Arnoldsaidawordofsympathytohisfriend，whentheywerealone。
“Iamsorryforthis，Geoffrey。IhopeandtrustyouwillgettoLondonintime。“
Hestopped。TherewassomethinginGeoffrey’sface——astrangemixtureofdoubtandbewilderment，ofannoyanceandhesitation——whichwasnottobeaccountedforasthenaturalresultofthenewsthathehadreceived。Hiscolorshiftedandchanged；hepickedfretfullyathisfinger-nails；helookedatArnoldasifhewasgoingtospeak——andthenlookedawayagain，insilence。
“Istheresomethingamiss，Geoffrey，besidesthisbadnewsaboutyourfather？“askedArnold。
“I’minthedevil’sownmess，“wastheanswer。
“CanIdoanythingtohelpyou？“
Insteadofmakingadirectreply，Geoffreyliftedhismightyhand，andgaveArnoldafriendlyslapontheshoulderwhichshookhimfromheadtofoot。Arnoldsteadiedhimself，andwaited——wonderingwhatwascomingnext。
“Isay，oldfellow!“saidGeoffrey。
“Yes。“
“DoyourememberwhentheboatturnedkeelupwardinLisbonHarbor？“
Arnoldstarted。Ifhecouldhavecalledtomindhisfirstinterviewinthesummer-housewithhisfather’soldfriendhemighthaverememberedSirPatrick’spredictionthathewouldsoonerorlaterpay，withinterest，thedebtheowedtothemanwhohadsavedhislife。Asitwashismemoryrevertedataboundtothetimeoftheboat-accident。Intheardorofhisgratitudeandtheinnocenceofhisheart，healmostresentedhisfriend’squestionasareproachwhichhehadnotdeserved。
“DoyouthinkIcaneverforget，“hecried，warmly，“thatyouswamashorewithmeandsavedmylife？“
Geoffreyventuredastepnearertotheobjectthathehadinview。
“Onegoodturndeservesanother，“hesaid，“don’tit？“
Arnoldtookhishand。“Onlytellme!“heeagerlyrejoined——“onlytellmewhatIcando!“
“Youaregoingto-daytoseeyournewplace，ain’tyou？“
“Yes。“
“Canyouputoffgoingtillto-morrow？“
“Ifit’sanythingserious——ofcourseIcan!“
Geoffreylookedroundattheentrancetothesummer-house，tomakesurethattheywerealone。
“Youknowthegovernesshere，don’tyou？“hesaid，inawhisper。
“MissSilvester？“
“Yes。I’vegotintoalittledifficultywithMissSilvester。Andthereisn’talivingsoulIcanasktohelpmebut_you。_“
“YouknowIwillhelpyou。Whatisit？“
“Itisn’tsoeasytosay。Nevermind——you’renosainteither，areyou？You’llkeepitasecret，ofcourse？Lookhere!I’veactedlikeaninfernalfool。I’vegoneandgotthegirlintoascrape——“
Arnolddrewback，suddenlyunderstandinghim。
“Goodheavens，Geoffrey!Youdon’tmean——“
“Ido!Waitabit——that’snottheworstofit。Shehasleftthehouse。“
“Leftthehouse？“
“Left，forgoodandall。Shecan’tcomebackagain。“
“Whynot？“
“Becauseshe’swrittentohermissus。Womenhang’em!neverdothesethingsbyhalves。She’sleftalettertosayshe’sprivatelymarried，andgoneofftoherhusband。Herhusbandis——Me。NotthatI’mmarriedtoheryet，youunderstand。Ihaveonlypromisedtomarryher。Shehasgoneonfirstontheslytoaplacefourmilesfromthis。AndwesettledIwastofollow，andmarryherprivatelythisafternoon。That’soutofthequestionnow。Whileshe’sexpectingmeattheinnIshallbebowlingalongtoLondon。Somebodymusttellherwhathashappened——orshe’llplaythedevil，andthewholebusinesswillburstup。Ican’ttrustanyofthepeoplehere。I’mdonefor，oldchap，unlessyouhelpme。“
Arnoldliftedhishandsindismay。“It’sthemostdreadfulsituation，Geoffrey，Ieverheardofinmylife!“
Geoffreythoroughlyagreedwithhim。“Enoughtoknockamanover，“hesaid，“isn’tit？I’dgivesomethingforadrinkofbeer。“Heproducedhiseverlastingpipe，fromsheerforceofhabit。“Gotamatch？“heasked。
Arnold’smindwastoopreoccupiedtonoticethequestion。
“Ihopeyouwon’tthinkI’mmakinglightofyourfather’sillness，“hesaid，earnestly。“Butitseemstome——Imustsayit——itseemstomethatthepoorgirlhasthefirstclaimonyou。“
Geoffreylookedathiminsurlyamazement。
“Thefirstclaimonme？DoyouthinkI’mgoingtoriskbeingcutoutofmyfather’swill？Notforthebestwomanthateverputonapetticoat!“
Arnold’sadmirationofhisfriendwasthesolidly-foundedadmirationofmanyyears；admirationforamanwhocouldrow，box，wrestle，jump——aboveall，whocouldswim——asfewothermencouldperformthoseexercisesincontemporaryEngland。Butthatanswershookhisfaith。Onlyforthemoment——unhappilyforArnold，onlyforthemoment。
“Youknowbest，“hereturned，alittlecoldly。“WhatcanIdo？“
Geoffreytookhisarm——roughlyashetookeverything；butinacompanionableandconfidentialway。
“Go，likeagoodfellow，andtellherwhathashappened。We’llstartfromhereasifwewerebothgoingtotherailway；andI’lldropyouatthefoot-path，inthegig。Youcangetontoyourownplaceafterwardbytheeveningtrain。Itputsyoutonoinconvenience，andit’sdoingthekindthingbyanoldfriend。
There’snoriskofbeingfoundout。I’mtodrive，remember!
