canonlyexplainthethingveryimperfectly。Therearecertainpainfulcircumstancesassociatedinhislordship’smemorywiththislady，orwithsomememberofherfamily。Wecanonlygatherthathedidsomething——intheearlypartofhisprofessionalcareer——whichwasstrictlywithinthelimitsofhisduty，butwhichapparentlyledtoverysadresults。SomedayssinceheunfortunatelyheardeitherthroughMrs。GlenarmorthroughMrs。
　　JuliusDelamaynofMissSilvester’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。
　　“GotoLadyHolchester，“hesaid。“It’sallover。“
　　“Dead？“
　　“Dead。“
　　SIXTEENTHSCENE——SALTPATCH。
　　CHAPTERTHEFORTY-EIGHTH。
　　THEPLACE。
　　EARLYinthepresentcenturyitwasgenerallyreportedamongtheneighborsofoneReubenLimbrickthathewasinafairwaytomakeacomfortablelittlefortunebydealinginSalt。
　　HisplaceofabodewasinStaffordshire，onamorseloffreeholdlandofhisown——appropriatelycalledSaltPatch。Withoutbeingabsolutelyamiser，helivedinthehumblestmanner，sawverylittlecompany；skillfullyinvestedhismoney；andpersistedinremainingasingleman。
　　Towardeighteenhundredandfortyhefirstfelttheapproachofthechronicmaladywhichultimatelyterminatedhislife。Aftertryingwhatthemedicalmenofhisownlocalitycoulddoforhim，withverypoorsuccess，hemetbyaccidentwithadoctorlivinginthewesternsuburbsofLondon，whothoroughlyunderstoodhiscomplaint。Aftersomejourneyingbackwardandforwardtoconsultthisgentleman，hedecidedonretiringfrombusiness，andontakinguphisabodewithinaneasydistanceofhismedicalman。
　　FindingapieceoffreeholdlandtobesoldintheneighborhoodofFulham，heboughtit，andhadacottageresidencebuiltonit，underhisowndirections。Hesurroundedthewhole——beingamansingularlyjealousofanyintrusiononhisretirement，orofanychanceobservationofhiswaysandhabits——withahighwall，whichcostalargesumofmoney，andwhichwasrightlyconsideredadismalandhideousobjectbytheneighbors。Whenthenewresidencewascompleted，hecalleditafterthenameoftheplaceinStaffordshirewherehehadmadehismoney，andwherehehadlivedduringthehappiestperiodofhislife。Hisrelatives，failingtounderstandthataquestionofsentimentwasinvolvedinthisproceeding，appealedtohardfacts，andremindedhimthattherewerenosaltminesintheneighborhood。ReubenLimbrickanswered，“Somuchtheworsefortheneighborhood“——andpersistedincallinghisproperty，“SaltPatch。“
　　Thecottagewassosmallthatitlookedquitelostinthelargegardenallroundit。Therewasaground-floorandaflooraboveit——andthatwasall。
　　Oneithersideofthepassage，onthelowerfloor，weretworooms。Attheright-handside，onenteringbythefront-door，therewasakitchen，withitsouthousesattached。Theroomnexttothekitchenlookedintothegarden。InReubenLimbrick’stimeitwascalledthestudyandcontainedasmallcollectionofbooksandalargestoreoffishing-tackle。Ontheleft-handsideofthepassagetherewasadrawing-roomsituatedatthebackofthehouse，andcommunicatingwithadining-roominthefront。Ontheupperfloortherewerefivebedrooms——twoononesideofthepassage，correspondinginsizewiththedining-roomandthedrawing-roombelow，butnotopeningintoeachother；threeontheothersideofthepassage，consistingofonelargerroominfront，andoftwosmallroomsattheback。Alltheseweresolidlyandcompletelyfurnished。Moneyhadnotbeenspared，andworkmanshiphadnotbeenstinted。Itwasallsubstantial——and，upstairsanddownstairs，itwasallugly。
