“Makeamemorandumofthename，“LordHolchesterwenton。“AnneSilvester。Herfatherandmotheraredead。Iknewherfatherinformertimes。Hermotherwasill-used。Itwasabadbusiness。I
havebeenthinkingofitagain，forthefirsttimeformanyyears。Ifthegirlisaliveandabouttheworldshemayrememberourfamilyname。Helpher，Julius，ifsheeverwantshelp，andappliestoyou。“Thepainfulcontractionpassedacrosshisfaceoncemore。WerehisthoughtstakinghimbacktothememorablesummereveningattheHampsteadvilla？Didheseethedesertedwomanswooningathisfeetagain？“Aboutyourelection？“heasked，impatiently。“Mymindisnotusedtobeidle。Giveitsomethingtodo。“
Juliusstatedhispositionasplainlyandasbrieflyashecould。
Thefatherfoundnothingtoobjecttointhereport——excepttheson’sabsencefromthefieldofaction。HeblamedLadyH
olchesterforsummoningJuliustoLondon。Hewasannoyedathisson’sbeingthere，atthebedside，whenheoughttohavebeenaddressingtheelectors。“It’sinconvenient，Julius，“hesaid，petulantly。“Don’tyouseeityourself？“
HavingpreviouslyarrangedwithhismothertotakethefirstopportunitythatofferedofriskingareferencetoGeoffrey，Juliusdecidedto“seeit“inalightforwhichhisfatherwasnotprepared。Theopportunitywasbeforehim。Hetookitonthespot。
“Itisnoinconveniencetome，Sir，“hereplied，“anditisnoinconveniencetomybrothereither。Geoffreywasanxiousaboutyoutoo。GeoffreyhascometoLondonwithme。“
LordHolchesterlookedathiseldestsonwithagrimly-satiricalexpressionofsurprise。
“HaveInotalreadytoldyou，“herejoined，“thatmymindisnotaffectedbymyillness？Geoffreyanxiousaboutme!Anxietyisoneofthecivilizedemotions。Maninhissavagestateisincapableoffeelingit。“
“Mybrotherisnotasavage，Sir。“
“Hisstomachisgenerallyfull，andhisskiniscoveredwithlinenandcloth，insteadofredochreandoil。Sofar，certainly，yourbrotheriscivilized。Inallotherrespectsyourbrotherisasavage。“
“Iknowwhatyoumean，Sir。ButthereissomethingtobesaidforGeoffrey’swayoflife。Hecultivateshiscourageandhisstrength。Courageandstrengtharefinequalities，surely，intheirway？“
“Excellentqualities，asfarastheygo。Ifyouwanttoknowhowfarthatis，challengeGeoffreytowriteasentenceofdecentEnglish，andseeifhiscouragedoesn’tfailhimthere。Givehimhisbookstoreadforhisdegree，and，strongasheis，hewillbetakenillatthesightofthem。Youwishmetoseeyourbrother。Nothingwillinducemetoseehim，untilhiswayoflifeasyoucallitisalteredaltogether。Ihavebutonehopeofitseverbeingalterednow。Itisbarelypossiblethattheinfluenceofasensiblewoman——possessedofsuchadvantagesofbirthandfortuneasmaycompelrespect，evenfromasavage——mightproduceitseffectonGeoffrey。Ifhewishestofindhiswaybackintothishouse，lethimfindhiswaybackintogoodsocietyfirst，andbringmeadaughter-in-lawtopleadhiscauseforhim——whomhismotherandIcanrespectandreceive。
Whenthathappens，IshallbegintohavesomebeliefinGeoffrey。
Untilitdoeshappen，don’tintroduceyourbrotherintoanyfutureconversationswhichyoumayhavewithMe。Toreturntoyourelection。Ihavesomeadvicetogiveyoubeforeyougoback。
Youwilldowelltogobackto-night。Liftmeuponthepillow。I
shallspeakmoreeasilywithmyheadhigh。“
Hissonliftedhimonthepillows，andoncemoreentreatedhimtosparehimself。
Itwasuseless。Noremonstrancesshooktheironresolutionofthemanwhohadhewedhiswaythroughtherankandfileofpoliticalhumanitytohisownhighplaceapartfromtherest。Helpless，ghastly，snatchedoutoftheveryjawsofdeath，therehelay，steadilydistillingtheclearcommon-sensewhichhadwonhimallhisworldlyrewardsintothemindofhisson。Notahintwasmissed，notacautionwasforgotten，thatcouldguideJuliussafelythroughthemirypoliticalwayswhichhehadtroddensosafelyandsodextrouslyhimself。Anhourmorehadpassedbeforetheimpenetrableoldmanclosedhiswearyeyes，andconsentedtotakehisnourishmentandcomposehimselftorest。Hislastwords，renderedbarelyarticulatebyexhaustion，stillsangthepraisesofpartymanoeuvresandpoliticalstrife。“It’sagrandcareer!I
misstheHouseofCommons，Julius，asImissnothingelse!“
Leftfreetopursuehisownthoughts，andtoguidehisownmovements，JuliuswentstraightfromLordHolchester’sbedsidetoLadyHolchester’sboudoir。