There’snoservantwithus，oldboy，tonotice，andtelltales。“
EvenArnoldbegantoseedimlybythistimethathewaslikelytopayhisdebtofobligationwithinterest——asSirPatrickhadforetold。
“WhatamItosaytoher？“heasked。“I’mboundtodoallIcandotohelpyou，andIwill。ButwhatamItosay？“
Itwasanaturalquestiontoput。Itwasnotaneasyquestiontoanswer。Whataman，undergivenmuscularcircumstances，coulddo，nopersonlivingknewbetterthanGeoffreyDelamayn。Ofwhataman，undergivensocialcircumstances，couldsay，nopersonlivingknewless。
“Say？“herepeated。“Lookhere!sayI’mhalfdistracted，andallthat。And——waitabit——tellhertostopwheresheistillIwritetoher。“
Arnoldhesitated。Absolutelyignorantofthatlowandlimitedformofknowledgewhichiscalled“knowledgeoftheworld，“hisinbreddelicacyofmindrevealedtohimtheseriousdifficultyofthepositionwhichhisfriendwasaskinghimtooccupyasplainlyasifhewaslookingatitthroughthewarily-gatheredexperienceofsocietyofamanoftwicehisage。
“Can’tyouwritetohernow，Geoffrey？“heasked。
“What’sthegoodofthat？“
“Considerforaminute，andyouwillsee。Youhavetrustedmewithaveryawkwardsecret。Imaybewrong——Ineverwasmixedupinsuchamatterbefore——buttopresentmyselftothisladyasyourmessengerseemsexposinghertoadreadfulhumiliation。AmI
togoandtellhertoherface：’Iknowwhatyouarehidingfromtheknowledgeofalltheworld；’andisshetobeexpectedtoendureit？“
“Bosh!“saidGeoffrey。“Theycanendureadealmorethanyouthink。Iwishyouhadheardhowshebulliedme，inthisveryplace。Mygoodfellow，youdon’tunderstandwomen。Thegrandsecret，indealingwithawoman，istotakeherasyoutakeacat，bythescruffoftheneck——“
“Ican’tfaceher——unlessyouwillhelpmebybreakingthethingtoherfirst。I’llstickatnosacrificetoserveyou；but——hangit!——makeallowances，Geoffrey，forthedifficultyyouareputtingmein。Iamalmostastranger；Idon’tknowhowMissSilvestermayreceiveme，beforeIcanopenmylips。“
Thoselastwordstouchedthequestiononitspracticalside。Thematter-of-factviewofthedifficultywasaviewwhichGeoffreyinstantlyrecognizedandunderstood。
“Shehasthedevil’sowntemper，“hesaid。“There’snodenyingthat。PerhapsI’dbetterwrite。Havewetimetogointothehouse？“
“No。Thehouseisfullofpeople，andwehaven’taminutetospare。Writeatonce，andwritehere。Ihavegotapencil。“
“WhatamItowriteon？“
“Anything——yourbrother’scard。“
GeoffreytookthepencilwhichArnoldofferedtohim，andlookedatthecard。Thelineshisbrotherhadwrittencoveredit。Therewasnoroomleft。Hefeltinhispocket，andproducedaletter——theletterwhichAnnehadreferredtoattheinterviewbetweenthem——theletterwhichshehadwrittentoinsistonhisattendingthelawn-partyatWindygates。
“Thiswilldo，“hesaid。“It’soneofAnne’sownletterstome。
There’sroomonthefourthpage。IfIwrite，“headded，turningsuddenlyonArnold，“youpromisetotakeittoher？Yourhandonthebargain!“
HeheldoutthehandwhichhadsavedArnold’slifeinLisbonHarbor，andreceivedArnold’spromise，inremembranceofthattime。