconduct——otherwisequiteincomprehensible——maybetheresultofsomelatentnervousirritationwhichmedicalhelpmightreach。

Idon’tattempttodisguisefrommyselforfromyou，thatyourpositionhereisamostdeplorableone。Butbeforewedespairofthefuture，letusatleastinquirewhetherthereisanyexplanationofmybrother’spresentbehaviortobefoundinthepresentstateofmybrother’shealth。Ihavebeenconsideringwhatthedoctorsaidtomelastnight。ThefirstthingtodoistogetthebestmedicaladviceonGeoffrey’scasewhichistobehad。Whatdoyouthink？“

“Idaren’ttellyouwhatIthink，LordHolchester。Iwilltry——itisaverysmallreturntomakeforyourkindness——Iwilltrytoseemypositionwithyoureyes，notwithmine。ThebestmedicaladvicethatyoucanobtainistheadviceofMr。Speedwell。Itwashewhofirstmadethediscoverythatyourbrotherwasinbrokenhealth。“

“Theverymanforourpurpose!Iwillsendhimhereto-dayorto-morrow。IsthereanythingelseIcandoforyou？IshallseeSirPatrickassoonasIgettotown。Haveyouanymessageforhim？“

Annehesitated。Lookingattentivelyather，JuliusnoticedthatshechangedcolorwhenhementionedSirPatrick’sname。

“WillyousaythatIgratefullythankhimfortheletterwhichLadyHolchesterwassogoodustogivemelastnight，“shereplied。“Andwillyouentreathim，fromme，nottoexposehimself，onmyaccount，to——“shehesitated，andfinishedthesentencewithhereyesontheground——“towhatmighthappen，ifhecamehereandinsistedonseeingme。“

“Doesheproposetodothat？“

Shehesitatedagain。Thelittlenervouscontractionofherlipsatonesideofthemouthbecamemoremarkedthanusual。“Hewritesthathisanxietyisunendurable，andthatheisresolvedtoseeme，“sheansweredsoftly。

“Heislikelytoholdtohisresolution，Ithink，“saidJulius。

“WhenIsawhimyesterday，SirPatrickspokeofyouintermsofadmiration——“

Hestopped。Thebri