“Yes，SirPatrick。LadyLundiehaskindlyorderedthegigtotakemetothestation，intimeforthenexttrain。“
“Whenareyoutobeready？“
Arnoldlookedathiswatch。“Inaquarterofanhour。“
“Verygood。Mindyou_are_ready。Stopaminute!youwillhaveplentyoftimetospeaktoBlanchewhenIhavedonewithyou。Youdon’tappeartometobesufficientlyanxiousaboutseeingyourownproperty。“
“IamnotveryanxioustoleaveBlanche，Sir——that’sthetruthofit。“
“NevermindBlanche。Blancheisnotbusiness。TheybothbeginwithaB——andthat’stheonlyconnectionbetweenthem。IhearyouhavegotoneofthefinesthousesinthispartofScotland。HowlongareyougoingtostayinScotland？Howlongareyougoingtostayinit？“
“IhavearrangedasIhavealreadytoldyou，SirtoreturntoWindygatesthedayafterto-morrow。“
“What!Hereisamanwithapalacewaitingtoreceivehim——andheisonlygoingtostoponecleardayinit!“
“Iamnotgoingtostopinitatall，SirPatrick——Iamgoingtostaywiththesteward。I’monlywantedtobepresentto-morrowatadinnertomytenants——and，whenthat’sover，there’snothingintheworldtopreventmycomingbackhere。Thestewardhimselftoldmesoinhislastletter。“
“Oh，ifthestewardtoldyouso，ofcoursethereisnothingmoretobesaid!“
“Don’tobjecttomycomingback!praydon’t，SirPatrick!I’llpromisetoliveinmynewhousewhenIhavegotBlanchetoliveinitwithme。Ifyouwon’tmind，I’llgoandtellheratoncethatitallbelongstoheraswellastome。“
“Gently!gently!youtalkasifyouweremarriedtoheralready!“
“It’sasgoodasdone，Sir!Where’sthedifficultyinthewaynow？“
Asheaskedthequestiontheshadowofsomethirdperson，advancingfromthesideofthesummer-house，wasthrownforwardontheopensunlitspaceatthetopofthesteps。Inamomentmoretheshadowwasfollowedbythesubstance——intheshapeofagroominhisridinglivery。Themanwasplainlyastrangertotheplace。Hestarted，andtouchedhishat，whenhesawthetwogentlemeninthesummer-house。
“Whatdoyouwant？“askedSirPatrick“Ibegyourpardon，Sir；Iwassentbymymaster——“
“Whoisyourmaster？“
“TheHonorableMr。Delamayn，Sir。“
“DoyoumeanMr。GeoffreyDelamayn？“askedArnold。
“No，Sir。Mr。Geoffrey’sbrother——Mr。Julius。Ihaveriddenoverfromthehouse，Sir，withamessagefrommymastertoMr。
Geoffrey。“
“Can’tyoufindhim？“
“TheytoldmeIshouldfindhimhereabouts，Sir。ButI’mastranger，anddon’trightlyknowwheretolook。“Hestopped，andtookacardoutofhispocket。“MymastersaiditwasveryimportantIshoulddeliverthisimmediately。Wouldyoubepleasedtotellme，gentlemen，ifyouhappentoknowwhereMr。Geoffreyis？“
ArnoldturnedtoSirPatrick。“Ihaven’tseenhim。Haveyou？“
“Ihavesmelthim，“answeredSirPatrick，“eversinceIhavebeeninthesummer-house。Thereisadetestabletaintoftobaccointheair——suggestivedisagreeablysuggestiveto_my_mindofyourfriend，Mr。Delamayn。“
Arnoldlaughed，andsteppedoutsidethesummer-house。
“Ifyouareright，SirPatrick，wewillfindhimatonce。“Helookedaround，andshouted，“Geoffrey!“
Avoicefromtherose-gardenshoutedback，“Hullo!“
“You’rewanted。Comehere!“
Geoffreyappeared，saunteringdoggedly，withhispipeinhismouth，andhishandsinhispockets。
“Whowantsme？“
“Agroom——fromyourbrother。“
Thatanswerappearedtoelectrifytheloungingandlazyathlete。
Geoffreyhurried，witheagersteps，tothesummer-house。HeaddressedthegroombeforethemanhadtimetospeakWithhorroranddismayinhisface，heexclaimed：
“ByJupiter!Ratcatcherhasrelapsed!“
SirPatrickandArnoldlookedateachotherinblankamazement。
