Shakehands!“Thetwochoralgentlemenwereenchantedwithhim。
“TheEnglisharistocracy——eh，Smith？““Bloodandbreeding——ah，Jones!“
Assoonashehadspoken，Arnold’sconsciencereproachedhim：notforbettingwhoisashamedof_that_formofgamblinginEngland？butfor“backingthedoctor。“Withthebestintentiontowardhisfriend，hewasspeculatingonthefailureofhisfriend’shealth。HeanxiouslyassuredGeoffreythatnomanintheroomcouldbemoreheartilypersuadedthatthesurgeonwaswrongthanhimself。“Idon’tcryofffromthebet，“hesaid。“But，mydearfellow，prayunderstandthatIonlytakeittoplease_you。_“
“Botherallthat!“answeredGeoffrey，withthesteadyeyetobusiness，whichwasoneofthechoicestvirtuesinhischaracter。
“Abet’sabet——andhangyoursentiment!“HedrewArnoldbythearmoutofear-shotoftheothers。“Isay!“heasked，anxiously。
“DoyouthinkI’vesettheoldfogy’sbackup？“
“DoyoumeanSirPatrick？“
Geoffreynodded，andwenton。
“Ihaven’tputthatlittlemattertohimyet——aboutmarryinginScotland，youknow。SupposehecutsuproughwithmeifItryhimnow？“Hiseyewanderedcunningly，asheputthequestion，tothefartherendoftheroom。Thesurgeonwaslookingoveraport-folioofprints。Theladieswerestillatworkontheirnotesofinvitation。SirPatrickwasaloneatthebook-shelvesimmersedinavolumewhichhehadjusttakendown。
“Makeanapology，“suggestedArnold。“SirPatrickmaybealittleirritableandbitter；buthe’sajustmanandakindman。Sayyouwerenotguiltyofanyintentionaldisrespecttowardhim——andyouwillsayenough。“
“Allright!“
SirPatrick，deepinanoldVenetianeditionofTheDecameron，foundhimselfsuddenlyrecalledfrommedievalItalytomodernEngland，bynolessapersonthanGeoffreyDelamayn。
“Whatdoyouwant？“heasked，coldly。
“Iwanttomakeanapology，“saidGeoffrey。“Letby-gonesbeby-gones——andthatsortofthing。Iwasn’tguiltyofanyintentionaldisrespecttowardyou。Forgiveandforget。Nothalfabadmotto，Sir——eh？“
Itwasclumsilyexpressed——butstillitwasanapology。NotevenGeoffreycouldappealtoSirPatrick’scourtesyandSirPatrick’sconsiderationinvain。
“Notawordmore，Mr。Delamayn!“saidthepoliteoldman。“AcceptmyexcusesforanythingwhichImayhavesaidtoosharply，onmyside；andletusbyallmeansforgettherest。“
Havingmettheadvancemadetohim，inthoseterms，hepaused，expectingGeoffreytoleavehimfreetoreturntotheDecameron。
Tohisunutterableastonishment，Geoffreysuddenlystoopedoverhim，andwhisperedinhisear，“Iwantawordinprivatewithyou。“
SirPatrickstartedback，asifGeoffreyhadtriedtobitehim。
“Ibegyourpardon，Mr。Delamayn——whatdidyousay？“
“Couldyougivemeawordinprivate？“
SirPatrickputbacktheDecameron；andbowedinfreezingsilence。TheconfidenceoftheHonorableGeoffreyDelamaynwasthelastconfidenceintheworldintowhichhedesiredtobedrawn。“Thisisthesecretoftheapology!“hethought。“WhatcanhepossiblywantwithMe？“
“It’saboutafriendofmine，“pursuedGeoffrey；leadingthewaytowardoneofthewindows。“He’sinascrape，myfriendis。AndI
wanttoaskyouradvice。It’sstrictlyprivate，youknow。“Therehecametoafullstop——andlookedtoseewhatimpressionhehadproduced，sofar。
SirPatrickdeclined，eitherbywordorgesture，toexhibittheslightestanxietytohearawordmore。
“Wouldyoumindtakingaturninthegarden？“askedGeoffrey。
SirPatrickpointedtohislamefoot。“Ihavehadmyallowanceofwalkingthismorning，“hesaid。“Letmyinfirmityexcuseme。“
Geoffreylookedabouthimforasubstituteforthegarden，andledthewaybackagaintowardoneoftheconvenientcurtainedrecessesopeningoutoftheinnerwallofthelibrary。“Weshallbeprivateenoughhere，“hesaid。
SirPatrickmadeafinalefforttoescapetheproposedconference——anundisguisedeffort，thistime“Prayforgiveme，Mr。Delamayn。Areyouquitesurethatyouapplytotherightperson，inapplyingto_me？_“
