“Makeamemorandumofthename,“LordHolchesterwenton。“AnneSilvester。Herfatherandmotheraredead。Iknewherfatherinformertimes。Hermotherwasill-used。Itwasabadbusiness。I
havebeenthinkingofitagain,forthefirsttimeformanyyears。Ifthegirlisaliveandabouttheworldshemayrememberourfamilyname。Helpher,Julius,ifsheeverwantshelp,andappliestoyou。“Thepainfulcontractionpassedacrosshisfaceoncemore。WerehisthoughtstakinghimbacktothememorablesummereveningattheHampsteadvilla?Didheseethedesertedwomanswooningathisfeetagain?“Aboutyourelection?“heasked,impatiently。“Mymindisnotusedtobeidle。Giveitsomethingtodo。“
Juliusstatedhispositionasplainlyandasbrieflyashecould。
Thefatherfoundnothingtoobjecttointhereport——excepttheson’sabsencefromthefieldofaction。HeblamedLadyH
olchesterforsummoningJuliustoLondon。Hewasannoyedathisson’sbeingthere,atthebedside,whenheoughttohavebeenaddressingtheelectors。“It’sinconvenient,Julius,“hesaid,petulantly。“Don’tyouseeityourself?“
HavingpreviouslyarrangedwithhismothertotakethefirstopportunitythatofferedofriskingareferencetoGeoffrey,Juliusdecidedto“seeit“inalightforwhichhisfatherwasnotprepared。Theopportunitywasbeforehim。Hetookitonthespot。
“Itisnoinconveniencetome,Sir,“hereplied,“anditisnoinconveniencetomybrothereither。Geoffreywasanxiousaboutyoutoo。GeoffreyhascometoLondonwithme。“
LordHolchesterlookedathiseldestsonwithagrimly-satiricalexpressionofsurprise。
“HaveInotalreadytoldyou,“herejoined,“thatmymindisnotaffectedbymyillness?Geoffreyanxiousaboutme!Anxietyisoneofthecivilizedemotions。Maninhissavagestateisincapableoffeelingit。“
“Mybrotherisnotasavage,Sir。“
“Hisstomachisgenerallyfull,andhisskiniscoveredwithlinenandcloth,insteadofredochreandoil。Sofar,certainly,yourbrotheriscivilized。Inallotherrespectsyourbrotherisasavage。“
“Iknowwhatyoumean,Sir。ButthereissomethingtobesaidforGeoffrey’swayoflife。Hecultivateshiscourageandhisstrength。Courageandstrengtharefinequalities,surely,intheirway?“
“Excellentqualities,asfarastheygo。Ifyouwanttoknowhowfarthatis,challengeGeoffreytowriteasentenceofdecentEnglish,andseeifhiscouragedoesn’tfailhimthere。Givehimhisbookstoreadforhisdegree,and,strongasheis,hewillbetakenillatthesightofthem。Youwishmetoseeyourbrother。Nothingwillinducemetoseehim,untilhiswayoflifeasyoucallitisalteredaltogether。Ihavebutonehopeofitseverbeingalterednow。Itisbarelypossiblethattheinfluenceofasensiblewoman——possessedofsuchadvantagesofbirthandfortuneasmaycompelrespect,evenfromasavage——mightproduceitseffectonGeoffrey。Ifhewishestofindhiswaybackintothishouse,lethimfindhiswaybackintogoodsocietyfirst,andbringmeadaughter-in-lawtopleadhiscauseforhim——whomhismotherandIcanrespectandreceive。
Whenthathappens,IshallbegintohavesomebeliefinGeoffrey。
Untilitdoeshappen,don’tintroduceyourbrotherintoanyfutureconversationswhichyoumayhavewithMe。Toreturntoyourelection。Ihavesomeadvicetogiveyoubeforeyougoback。
Youwilldowelltogobackto-night。Liftmeuponthepillow。I
shallspeakmoreeasilywithmyheadhigh。“
Hissonliftedhimonthepillows,andoncemoreentreatedhimtosparehimself。
Itwasuseless。Noremonstrancesshooktheironresolutionofthemanwhohadhewedhiswaythroughtherankandfileofpoliticalhumanitytohisownhighplaceapartfromtherest。Helpless,ghastly,snatchedoutoftheveryjawsofdeath,therehelay,steadilydistillingtheclearcommon-sensewhichhadwonhimallhisworldlyrewardsintothemindofhisson。Notahintwasmissed,notacautionwasforgotten,thatcouldguideJuliussafelythroughthemirypoliticalwayswhichhehadtroddensosafelyandsodextrouslyhimself。Anhourmorehadpassedbeforetheimpenetrableoldmanclosedhiswearyeyes,andconsentedtotakehisnourishmentandcomposehimselftorest。Hislastwords,renderedbarelyarticulatebyexhaustion,stillsangthepraisesofpartymanoeuvresandpoliticalstrife。“It’sagrandcareer!I
misstheHouseofCommons,Julius,asImissnothingelse!“
Leftfreetopursuehisownthoughts,andtoguidehisownmovements,JuliuswentstraightfromLordHolchester’sbedsidetoLadyHolchester’sboudoir。