“Thebesthorseinmybrother’sstables!“criedGeoffrey，explaining，andappealingtothem，inabreath。“Ileftwrittendirectionswiththecoachman，Imeasuredouthisphysicforthreedays；Ibledhim，“saidGeoffrey，inavoicebrokenbyemotion——“Ibledhimmyself，lastnight。“
“Ibegyourpardon，Sir——“beganthegroom。
“What’stheuseofbeggingmypardon？You’reapackofinfernalfools!Where’syourhorse？I’llrideback，andbreakeveryboneinthecoachman’sskin!Where’syourhorse？“
“Ifyouplease，Sir，itisn’tRatcatcher。Ratcatcher’sallright。“
“Ratcatcher’sallright？Thenwhatthedevilisit？“
“It’samessage，Sir。“
“Aboutwhat？“
“Aboutmylord。“
“Oh!Aboutmyfather？“Hetookouthishandkerchief，andpasseditoverhisforehead，withadeepgaspofrelief。“IthoughtitwasRatcatcher，“hesaid，lookingatArnold，withasmile。Heputhispipeintohismouth，andrekindledthedyingashesofthetobacco。“Well？“hewenton，whenthepipewasinworkingorder，andhisvoicewascomposedagain：“What’supwithmyfather？“
“AtelegramfromLondon，Sir。Badnewsofmylord。“
Themanproducedhismaster’scard。
Geoffreyreadonitwritteninhisbrother’shandwritingthesewords：
“Ihaveonlyamomenttoscribblealineonmycard。Ourfatherisdangerouslyill——hislawyerhasbeensentfor。ComewithmetoLondonbythefirsttrain。Meetatthejunction。“
Withoutawordtoanyoneofthethreepersonspresent，allsilentlylookingathim，Geoffreyconsultedhiswatch。Annehadtoldhimtowaithalfanhour，andtoassumethatshehadgoneifhefailedtohearfromherinthattime。Theintervalhadpassed——andnocommunicationofanysorthadreachedhim。Theflightfromthehousehadbeensafelyaccomplished。AnneSilvesterwas，atthatmoment，onherwaytothemountaininn。
CHAPTERTHESEVENTH。
THEDEBT。
ARNOLDwasthefirstwhobrokethesilence。“Isyourfatherseriouslyill？“heasked。
Geoffreyansweredbyhandinghimthecard。
SirPatrick，whohadstoodapartwhilethequestionofRatcatcher’srelapsewasunderdiscussionsardonicallystudyingthemannersandcustomsofmodernEnglishyouth，nowcameforward，andtookhispartintheproceedings。LadyLundieherselfmusthaveacknowledgedthathespokeandactedasbecametheheadofthefamily，onthisoccasion。
“AmIrightinsupposingthatMr。Delamayn’sfatherisdangerouslyill？“heasked，addressinghimselftoArnold。
“Dangerouslyill，inLondon，“Arnoldanswered。“GeoffreymustleaveWindygateswithme。ThetrainIamtravelingbymeetsthetrainhisbrotheristravelingby，atthejunction。Ishallleavehimatthesecondstationfromhere。“
“Didn’tyoutellmethatLadyLundiewasgoingtosendyoutotherailwayinagig？“
“Yes。“
“Iftheservantdrives，therewillbethreeofyou——andtherewillbenoroom。“
“Wehadbetteraskforsomeothervehicle，“suggestedArnold。
SirPatricklookedathiswatch。Therewasnotimetochangethecarriage。HeturnedtoGeoffrey。“Canyoudrive，Mr。Delamayn？“
Stillimpenetrablysilent，Geoffreyrepliedbyanodofthehead。
Withoutnoticingtheunceremoniousmannerinwhichhehadbeenanswered，SirPatrickwenton：
“Inthatcase，youcanleavethegiginchargeofthestation-master。I’lltelltheservantthathewillnotbewantedtodrive。“
“Letmesaveyouthetrouble，SirPatrick，“saidArnold。
SirPatrickdeclined，byagesture。Heturnedagain，withundiminishedcourtesy，toGeoffrey。“Itisoneofthedutiesofhospitality，Mr。Delamayn，tohastenyourdeparture，underthesesadcircumstances。LadyLundieisengagedwithherguests。Iwillseemyselfthatthereisnounnecessarydelayinsendingyoutothestation。“Hebowed——andleftthesummer-house。