登陆注册
5227000000084

第84章 CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH. TOUCHING IT.(2)

As soon as he had spoken, Arnold's conscience reproached him: not for betting (who is ashamed of _that_ form of gambling in England?) but for "backing the doctor." With the best intention toward his friend, he was speculating on the failure of his friend's health. He anxiously assured Geoffrey that no man in the room could be more heartily persuaded that the surgeon was wrong than himself. "I don't cry off from the bet," he said. "But, my dear fellow, pray understand that I only take it to please _you._"

"Bother all that!" answered Geoffrey, with the steady eye to business, which was one of the choicest virtues in his character.

"A bet's a bet--and hang your sentiment!" He drew Arnold by the arm out of ear-shot of the others. "I say!" he asked, anxiously.

"Do you think I've set the old fogy's back up?"

"Do you mean Sir Patrick?"

Geoffrey nodded, and went on.

"I haven't put that little matter to him yet--about marrying in Scotland, you know. Suppose he cuts up rough with me if I try him now?" His eye wandered cunningly, as he put the question, to the farther end of the room. The surgeon was looking over a port-folio of prints. The ladies were still at work on their notes of invitation. Sir Patrick was alone at the book-shelves immersed in a volume which he had just taken down.

"Make an apology," suggested Arnold. "Sir Patrick may be a little irritable and bitter; but he's a just man and a kind man. Say you were not guilty of any intentional disrespect toward him--and you will say enough."

"All right!"

Sir Patrick, deep in an old Venetian edition of The Decameron, found himself suddenly recalled from medieval Italy to modern England, by no less a person than Geoffrey Delamayn.

"What do you want?" he asked, coldly.

"I want to make an apology," said Geoffrey. "Let by-gones be by-gones--and that sort of thing. I wasn't guilty of any intentional disrespect toward you. Forgive and forget. Not half a bad motto, Sir--eh?"

It was clumsily expressed--but still it was an apology. Not even Geoffrey could appeal to Sir Patrick's courtesy and Sir Patrick's consideration in vain.

"Not a word more, Mr. Delamayn!" said the polite old man. "Accept my excuses for any thing which I may have said too sharply, on my side; and let us by all means forget the rest."

Having met the advance made to him, in those terms, he paused, expecting Geoffrey to leave him free to return to the Decameron.

To his unutterable astonishment, Geoffrey suddenly stooped over him, and whispered in his ear, "I want a word in private with you."

Sir Patrick started back, as if Geoffrey had tried to bite him.

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Delamayn--what did you say?"

"Could you give me a word in private?"

Sir Patrick put back the Decameron; and bowed in freezing silence. The confidence of the Honorable Geoffrey Delamayn was the last confidence in the world into which he desired to be drawn. "This is the secret of the apology!" he thought. "What can he possibly want with Me?"

"It's about a friend of mine," pursued Geoffrey; leading the way toward one of the windows. "He's in a scrape, my friend is. And I want to ask your advice. It's strictly private, you know." There he came to a full stop--and looked to see what impression he had produced, so far.

Sir Patrick declined, either by word or g esture, to exhibit the slightest anxiety to hear a word more.

"Would you mind taking a turn in the garden?" asked Geoffrey.

Sir Patrick pointed to his lame foot. "I have had my allowance of walking this morning," he said. "Let my infirmity excuse me."

Geoffrey looked about him for a substitute for the garden, and led the way back again toward one of the convenient curtained recesses opening out of the inner wall of the library. "We shall be private enough here," he said.

Sir Patrick made a final effort to escape the proposed conference--an undisguised effort, this time "Pray forgive me, Mr. Delamayn. Are you quite sure that you apply to the right person, in applying to _me?_"

"You're a Scotch lawyer, ain't you?"

"Certainly."

"And you understand about Scotch marriages--eh?"

Sir Patrick's manner suddenly altered.

"Is _that_ the subject you wish to consult me on?" he asked.

"It's not me. It's my friend."

"Your friend, then?"

"Yes. It's a scrape with a woman. Here in Scotland. My friend don't know whether he's married to her or not."

"I am at your service, Mr. Delamayn."

To Geoffrey's relief--by no means unmixed with surprise--Sir Patrick not only showed no further reluctance to be consulted by him, but actually advanced to meet his wishes, by leading the way to the recess that was nearest to them. The quick brain of the old lawyer had put Geoffrey's application to him for assistance, and Blanche's application to him for assistance, together; and had built its own theory on the basis thus obtained. "Do I see a connection between the present position of Blanche's governess, and the present position of Mr. Delamayn's 'friend?' " thought Sir Patrick. "Stranger extremes than _that_ have met me in my experience. Something may come out of this."

The two strangely-assorted companions seated themselves, one on each side of a little table in the recess. Arnold and the other guests had idled out again on to the lawn. The surgeon with his prints, and the ladies with their invitations, were safely absorbed in a distant part of the library. The conference between the two men, so trifling in appearance, so terrible in its destined influence, not over Anne's future only, but over the future of Arnold and Blanche, was, to all practical purposes, a conference with closed doors.

"Now," said Sir Patrick, "what is the question?"

"The question," said Geoffrey, "is whether my friend is married to her or not?"

"Did he mean to marry her?"

"No."

"He being a single man, and she being a single woman, at the time? And both in Scotland?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Now tell me the circumstances."