“HasyourfathersaidanythingaboutGeoffrey?“washismother’sfirstquestionassoonasheenteredtheroom。
“MyfathergivesGeoffreyalastchance,ifGeoffreywillonlytakeit。“
LadyHolchester’sfaceclouded。“Iknow,“shesaid,withalookofdisappointment。“Hislastchanceistoreadforhisdegree。
Hopeless,mydear。Quitehopeless!Ifithadonlybeensomethingeasierthanthat;somethingthatrestedwithme——“
“Itdoesrestwithyou,“interposedJulius。“Mydearmother!——canyoubelieveit?——Geoffrey’slastchanceisinoneword
Marriage!“
“Oh,Julius!it’stoogoodtobetrue!“
Juliusrepeatedhisfather’sownwords。LadyHolchesterlookedtwentyyearsyoungerasshelistened。Whenhehaddonesherangthebell。
“Nomatterwhocalls,“shesaidtotheservant,“Iamnotathome。“SheturnedtoJulius,kissedhim,andmadeaplaceforhimonthesofabyherside。“Geoffreyshalltake_that_chance,“shesaid,gayly——“Iwillanswerforit!Ihavethreewomeninmymind,anyoneofwhomwouldsuithim。Sitdown,mydear,andletusconsidercarefullywhichofthethreewillbemostlikelytoattractGeoffrey,andtocomeuptoyourfather’sstandardofwhathisdaughter-in-lawoughttobe。Whenwehavedecided,don’ttrusttowriting。GoyourselfandseeGeoffreyathishotel。“
Motherandsonenteredontheirconsultation——andinnocentlysowedtheseedsofaterribleharvesttocome。
TIMEhadadvancedtoafternoonbeforetheselectionofGeoffrey’sfuturewifewasaccomplished,andbeforetheinstructionsofGeoffrey’sbrotherwerecompleteenoughtojustifytheopeningofthematrimonialnegotiationatNagle’sHotel。
“Don’tleavehimtillyouhavegothispromise,“wereLadyHolchester’slastwordswhenhersonstartedonhismission。
“IfGeoffreydoesn’tjumpatwhatIamgoingtoofferhim,“wastheson’sreply,“Ishallagreewithmyfatherthatthecaseishopeless;andIshallend,likemyfather,ingivingGeoffreyup。“
ThiswasstronglanguageforJuliustouse。ItwasnoteasytorousethedisciplinedandequabletemperamentofLordHolchester’seldestson。Notwomenwereevermorethoroughlyunlikeeachotherthanthesetwobrothers。Itismelancholytoacknowledgeitofthebloodrelationofa“strokeoar,“butitmustbeowned,intheinterestsoftruth,thatJuliuscultivatedhisintelligence。ThisdegenerateBritoncoulddigestbooks——andcouldn’tdigestbeer。Couldlearnlanguages——andcouldn’tlearntorow。Practicedtheforeignviceofperfectinghimselfintheartofplayingonamusicalinstrumentandcouldn’tlearntheEnglishvirtueofknowingagoodhorsewhenhesawhim。Gotthroughlife。Heavenonlyknowshow!withouteitherabicepsorabetting-book。Hadopenlyacknowledged,inEnglishsociety,thathedidn’tthinkthebarkingofapackofhoundsthefinestmusicintheworld。Couldgotoforeignparts,andseeamountainwhichnobodyhadevergottothetopofyet——anddidn’tinstantlyfeelhishonorasanEnglishmaninvolvedingettingtothetopofithimself。Suchpeoplemay,anddo,existamongtheinferiorracesoftheContinent。LetusthankHeaven,Sir,thatEnglandneverhasbeen,andneverwillbe,therightplaceforthem!
ArrivedatNagle’sHotel,andfindingnobodytoinquireofinthehall,Juliusappliedtotheyoungladywhosatbehindthewindowof“thebar。“Theyoungladywasreadingsomethingsodeeplyinterestingintheeveningnewspaperthatsheneverevenheardhim。Juliuswentintothecoffee-room。
Thewaiter,inhiscorner,wasabsorbedoverasecondnewspaper。
Threegentlemen,atthreedifferenttables,wereabsorbedinathird,fourth,andfifthnewspaper。Theyallalikewentonwiththeirreadingwithoutnoticingtheentranceofthestranger。
JuliusventuredondisturbingthewaiterbyaskingforMr。
GeoffreyDelamayn。Atthesoundofthatillustriousnamethewaiterlookedupwithastart。“AreyouMr。Delamayn’sbrother,Sir?“
“Yes。“
Thethreegentlemenatthetableslookedupwithastart。ThelightofGeoffrey’scelebrityfell,reflected,onGeoffrey’sbrother,andmadeapubliccharacterofhim。
“You’llfindMr。Geoffrey,Sir,“saidthewaiter,inaflurried,excitedmanner,“attheCockandBottle,Putney。“
“Iexpectedtofindhimhere。Ihadanappointmentwithhimatthishotel。“
ThewaiteropenedhiseyesonJuliuswithanexpressionofblankastonishment。“Haven’tyouheardthenews,Sir?“
“No!“
“Godblessmysoul!“exclaimedthewaiter——andofferedthenewspaper。
“Godblessmysoul!“exclaimedthethreegentlemen——andofferedthethreenewspapers。
“Whatisit?“askedJulius。
第38章