“Yes，SirPatrick。LadyLundiehaskindlyorderedthegigtotakemetothestation，intimeforthenexttrain。“
　　“Whenareyoutobeready？“
　　Arnoldlookedathiswatch。“Inaquarterofanhour。“
　　“Verygood。Mindyou_are_ready。Stopaminute!youwillhaveplentyoftimetospeaktoBlanchewhenIhavedonewithyou。Youdon’tappeartometobesufficientlyanxiousaboutseeingyourownproperty。“
　　“IamnotveryanxioustoleaveBlanche，Sir——that’sthetruthofit。“
　　“NevermindBlanche。Blancheisnotbusiness。TheybothbeginwithaB——andthat’stheonlyconnectionbetweenthem。IhearyouhavegotoneofthefinesthousesinthispartofScotland。HowlongareyougoingtostayinScotland？Howlongareyougoingtostayinit？“
　　“IhavearrangedasIhavealreadytoldyou，SirtoreturntoWindygatesthedayafterto-morrow。“
　　“What!Hereisamanwithapalacewaitingtoreceivehim——andheisonlygoingtostoponecleardayinit!“
　　“Iamnotgoingtostopinitatall，SirPatrick——Iamgoingtostaywiththesteward。I’monlywantedtobepresentto-morrowatadinnertomytenants——and，whenthat’sover，there’snothingintheworldtopreventmycomingbackhere。Thestewardhimselftoldmesoinhislastletter。“
　　“Oh，ifthestewardtoldyouso，ofcoursethereisnothingmoretobesaid!“
　　“Don’tobjecttomycomingback!praydon’t，SirPatrick!I’llpromisetoliveinmynewhousewhenIhavegotBlanchetoliveinitwithme。Ifyouwon’tmind，I’llgoandtellheratoncethatitallbelongstoheraswellastome。“
　　“Gently!gently!youtalkasifyouweremarriedtoheralready!“
　　“It’sasgoodasdone，Sir!Where’sthedifficultyinthewaynow？“
　　Asheaskedthequestiontheshadowofsomethirdperson，advancingfromthesideofthesummer-house，wasthrownforwardontheopensunlitspaceatthetopofthesteps。Inamomentmoretheshadowwasfollowedbythesubstance——intheshapeofagroominhisridinglivery。Themanwasplainlyastrangertotheplace。Hestarted，andtouchedhishat，whenhesawthetwogentlemeninthesummer-house。
　　“Whatdoyouwant？“askedSirPatrick“Ibegyourpardon，Sir；Iwassentbymymaster——“
　　“Whoisyourmaster？“
　　“TheHonorableMr。Delamayn，Sir。“
　　“DoyoumeanMr。GeoffreyDelamayn？“askedArnold。
　　“No，Sir。Mr。Geoffrey’sbrother——Mr。Julius。Ihaveriddenoverfromthehouse，Sir，withamessagefrommymastertoMr。
　　Geoffrey。“
　　“Can’tyoufindhim？“
　　“TheytoldmeIshouldfindhimhereabouts，Sir。ButI’mastranger，anddon’trightlyknowwheretolook。“Hestopped，andtookacardoutofhispocket。“MymastersaiditwasveryimportantIshoulddeliverthisimmediately。Wouldyoubepleasedtotellme，gentlemen，ifyouhappentoknowwhereMr。Geoffreyis？“
　　ArnoldturnedtoSirPatrick。“Ihaven’tseenhim。Haveyou？“
　　“Ihavesmelthim，“answeredSirPatrick，“eversinceIhavebeeninthesummer-house。Thereisadetestabletaintoftobaccointheair——suggestivedisagreeablysuggestiveto_my_mindofyourfriend，Mr。Delamayn。“
　　Arnoldlaughed，andsteppedoutsidethesummer-house。
　　“Ifyouareright，SirPatrick，wewillfindhimatonce。“Helookedaround，andshouted，“Geoffrey!“
　　Avoicefromtherose-gardenshoutedback，“Hullo!“
　　“You’rewanted。Comehere!“
　　Geoffreyappeared，saunteringdoggedly，withhispipeinhismouth，andhishandsinhispockets。
　　“Whowantsme？“
　　“Agroom——fromyourbrother。“
　　Thatanswerappearedtoelectrifytheloungingandlazyathlete。
　　Geoffreyhurried，witheagersteps，tothesummer-house。HeaddressedthegroombeforethemanhadtimetospeakWithhorroranddismayinhisface，heexclaimed：
　　“ByJupiter!Ratcatcherhasrelapsed!“
　　SirPatrickandArnoldlookedateachotherinblankamazement。
