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？“