同类推荐
  • 易纬坤灵图

    易纬坤灵图

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 燕北录

    燕北录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Taming of the Shrew

    Taming of the Shrew

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 中阿含经

    中阿含经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 事林广记后集

    事林广记后集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 王石管理课

    王石管理课

    他,眼界深远,在地产界叱咤风云,开企业家代言之先河;他走遍了世界两极和七大最高峰,以花甲之年成为户外极限运动健将……他就是中国地产第一品牌万科集团董事长王石。虽已风光无限,他却不愿坐享其成,而是一直在前行,向着自己内心的巅峰攀爬。其实,王石对万科的管理、运行丝毫没有放松过神经,只不过他找到了治理的良策,其倡导的“用制度管人”的方法和理念是任何人都无法替代的。因此我们看到,一方面王石有些不务正业,而另一方面万科保持着高速成长,这艘商业航母乘风破浪,一路前进。难怪有人说:“王石简直是一个传奇。”
  • 穿越红楼之黛玉逆袭

    穿越红楼之黛玉逆袭

    穿越为病弱的林妹妹,该怎样摆脱泪尽而亡的命运呢???时晓雨皱眉思索该怎么逆袭人生,她觉得有些难为她这个性格单纯的在宫斗剧里都活不过两集的炮灰女配了,还好咱有祖宗庇佑给了穿越金手指,那么先护林爸,偷偷保养好林爸的身体;再护家财,培养衷心属下的同时说服林爸生几个弟弟让林家后继有人;至于自己嘛,过着自由自在的生活,随时说走就走的旅行外加全国各地的美食就最好了,不过你这个小正太跟着我干嘛,我的美好生活里不包括你啊,小正太娃娃脸上的那双无辜的大眼睛紧盯着面前这个没心没肺的人,心里气的七窍生烟,随之无奈的摇摇头,谁叫自己喜欢她呢,她想要的又何尝不是自己向往的追求呢,追妻之路漫长但又充满乐趣,他甘之如饴啊
  • 时光如水他却无言

    时光如水他却无言

    记忆中,仿佛出现过一个小男孩,曾来到她的回忆里,又消失不见。但那种真实的感觉,却一直留在舒沁媛的脑海里,挥之不去。那个小男孩,曾在大雨中为她的向日葵撑伞,也曾为她遮风挡雨,陪伴她一场雨过天晴。在这之后的日子里,那个小男孩再也没有出现过,无论是她的生活中,还是她的脑海里,都不再有他的身影。仿佛这就像是一场梦,醒来,他却无影。
  • 魔鬼妖怪的故事

    魔鬼妖怪的故事

    童话是世界儿童文学中永不凋谢的花冠,是与我们少年儿童捉迷藏的小朋友。童话王国简直就是一个多姿多彩的万花筒,在那些语言浅显、妙趣盎然的美丽童话故事里,有的蕴藏着严肃的人生准则,富于哲理,发人深省;有的反映了社会的真实现象,揭露了黑暗、鞭打了丑恶;有的揭示了大自然的奥秘,使人增长知识,开拓视野。童话奠定了我们的人生基础,影响着我们的一生。因此应该把那些名篇珍品传给后代,陶冶后代。为此,我们编辑了这套《世界经典童话故事全集》丛书,把世界各国许多童话名篇佳作装在一个美丽的花篮里,让它熠熠闪烁的光辉照耀下一代人茁壮成长,使孩子们梦幻般地度过金色的童年。
  • 叶少,倾城佳人

    叶少,倾城佳人

    叶少卿,十岁成了孤儿,二十二岁成了年轻的少校,危机四伏的乱世怎样成就一位枭雄!孟雨寒,西南财神爷家的独苗……他娶她是权宜之计,她嫁给他是身不由己,看这互不相干的两人怎样一路过关斩将……
  • 我的精分宿主

    我的精分宿主

    某一天,某个系统突然绑定了一个人。这个宿主人美声甜业绩好,性格高冷又会撩。整天宝贝儿宝贝儿地乱叫,弄得他脸红心跳。可后来他渐渐发现,他的宿主=渣渣。本书又名,《我当系统被撩那些年》《如何从被撩变为反撩》《我的宿主总拈花惹草怎么破》
  • 佛顶尊胜陀罗尼真言

    佛顶尊胜陀罗尼真言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 散户操盘实战:低买高卖的赚钱法则

    散户操盘实战:低买高卖的赚钱法则

    在股市中,股民的最终目标并不是盈利,而是盈利的最大化,而要想实现盈利最大化,就需要实现在最低价买入、最高价卖出这一目标,但其实现起来并非易事。本书介绍了K线分析法,走势图形分析方法,趋势线买入卖出的方法,成交量买卖信号的预测,MACD、KDJ等常见的技术分析方法。全书对每一种技术方法应用的条件和它们自身的局限性都加以详细的解释。
  • Penguin Island

    Penguin Island

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 不动声色地成长

    不动声色地成长

    时刻保持对这个世界和对自己的怜悯心,认真看清生活不断为你揭开来的一层层委屈和苦痛,然后轻轻告诉自己,你要努力让自己变得更好,让身边的人过得更好。你可以向现实低头,可以低头哈腰,也可以承受胯下之辱,但你不可以趴在地上跪舔,因为你要让自己相信总有一天能站起来,再看看这个理想世界的美好,然后开始追梦。我的所有努力,都只是为了更好地维护心中的理想世界。于是累了的时候可以稍作休息,喘息过后怀揣着一颗真挚之心继续走在布满荆棘的道路上。因为我知道,如果不努力,没有人能帮我。