Here，again，thereappearedtobesomethinginanameunknowntocelebrity，whichneverthelessproduceditseffect——not，thistime，onMissSilvester，butonSirPatrick。HelookedatMr。
Brinkworthwithasuddeninterestandcuriosity。Iftheladyofthehousehadnotclaimedhisattentionatthemomenthewouldevidentlyhavespokentothedarkyoungman。
ButitwasLadyLundie’sturntochooseasecondplayeronherside。Herbrother-in-lawwasapersonofsomeimportance；andshehadherownmotivesforingratiatingherselfwiththeheadofthefamily。ShesurprisedthewholecompanybychoosingSirPatrick。
“Mamma!“criedBlanche。“Whatcanyoubethinkingof？SirPatrickwon’tplay。Croquetwasn’tdiscoveredinhistime。“
SirPatrickneverallowed“histime“tobemadethesubjectofdisparagingremarksbytheyoungergenerationwithoutpayingtheyoungergenerationbackinitsowncoin。
“In_my_time，mydear，“hesaidtohisniece，“peoplewereexpectedtobringsomeagreeablequalitywiththemtosocialmeetingsofthissort。Inyourtimeyouhavedispensedwithallthat。Here，“remarkedtheoldgentleman，takingupacroquetmalletfromthetablenearhim，“isoneofthequalificationsforsuccessinmodernsociety。Andhere，“headded，takingupaball，“isanother。Verygood。Liveandlearn。I’llplay!I’llplay!“
LadyLundiebornimpervioustoallsenseofironysmiledgraciously。
“IknewSirPatrickwouldplay，“shesaid，“topleaseme，“
SirPatrickbowedwithsatiricalpoliteness。
“LadyLundie，“heanswered，“youreadmelikeabook。“Totheastonishmentofallpersonspresentunderfortyheemphasizedthosewordsbylayinghishandonhisheart，andquotingpoetry。
“ImaysaywithDryden，“addedthegallantoldgentleman：
“’OldasIam，forladies’loveunfit，ThepowerofbeautyIrememberyet。’“
LadyLundielookedunaffectedlyshocked。Mr。Delamaynwentastepfarther。Heinterferedonthespot——withtheairofamanwhofeelshimselfimperativelycalledupontoperformapublicduty。
“Drydenneversaidthat，“heremarked，“I’llanswerforit。“
SirPatrickwheeledroundwiththehelpofhisivorycane，andlookedMr。Delamaynhardintheface。
“DoyouknowDryden，Sir，betterthanIdo？“heasked。
TheHonorableGeoffreyanswered，modestly，“IshouldsayIdid。I
haverowedthreeraceswithhim，andwetrainedtogether。“
SirPatricklookedroundhimwithasoursmileoftriumph。
“Thenletmetellyou，Sir，“hesaid，“thatyoutrainedwithamanwhodiednearlytwohundredyearsago。“
Mr。Delamaynappealed，ingenuinebewilderment，tothecompanygenerally：
“Whatdoesthisoldgentlemanmean？“heasked。“IamspeakingofTomDryden，ofCorpus。EverybodyintheUniversityknows_him。_“
“Iamspeaking，“echoedSirPatrick，“ofJohnDrydenthePoet。
Apparently，everybodyintheUniversitydoes_not_know_him!“_
Mr。Delamaynanswered，withacordialearnestnessverypleasanttosee：
“Giveyoumywordofhonor，Ineverheardofhimbeforeinmylife!Don’tbeangry，Sir。_I’m_notoffendedwith_you。_“Hesmiled，andtookouthisbrier-woodpipe。“Gotalight？“heasked，inthefriendliestpossiblemanner。
SirPatrickanswered，withatotalabsenceofcordiality：
“Idon’tsmoke，Sir。“
Mr。Delamaynlookedathim，withouttakingtheslightestoffense：
“Youdon’tsmoke!“herepeated。“Iwonderhowyougetthroughyoursparetime？“
SirPatrickclosedtheconversation：
“Sir，“hesaid，withalowbow，“you_may_wonder。“
WhilethislittleskirmishwasproceedingLadyLundieandherstep-daughterhadorganizedthegame；andthecompany，playersandspectators，werebeginningtomovetowardthelawn。SirPatrickstoppedhisnieceonherwayout，withthedarkyoungmanincloseattendanceonher。
“LeaveMr。Brinkworthwithme，“hesaid。“Iwanttospeaktohim。“
Blancheissuedherordersimmediately。Mr。BrinkworthwassentencedtostaywithSirPatrickuntilshewantedhimforthegame。Mr。Brinkworthwondered，andobeyed。
