“Itwilldoforme。Idon’tknowgoodEnglishwhenIseeit。“
Withthatfrankacknowledgment——towhichthegreatmajorityofhiscompanionsatschoolandcollegemighthavesubscribedwithoutdoingtheslightestinjusticetothepresentstateofEnglisheducation——Geoffreydrewhischairtothetable，andopenedoneofthevolumesofhisrecordofcrime。
Theeveningnewspaperwaslyingonthesofa。Juliustookitup，andseatedhimselfoppositetohisbrother。Henoticed，withsomesurprise，thatGeoffreyappearedtohaveaspecialobjectinconsultinghisbook。Insteadofbeginningatthefirstpage，herantheleavesthroughhisfingers，andturnedthemdownatcertainplaces，beforeheenteredonhisreading。IfJuliushadlookedoverhisbrother’sshoulder，insteadofonlylookingathimacrossthetable，hewouldhaveseenthatGeoffreypassedbyallthelightercrimesreportedintheCalendar，andmarkedforhisownprivatereadingthecasesofmurderonly。
THEnighthadadvanced。Itwascloseontwelveo’clockwhenAnneheardtheservant’svoice，outsideherbedroomdoor，askingleavetospeakwithherforamoment。
“Whatisit？“