“HasyourfathersaidanythingaboutGeoffrey？“washismother’sfirstquestionassoonasheenteredtheroom。
“MyfathergivesGeoffreyalastchance，ifGeoffreywillonlytakeit。“
LadyHolchester’sfaceclouded。“Iknow，“shesaid，withalookofdisappointment。“Hislastchanceistoreadforhisdegree。
Hopeless，mydear。Quitehopeless!Ifithadonlybeensomethingeasierthanthat；somethingthatrestedwithme——“
“Itdoesrestwithyou，“interposedJulius。“Mydearmother!——canyoubelieveit？——Geoffrey’slastchanceisinoneword
Marriage!“
“Oh，Julius!it’stoogoodtobetrue!“
Juliusrepeatedhisfather’sownwords。LadyHolchesterlookedtwentyyearsyoungerasshelistened。Whenhehaddonesherangthebell。
“Nomatterwhocalls，“shesaidtotheservant，“Iamnotathome。“SheturnedtoJulius，kissedhim，andmadeaplaceforhimonthesofabyherside。“Geoffreyshalltake_that_chance，“shesaid，gayly——“Iwillanswerforit!Ihavethreewomeninmymind，anyoneofwhomwouldsuithim。Sitdown，mydear，andletusconsidercarefullywhichofthethreewillbemostlikelytoattractGeoffrey，andtocomeuptoyourfather’sstandardofwhathisdaughter-in-lawoughttobe。Whenwehavedecided，don’ttrusttowriting。GoyourselfandseeGeoffreyathishotel。“
Motherandsonenteredontheirconsultation——andinnocentlysowedtheseedsofaterribleharvesttocome。
TIMEhadadvancedtoafternoonbeforetheselectionofGeoffrey’sfuturewifewasaccomplished，andbeforetheinstructionsofGeoffrey’sbrotherwerecompleteenoughtojustifytheopeningofthematrimonialnegotiationatNagle’sHotel。
“Don’tleavehimtillyouhavegothispromise，“wereLadyHolchester’slastwordswhenhersonstartedonhismission。
“IfGeoffreydoesn’tjumpatwhatIamgoingtoofferhim，“wastheson’sreply，“Ishallagreewithmyfatherthatthecaseishopeless；andIshallend，likemyfather，ingivingGeoffreyup。“
ThiswasstronglanguageforJuliustouse。ItwasnoteasytorousethedisciplinedandequabletemperamentofLordHolchester’seldestson。Notwomenwereevermorethoroughlyunlikeeachotherthanthesetwobrothers。Itismelancholytoacknowledgeitofthebloodrelationofa“strokeoar，“butitmustbeowned，intheinterestsoftruth，thatJuliuscultivatedhisintelligence。ThisdegenerateBritoncoulddigestbooks——andcouldn’tdigestbeer。Couldlearnlanguages——andcouldn’tlearntorow。Practicedtheforeignviceofperfectinghimselfintheartofplayingonamusicalinstrumentandcouldn’tlearntheEnglishvirtueofknowingagoodhorsewhenhesawhim。Gotthroughlife。Heavenonlyknowshow!withouteitherabicepsorabetting-book。Hadopenlyacknowledged，inEnglishsociety，thathedidn’tthinkthebarkingofapackofhoundsthefinestmusicintheworld。Couldgotoforeignparts，andseeamountainwhichnobodyhadevergottothetopofyet——anddidn’tinstantlyfeelhishonorasanEnglishmaninvolvedingettingtothetopofithimself。Suchpeoplemay，anddo，existamongtheinferiorracesoftheContinent。LetusthankHeaven，Sir，thatEnglandneverhasbeen，andneverwillbe，therightplaceforthem!
ArrivedatNagle’sHotel，andfindingnobodytoinquireofinthehall，Juliusappliedtotheyoungladywhosatbehindthewindowof“thebar。“Theyoungladywasreadingsomethingsodeeplyinterestingintheeveningnewspaperthatsheneverevenheardhim。Juliuswentintothecoffee-room。
Thewaiter，inhiscorner，wasabsorbedoverasecondnewspaper。
Threegentlemen，atthreedifferenttables，wereabsorbedinathird，fourth，andfifthnewspaper。Theyallalikewentonwiththeirreadingwithoutnoticingtheentranceofthestranger。
JuliusventuredondisturbingthewaiterbyaskingforMr。
GeoffreyDelamayn。Atthesoundofthatillustriousnamethewaiterlookedupwithastart。“AreyouMr。Delamayn’sbrother，Sir？“
“Yes。“
Thethreegentlemenatthetableslookedupwithastart。ThelightofGeoffrey’scelebrityfell，reflected，onGeoffrey’sbrother，andmadeapubliccharacterofhim。
“You’llfindMr。Geoffrey，Sir，“saidthewaiter，inaflurried，excitedmanner，“attheCockandBottle，Putney。“
“Iexpectedtofindhimhere。Ihadanappointmentwithhimatthishotel。“
ThewaiteropenedhiseyesonJuliuswithanexpressionofblankastonishment。“Haven’tyouheardthenews，Sir？“
“No!“
“Godblessmysoul!“exclaimedthewaiter——andofferedthenewspaper。
“Godblessmysoul!“exclaimedthethreegentlemen——andofferedthethreenewspapers。
“Whatisit？“askedJulius。