　　ThesituationofSaltPatchwaslonely。Thelandsofthemarket-gardenersseparateditfromotherhouses。Jealouslysurroundedbyitsownhighwalls，thecottagesuggested，eventothemostunimaginativepersons，theideaofanasylumoraprison。ReubenLimbrick’srelatives，occasionallycomingtostaywithhim，foundtheplacepreyontheirspirits，andrejoicedwhenthetimecameforgoinghomeagain。Theywereneverpressedtostayagainsttheirwill。ReubenLimbrickwasnotahospitableorasociableman。Hesetverylittlevalueonhumansympathy，inhisattacksofillness；andheborecongratulationsimpatiently，inhisintervalsofhealth。“Icareaboutnothingbutfishing，“
　　heusedtosay。“Ifindmydogverygoodcompany。AndIamquitehappyaslongasIamfreefrompain。“
　　Onhisdeath-bed，hedividedhismoneyjustlyenoughamonghisrelations。TheonlypartofhisWillwhichexposeditselftounfavorablecriticism，wasaclauseconferringalegacyononeofhissistersthenawidowwhohadestrangedherselffromherfamilybymarryingbeneathher。Thefamilyagreedinconsideringthisunhappypersonasundeservingofnoticeorbenefit。HernamewasHesterDethridge。ItprovedtobeagreataggravationofHester’soffenses，intheeyesofHester’srelatives，whenitwasdiscoveredthatshepossessedalife-interestinSaltPatch，andanincomeoftwohundredayear。
　　Notvisitedbythesurvivingmembersofherfamily，living，literally，byherselfintheworld，Hesterdecided，inspiteofhercomfortablelittleincome，onlettinglodgings。Theexplanationofthisstrangeconductwhichshehadwrittenonherslate，inreplytoaninquiryfromAnne，wasthetrueone。“I
　　havenotgotafriendintheworld：Idarenotlivealone。“Inthatdesolatesituation，andwiththatmelancholymotive，sheputthehouseintoanagent’shands。ThefirstpersoninwantoflodgingswhomtheagentsenttoseetheplacewasPerrythetrainer；andHester’sfirsttenantwasGeoffreyDelamayn。
　　Theroomswhichthelandladyreservedforherselfwerethekitchen，theroomnexttoit，whichhadoncebeenherbrother’s“study，“andthetwosmallbackbedroomsupstairs——oneforherself，theotherfortheservant-girlwhomsheemployedtohelpher。Thewholeoftherestofthecottagewastolet。Itwasmorethanthetrainerwanted；butHesterDethridgerefusedtodisposeofherlodgings——eitherastotheroomsoccupied，orastotheperiodforwhichtheyweretobetaken——onotherthanherownterms。Perryhadnoalternativebuttolosetheadvantageofthegardenasaprivatetraining-ground，ortosubmit。
　　Beingonlytwoinnumber，thelodgershadthreebedroomstochoosefrom。Geoffreyestablishedhimselfintheback-room，overthedrawing-room。Perrychosethefront-room，placedontheothersideofthecottage，nexttothetwosmallerapartmentsoccupiedbyHesterandhermaid。Underthisarrangement，thefrontbedroom，ontheoppositesideofthepassage——nexttotheroominwhichGeoffreyslept——wasleftempty，andwascalled，forthetimebeing，thespareroom。Asforthelowerfloor，theathleteandhistraineratetheirmealsinthedining-room；andleftthedrawing-room，asaneedlessluxury，totakecareofitself。
　　TheFoot-Raceonceover，Perry’sbusinessatthecottagewasatanend。Hisemptybedroombecameasecondspareroom。Thetermforwhichthelodgingshadbeentakenwasthenstillunexpired。
　　OnthedayaftertheraceGeoffreyhadtochoosebetweensacrificingthemoney，orremaininginthelodgingsbyhimself，withtwosparebedroomsonhishands，andwithadrawing-roomforthereceptionofhisvisitors——whocalledwithpipesintheirmouths，andwhoseideaofhospitalitywasapotofbeerinthegarden。