“AndnowImustbeoffuptomybitofafarm;theoldsowisduetolitter，andIwanttoseehowsheisgettingon。PleaseGodshe’llhavethirteenagainanddowell。I’llordertheflytobehereatfive，thoughIshallbebackbeforethen——thatis，ItoldElizabethtodoso。Shehasgoneouttodosomevisitingforme，andtoseeifshecan’tgetintwopoundsfiveoftithethathasbeendueforthreemonths。Ifanybodycangetitit’sElizabeth。Well，good-bye;ifyouaredullandwanttotalktoBeatrice，sheisupandinthere。I
daresayyouwillsuitoneanother。She’saveryqueergirl，Beatrice，quitebeyondmewithherideas，anditwasafunnythingherholdingyousotight，butIsupposeProvidencearrangedthat。Good-byeforthepresent，Mr。Bingham。”andthiscuriousspecimenofaclergymanvanished，leavingGeoffreyquitebreathless。
Itwashalf-pasttwoo’clock，andthedoctorhadtoldhimthathecouldseeMissGrangeratthree。Hewishedthatitwasthree，forhewastiredofhisownthoughtsandcompany，andnaturallyanxioustorenewhisacquaintancewiththestrangegirlwhohadbegunbyimpressinghimsodeeplyandendedbysavinghislife。Therewascompletequietinthehouse;Betty，themaid-of-all-work，wasemployedinthekitchen，boththedoctorshadgone，andElizabethandherfatherwereout。To-daytherewasnowind，ithadblownitselfawayduringthenight，andthesightofthesunbeamsstreamingthroughthewindowsmadeGeoffreylongtobeintheopenair。Hehadnobookathandtoread，andwheneverhetriedtothinkhismindflewbacktothathatefulmatrimonialquarrel。
Itwashardonhim，Geoffreythought，thatheshouldbecalledupontoenduresuchscenes。Hecouldnolongerdisguisethetruthfromhimself——hehadburiedhishappinessonhiswedding-day。Lookingbackacrosstheyears，hewellrememberedhowdifferentalifehehadimaginedforhimself。Inthosedayshewastiredofknockingaboutandofyouthfulescapades;eventhatkindofsocialsuccesswhichmustattendayoungmanwhowashandsome，clever，agoodfellow，andblessedwithlargeexpectations，had，attheageofsix-and-twenty，entirelylostitsattractiveness。Thereforehehadturnednodeafeartohisuncle，SirRobertBingham，whowasthengoingonforseventy，whenhesuggestedthatitmightbewellofGeoffreysettleddown，andintroducedhimtoLadyHonoria。
LadyHonoriawaseighteenthen，andabeautyoftheratherthinbutstatuesquetype，whichattractsmenuptofiveorsixandtwentyandthenfrequentlybores，ifitdoesnotrepelthem。Moreover，shewascleverandwellread，andpretendedtobeintellectuallyandpoeticallyinclined，asladiesnotspeciallyfavouredbyApollosometimesdo——beforetheymarry。Coldshealwayswas;nobodyeverheardofLadyHonoriastretchingtheboundsofpropriety;butGeoffreyputthisdowntoasweetandbecomingmodesty，whichwouldvanishorbetransmutedinitsseason。Alsosheaffectedacharminginnocenceofallvulgarbusinessmatters，whichbothdeceivedandenchantedhim。