　　“Thebesthorseinmybrother’sstables!“criedGeoffrey，explaining，andappealingtothem，inabreath。“Ileftwrittendirectionswiththecoachman，Imeasuredouthisphysicforthreedays；Ibledhim，“saidGeoffrey，inavoicebrokenbyemotion——“Ibledhimmyself，lastnight。“
　　“Ibegyourpardon，Sir——“beganthegroom。
　　“What’stheuseofbeggingmypardon？You’reapackofinfernalfools!Where’syourhorse？I’llrideback，andbreakeveryboneinthecoachman’sskin!Where’syourhorse？“
　　“Ifyouplease，Sir，itisn’tRatcatcher。Ratcatcher’sallright。“
　　“Ratcatcher’sallright？Thenwhatthedevilisit？“
　　“It’samessage，Sir。“
　　“Aboutwhat？“
　　“Aboutmylord。“
　　“Oh!Aboutmyfather？“Hetookouthishandkerchief，andpasseditoverhisforehead，withadeepgaspofrelief。“IthoughtitwasRatcatcher，“hesaid，lookingatArnold，withasmile。Heputhispipeintohismouth，andrekindledthedyingashesofthetobacco。“Well？“hewenton，whenthepipewasinworkingorder，andhisvoicewascomposedagain：“What’supwithmyfather？“
　　“AtelegramfromLondon，Sir。Badnewsofmylord。“
　　Themanproducedhismaster’scard。
　　Geoffreyreadonitwritteninhisbrother’shandwritingthesewords：
　　“Ihaveonlyamomenttoscribblealineonmycard。Ourfatherisdangerouslyill——hislawyerhasbeensentfor。ComewithmetoLondonbythefirsttrain。Meetatthejunction。“
　　Withoutawordtoanyoneofthethreepersonspresent，allsilentlylookingathim，Geoffreyconsultedhiswatch。Annehadtoldhimtowaithalfanhour，andtoassumethatshehadgoneifhefailedtohearfromherinthattime。Theintervalhadpassed——andnocommunicationofanysorthadreachedhim。Theflightfromthehousehadbeensafelyaccomplished。AnneSilvesterwas，atthatmoment，onherwaytothemountaininn。
　　CHAPTERTHESEVENTH。
　　THEDEBT。
　　ARNOLDwasthefirstwhobrokethesilence。“Isyourfatherseriouslyill？“heasked。
　　Geoffreyansweredbyhandinghimthecard。
　　SirPatrick，whohadstoodapartwhilethequestionofRatcatcher’srelapsewasunderdiscussionsardonicallystudyingthemannersandcustomsofmodernEnglishyouth，nowcameforward，andtookhispartintheproceedings。LadyLundieherselfmusthaveacknowledgedthathespokeandactedasbecametheheadofthefamily，onthisoccasion。
　　“AmIrightinsupposingthatMr。Delamayn’sfatherisdangerouslyill？“heasked，addressinghimselftoArnold。
　　“Dangerouslyill，inLondon，“Arnoldanswered。“GeoffreymustleaveWindygateswithme。ThetrainIamtravelingbymeetsthetrainhisbrotheristravelingby，atthejunction。Ishallleavehimatthesecondstationfromhere。“
　　“Didn’tyoutellmethatLadyLundiewasgoingtosendyoutotherailwayinagig？“
　　“Yes。“
　　“Iftheservantdrives，therewillbethreeofyou——andtherewillbenoroom。“
　　“Wehadbetteraskforsomeothervehicle，“suggestedArnold。
　　SirPatricklookedathiswatch。Therewasnotimetochangethecarriage。HeturnedtoGeoffrey。“Canyoudrive，Mr。Delamayn？“
　　Stillimpenetrablysilent，Geoffreyrepliedbyanodofthehead。
　　Withoutnoticingtheunceremoniousmannerinwhichhehadbeenanswered，SirPatrickwenton：
　　“Inthatcase，youcanleavethegiginchargeofthestation-master。I’lltelltheservantthathewillnotbewantedtodrive。“
　　“Letmesaveyouthetrouble，SirPatrick，“saidArnold。
　　SirPatrickdeclined，byagesture。Heturnedagain，withundiminishedcourtesy，toGeoffrey。“Itisoneofthedutiesofhospitality，Mr。Delamayn，tohastenyourdeparture，underthesesadcircumstances。LadyLundieisengagedwithherguests。Iwillseemyselfthatthereisnounnecessarydelayinsendingyoutothestation。“Hebowed——andleftthesummer-house。