Shakehands!“Thetwochoralgentlemenwereenchantedwithhim。
　　“TheEnglisharistocracy——eh，Smith？““Bloodandbreeding——ah，Jones!“
　　Assoonashehadspoken，Arnold’sconsciencereproachedhim：notforbettingwhoisashamedof_that_formofgamblinginEngland？butfor“backingthedoctor。“Withthebestintentiontowardhisfriend，hewasspeculatingonthefailureofhisfriend’shealth。HeanxiouslyassuredGeoffreythatnomanintheroomcouldbemoreheartilypersuadedthatthesurgeonwaswrongthanhimself。“Idon’tcryofffromthebet，“hesaid。“But，mydearfellow，prayunderstandthatIonlytakeittoplease_you。_“
　　“Botherallthat!“answeredGeoffrey，withthesteadyeyetobusiness，whichwasoneofthechoicestvirtuesinhischaracter。
　　“Abet’sabet——andhangyoursentiment!“HedrewArnoldbythearmoutofear-shotoftheothers。“Isay!“heasked，anxiously。
　　“DoyouthinkI’vesettheoldfogy’sbackup？“
　　“DoyoumeanSirPatrick？“
　　Geoffreynodded，andwenton。
　　“Ihaven’tputthatlittlemattertohimyet——aboutmarryinginScotland，youknow。SupposehecutsuproughwithmeifItryhimnow？“Hiseyewanderedcunningly，asheputthequestion，tothefartherendoftheroom。Thesurgeonwaslookingoveraport-folioofprints。Theladieswerestillatworkontheirnotesofinvitation。SirPatrickwasaloneatthebook-shelvesimmersedinavolumewhichhehadjusttakendown。
　　“Makeanapology，“suggestedArnold。“SirPatrickmaybealittleirritableandbitter；buthe’sajustmanandakindman。Sayyouwerenotguiltyofanyintentionaldisrespecttowardhim——andyouwillsayenough。“
　　“Allright!“
　　SirPatrick，deepinanoldVenetianeditionofTheDecameron，foundhimselfsuddenlyrecalledfrommedievalItalytomodernEngland，bynolessapersonthanGeoffreyDelamayn。
　　“Whatdoyouwant？“heasked，coldly。
　　“Iwanttomakeanapology，“saidGeoffrey。“Letby-gonesbeby-gones——andthatsortofthing。Iwasn’tguiltyofanyintentionaldisrespecttowardyou。Forgiveandforget。Nothalfabadmotto，Sir——eh？“
　　Itwasclumsilyexpressed——butstillitwasanapology。NotevenGeoffreycouldappealtoSirPatrick’scourtesyandSirPatrick’sconsiderationinvain。
　　“Notawordmore，Mr。Delamayn!“saidthepoliteoldman。“AcceptmyexcusesforanythingwhichImayhavesaidtoosharply，onmyside；andletusbyallmeansforgettherest。“
　　Havingmettheadvancemadetohim，inthoseterms，hepaused，expectingGeoffreytoleavehimfreetoreturntotheDecameron。
　　Tohisunutterableastonishment，Geoffreysuddenlystoopedoverhim，andwhisperedinhisear，“Iwantawordinprivatewithyou。“
　　SirPatrickstartedback，asifGeoffreyhadtriedtobitehim。
　　“Ibegyourpardon，Mr。Delamayn——whatdidyousay？“
　　“Couldyougivemeawordinprivate？“
　　SirPatrickputbacktheDecameron；andbowedinfreezingsilence。TheconfidenceoftheHonorableGeoffreyDelamaynwasthelastconfidenceintheworldintowhichhedesiredtobedrawn。“Thisisthesecretoftheapology!“hethought。“WhatcanhepossiblywantwithMe？“
　　“It’saboutafriendofmine，“pursuedGeoffrey；leadingthewaytowardoneofthewindows。“He’sinascrape，myfriendis。AndI
　　wanttoaskyouradvice。It’sstrictlyprivate，youknow。“Therehecametoafullstop——andlookedtoseewhatimpressionhehadproduced，sofar。
　　SirPatrickdeclined，eitherbywordorgesture，toexhibittheslightestanxietytohearawordmore。
　　“Wouldyoumindtakingaturninthegarden？“askedGeoffrey。
　　SirPatrickpointedtohislamefoot。“Ihavehadmyallowanceofwalkingthismorning，“hesaid。“Letmyinfirmityexcuseme。“
　　Geoffreylookedabouthimforasubstituteforthegarden，andledthewaybackagaintowardoneoftheconvenientcurtainedrecessesopeningoutoftheinnerwallofthelibrary。“Weshallbeprivateenoughhere，“hesaid。
　　SirPatrickmadeafinalefforttoescapetheproposedconference——anundisguisedeffort，thistime“Prayforgiveme，Mr。Delamayn。Areyouquitesurethatyouapplytotherightperson，inapplyingto_me？_“