Duringtheexerciseofthisactofauthorityacircumstanceoccurredattheotherendofthesummer-house。Takingadvantageoftheconfusioncausedbythegeneralmovementtothelawn，MissSilvestersuddenlyplacedherselfclosetoMr。Delamayn。
“Intenminutes，“shewhispered，“thesummer-housewillbeempty。
Meetmehere。“
TheHonorableGeoffreystarted，andlookedfurtivelyatthevisitorsabouthim。
“Doyouthinkit’ssafe？“hewhisperedback。
Thegoverness’ssensitivelipstrembled，withfearorwithanger，itwashardtosaywhich。
“Iinsistonit!“sheanswered，andlefthim。
Mr。Delamaynknittedhishandsomeeyebrowsashelookedafterher，andthenleftthesummer-houseinhisturn。Therose-gardenatthebackofthebuildingwassolitaryforthemoment。Hetookouthispipeandhidhimselfamongtheroses。Thesmokecamefromhismouthinhotandhastypuffs。Hewasusuallythegentlestofmasters——tohispipe。Whenhehurriedthatconfidentialservant，itwasasuresignofdisturbanceintheinnerman。
BUTtwopersonswerenowleftinthesummer-house——ArnoldBrinkworthandSirPatrickLundie。
“Mr。Brinkworth，“saidtheoldgentleman，“Ihavehadnoopportunityofspeakingtoyoubeforethis；andasIhearthatyouaretoleaveus，to-dayImayfindnoopportunityatalatertime。Iwanttointroducemyself。Yourfatherwasoneofmydearestfriends——letmemakeafriendofyourfather’sson。“
Heheldouthishands，andmentionedhisname。
Arnoldrecognizeditdirectly。“Oh，SirPatrick!“hesaid，warmly，“ifmypoorfatherhadonlytakenyouradvice——“
“Hewouldhavethoughttwicebeforehegambledawayhisfortuneontheturf；andhemighthavebeenalivehereamongus，insteadofdyinganexileinaforeignland，“saidSirPatrick，finishingthesentencewhichtheotherhadbegun。“Nomoreofthat!Let’stalkofsomethingelse。LadyLundiewrotetomeaboutyoutheotherday。Shetoldmeyourauntwasdead，andhadleftyouheirtoherpropertyinScotland。Isthattrue？——Itis？——I
congratulateyouwithallmyheart。Whyareyouvisitinghere，insteadoflookingafteryourhouseandlands？Oh!it’sonlythree-and-twentymilesfromthis；andyou’regoingtolookafteritto-day，bythenexttrain？Quiteright。And——what？
what？——comingbackagainthedayafterto-morrow？Whyshouldyoucomeback？Somespecialattractionhere，Isuppose？Ihopeit’stherightsortofattraction。You’reveryyoung——you’reexposedtoallsortsoftemptations。Haveyougotasolidfoundationofgoodsenseatthebottomofyou？Itisnotinheritedfromyourpoorfather，ifyouhave。Youmusthavebeenamereboywhenheruinedhischildren’sprospects。Howhaveyoulivedfromthattimetothis？Whatwereyoudoingwhenyouraunt’swillmadeanidlemanofyouforlife？“
Thequestionwasasearchingone。Arnoldansweredit，withouttheslightesthesitation；speakingwithanunaffectedmodestyandsimplicitywhichatoncewonSirPatrick’sheart。
“IwasaboyatEton，Sir，“hesaid，“whenmyfather’slossesruinedhim。Ihadtoleaveschool，andgetmyownliving；andI
havegotit，inaroughishway，fromthattimetothis。InplainEnglish，Ihavefollowedthesea——inthemerchant-service。“
“InplainerEnglishstill，youmetadversitylikeabravelad，andyouhavefairlyearnedthegoodluckthathasfallentoyou，“
rejoinedSirPatrick。“Givemeyourhand——Ihavetakenalikingtoyou。You’renotliketheotheryoungfellowsofthepresenttime。Ishallcallyou’Arnold。’Youmus’n’treturnthecomplimentandcallme’Patrick，’mind——I’mtoooldtobetreatedinthatway。Well，andhowdoyougetonhere？Whatsortofawomanismysister-in-law？andwhatsortofahouseisthis？“
Arnoldburstoutlaughing。
“Thoseareextraordinaryquestionsforyoutoputtome，“hesaid。“Youtalk，Sir，asifyouwereastrangerhere!“
SirPatricktouchedaspringintheknobofhisivorycane。A
littlegoldlidflewup，anddisclosedthesnuff-boxhiddeninside。Hetookapinch，andchuckledsatiricallyoversomepassingthought，whichhedidnotthinkitnecessarytocommunicatetohisyoungfriend。