“You’reaScotchlawyer，ain’tyou？“
“Certainly。“
“AndyouunderstandaboutScotchmarriages——eh？“
SirPatrick’smannersuddenlyaltered。
“Is_that_thesubjectyouwishtoconsultmeon？“heasked。
“It’snotme。It’smyfriend。“
“Yourfriend，then？“
“Yes。It’sascrapewithawoman。HereinScotland。Myfrienddon’tknowwhetherhe’smarriedtoherornot。“
“Iamatyourservice，Mr。Delamayn。“
ToGeoffrey’srelief——bynomeansunmixedwithsurprise——SirPatricknotonlyshowednofurtherreluctancetobeconsultedbyhim，butactuallyadvancedtomeethiswishes，byleadingthewaytotherecessthatwasnearesttothem。ThequickbrainoftheoldlawyerhadputGeoffrey’sapplicationtohimforassistance，andBlanche’sapplicationtohimforassistance，together；andhadbuiltitsowntheoryonthebasisthusobtained。“DoIseeaconnectionbetweenthepresentpositionofBlanche’sgoverness，andthepresentpositionofMr。Delamayn’s’friend？’“thoughtSirPatrick。“Strangerextremesthan_that_havemetmeinmyexperience。Somethingmaycomeoutofthis。“
Thetwostrangely-assortedcompanionsseatedthemselves，oneoneachsideofalittletableintherecess。Arnoldandtheotherguestshadidledoutagainontothelawn。Thesurgeonwithhisprints，andtheladieswiththeirinvitations，weresafelyabsorbedinadistantpartofthelibrary。Theconferencebetweenthetwomen，sotriflinginappearance，soterribleinitsdestinedinfluence，notoverAnne’sfutureonly，butoverthefutureofArnoldandBlanche，was，toallpracticalpurposes，aconferencewithcloseddoors。
“Now，“saidSirPatrick，“whatisthequestion？“
“Thequestion，“saidGeoffrey，“iswhethermyfriendismarriedtoherornot？“
“Didhemeantomarryher？“
“No。“
“Hebeingasingleman，andshebeingasinglewoman，atthetime？AndbothinScotland？“
“Yes。“
“Verywell。Nowtellmethecircumstances。“
Geoffreyhesitated。Theartofstatingcircumstancesimpliesthecultivationofaveryraregift——thegiftofarrangingideas。NoonewasbetteracquaintedwiththistruththanSirPatrick。HewaspurposelypuzzlingGeoffreyatstarting，underthefirmconvictionthathisclienthadsomethingtoconcealfromhim。Theoneprocessthatcouldbedependedonforextractingthetruth，underthosecircumstances，wastheprocessofinterrogation。IfGeoffreywassubmittedtoit，attheoutset，hiscunningmighttakethealarm。SirPatrick’sobjectwastomakethemanhimselfinviteinterrogation。Geoffreyinviteditforthwith，byattemptingtostatethecircumstances，andbyinvolvingthemintheusualconfusion。SirPatrickwaiteduntilhehadthoroughlylostthethreadofhisnarrative——andthenplayedforthewinningtrick。
“WoulditbeeasiertoyouifIaskedafewquestions？“heinquired，innocently。
“Mucheasier。“
“Iamquiteatyourservice。Supposeweclearthegroundtobeginwith？Areyouatlibertytomentionnames？“
“No。“
“Places？“
“No。“
“Dates？“
“Doyouwantmetobeparticular？“
“Beasparticularasyoucan。“
“Willitdo，ifIsaythepresentyear？“
“Yes。Wereyourfriendandthelady——atsometimeinthepresentyear——travelingtogetherinScotland？“
“No。“
“LivingtogetherinScotland？“
“No。“
“What_were_theydoingtogetherinScotland？“
“Well——theyweremeetingeachotherataninn。“
“Oh？Theyweremeetingeachotherataninn。Whichwasfirstattherendezvous？“
“Thewomanwasfirst。Stopabit!Wearegettingtoitnow。“HeproducedfromhispocketthewrittenmemorandumofArnold’sproceedingsatCraigFernie，whichhehadtakendownfromArnold’sownlips。“I’vegotabitofnotehere，“hewenton。
“Perhapsyou’dliketohavealookatit？“
SirPatricktookthenote——readitrapidlythroughtohimself——thenre-readit，sentencebysentence，toGeoffrey；
usingitasatexttospeakfrom，inmakingfurtherinquiries。