　　“You’reaScotchlawyer，ain’tyou？“
　　“Certainly。“
　　“AndyouunderstandaboutScotchmarriages——eh？“
　　SirPatrick’smannersuddenlyaltered。
　　“Is_that_thesubjectyouwishtoconsultmeon？“heasked。
　　“It’snotme。It’smyfriend。“
　　“Yourfriend，then？“
　　“Yes。It’sascrapewithawoman。HereinScotland。Myfrienddon’tknowwhetherhe’smarriedtoherornot。“
　　“Iamatyourservice，Mr。Delamayn。“
　　ToGeoffrey’srelief——bynomeansunmixedwithsurprise——SirPatricknotonlyshowednofurtherreluctancetobeconsultedbyhim，butactuallyadvancedtomeethiswishes，byleadingthewaytotherecessthatwasnearesttothem。ThequickbrainoftheoldlawyerhadputGeoffrey’sapplicationtohimforassistance，andBlanche’sapplicationtohimforassistance，together；andhadbuiltitsowntheoryonthebasisthusobtained。“DoIseeaconnectionbetweenthepresentpositionofBlanche’sgoverness，andthepresentpositionofMr。Delamayn’s’friend？’“thoughtSirPatrick。“Strangerextremesthan_that_havemetmeinmyexperience。Somethingmaycomeoutofthis。“
　　Thetwostrangely-assortedcompanionsseatedthemselves，oneoneachsideofalittletableintherecess。Arnoldandtheotherguestshadidledoutagainontothelawn。Thesurgeonwithhisprints，andtheladieswiththeirinvitations，weresafelyabsorbedinadistantpartofthelibrary。Theconferencebetweenthetwomen，sotriflinginappearance，soterribleinitsdestinedinfluence，notoverAnne’sfutureonly，butoverthefutureofArnoldandBlanche，was，toallpracticalpurposes，aconferencewithcloseddoors。
　　“Now，“saidSirPatrick，“whatisthequestion？“
　　“Thequestion，“saidGeoffrey，“iswhethermyfriendismarriedtoherornot？“
　　“Didhemeantomarryher？“
　　“No。“
　　“Hebeingasingleman，andshebeingasinglewoman，atthetime？AndbothinScotland？“
　　“Yes。“
　　“Verywell。Nowtellmethecircumstances。“
　　Geoffreyhesitated。Theartofstatingcircumstancesimpliesthecultivationofaveryraregift——thegiftofarrangingideas。NoonewasbetteracquaintedwiththistruththanSirPatrick。HewaspurposelypuzzlingGeoffreyatstarting，underthefirmconvictionthathisclienthadsomethingtoconcealfromhim。Theoneprocessthatcouldbedependedonforextractingthetruth，underthosecircumstances，wastheprocessofinterrogation。IfGeoffreywassubmittedtoit，attheoutset，hiscunningmighttakethealarm。SirPatrick’sobjectwastomakethemanhimselfinviteinterrogation。Geoffreyinviteditforthwith，byattemptingtostatethecircumstances，andbyinvolvingthemintheusualconfusion。SirPatrickwaiteduntilhehadthoroughlylostthethreadofhisnarrative——andthenplayedforthewinningtrick。
　　“WoulditbeeasiertoyouifIaskedafewquestions？“heinquired，innocently。
　　“Mucheasier。“
　　“Iamquiteatyourservice。Supposeweclearthegroundtobeginwith？Areyouatlibertytomentionnames？“
　　“No。“
　　“Places？“
　　“No。“
　　“Dates？“
　　“Doyouwantmetobeparticular？“
　　“Beasparticularasyoucan。“
　　“Willitdo，ifIsaythepresentyear？“
　　“Yes。Wereyourfriendandthelady——atsometimeinthepresentyear——travelingtogetherinScotland？“
　　“No。“
　　“LivingtogetherinScotland？“
　　“No。“
　　“What_were_theydoingtogetherinScotland？“
　　“Well——theyweremeetingeachotherataninn。“
　　“Oh？Theyweremeetingeachotherataninn。Whichwasfirstattherendezvous？“
　　“Thewomanwasfirst。Stopabit!Wearegettingtoitnow。“HeproducedfromhispocketthewrittenmemorandumofArnold’sproceedingsatCraigFernie，whichhehadtakendownfromArnold’sownlips。“I’vegotabitofnotehere，“hewenton。
　　“Perhapsyou’dliketohavealookatit？“
　　SirPatricktookthenote——readitrapidlythroughtohimself——thenre-readit，sentencebysentence，toGeoffrey；
　　usingitasatexttospeakfrom，inmakingfurtherinquiries。