Hesat，withhiselbowsonhisknees，smokingandthinking。
Beforelongtherestlessnessthathadgotpossessionofhimforcedhimtohisfeetagain。Herose，andpacedroundandroundthestripofgreenswardunderthewalnut-tree，likeawildbeastinacage。
Whatwasthemeaningofthisdisturbanceintheinnerman？Nowthathehadcommittedhimselftothebetrayalofthefriendwhohadtrustedandservedhim，washetornbyremorse？
Hewasnomoretornbyremorsethanyouarewhileyoureyeispassingoverthissentence。Hewassimplyinaragingfeverofimpatiencetoseehimselfsafelylandedattheendwhichhehadinview。
Whyshouldhefeelremorse？Allremorsesprings，moreorlessdirectly，fromtheactionoftwosentiments，whichareneitheroftheminbredinthenaturalman。Thefirstofthesesentimentsistheproductoftherespectwhichwelearntofeelforourselves。
Thesecondistheproductoftherespectwhichwelearntofeelforothers。Intheirhighestmanifestations，thesetwofeelingsexaltthemselves，untilthefirsthecomestheloveofGod，andthesecondtheloveofMan。Ihaveinjuredyou，andIrepentofitwhenitisdone。WhyshouldIrepentofitifIhavegainedsomethingbyitformyownselfandifyoucan’tmakemefeelitbyinjuringMe？IrepentofitbecausetherehasbeenasenseputintomewhichtellsmethatIhavesinnedagainstMyself，andsinnedagainstYou。Nosuchsenseasthatexistsamongtheinstinctsofthenaturalman。AndnosuchfeelingsasthesetroubledGeoffreyDelamayn；forGeoffreyDelamaynwasthenaturalman。
Whentheideaofhisschemehadsprungtolifeinhismind，thenoveltyofithadstartledhim——theenormousdaringofit，suddenlyself-revealed，haddauntedhim。Thesignsofemotionwhichhehadbetrayedatthewriting-tableinthelibrarywerethesignsofmerementalperturbation，andofnothingmore。
Thatfirstvividimpressionpast，theideahadmadeitselffamiliartohim。Hehadbecomecomposedenoughtoseesuchdifficultiesasitinvolved，andsuchconsequencesasitimplied。
Thesehadfrettedhimwithapassingtrouble；fortheseheplainlydiscerned。Asforthecrueltyandthetreacheryofthethinghemeditateddoing——thatconsiderationnevercrossedthelimitsofhismentalview。Hispositiontowardthemanwhoselifehehadpreservedwasthepositionofadog。The“nobleanimal“
whohassavedyouormefromdrowningwillflyatyourthroatormine，undercertainconditions，tenminutesafterward。Addtothedog’sunreasoninginstinctthecalculatingcunningofaman；
supposeyourselftobeinapositiontosayofsometriflingthing，“Curious!atsuchandsuchatimeIhappenedtopickupsuchandsuchanobject；andnowitturnsouttobeofsomeusetome!“——andthereyouhaveanindextothestateofGeoffrey’sfeelingtowardhisfriendwhenherecalledthepastorwhenhecontemplatedthefuture。WhenArnoldhadspokentohimatthecriticalmoment，Arnoldhadviolentlyirritatedhim；andthatwasall。
Thesameimpenetrableinsensibility，thesameprimitivelynaturalconditionofthemoralbeing，preventedhimfrombeingtroubledbytheslightestsenseofpityforAnne。“She’soutofmyway!“
washisfirstthought。“She’sprovidedfor，withoutanytroubletoMe!washissecond。Hewasnotintheleastuneasyabouther。
Nottheslightestdoubtcrossedhismindthat，whenonceshehadrealizedherownsituation，whenonceshesawherselfplacedbetweenthetwoalternativesoffacingherownruinorofclaimingArnoldasalastresource，shewouldclaimArnold。Shewoulddoitasamatterofcourse；because_he_wouldhavedoneitinherplace。
Buthewanteditover。Hewaswild，ashepacedroundandroundthewalnut-tree，tohurryonthecrisisandbedonewithit。Givememyfreedomtogototheotherwoman，andtotrainforthefoot-race——that’swhatIwant。_They_injured？Confusiontothemboth!It’sIwhoaminjuredbythem。TheyaretheworstenemiesI
have!Theystandinmyway。
Howtoberidofthem？Therewasthedifficulty。Hehadmadeuphismindtoberidofthemthatday。Howwashetobegin？
TherewasnopickingaquarrelwithArnold，andsobeginningwith_him。_Thiscourseofproceeding，inArnold’spositiontowardBlanche，wouldleadtoascandalattheoutset——ascandalwhichwouldstandinthewayofhismakingtherightimpressiononMrs。
Glenarm。Thewoman——lonelyandfriendless，withhersexandherpositionbothagainstherif_she_triedtomakeascandalofit——thewomanwastheonetobeginwith。SettleitatonceandforeverwithAnne；andleaveArnoldtohearofitanddealwithit，soonerorlater，nomatterwhich。
Howwashetobreakittoherbeforethedaywasout？
BygoingtotheinnandopenlyaddressinghertoherfaceasMrs。
ArnoldBrinkworth？No!Hehadhadenough，atWindygates，ofmeetingherfacetoface。Theeasywaywastowritetoher，andsendtheletter，bythefirstmessengerhecouldfind，totheinn。ShemightappearafterwardatWindygates；shemightfollowhimtohisbrother’s；shemightappealtohisfather。Itdidn’tmatter；hehadgotthewhip-handofhernow。“Youareamarriedwoman。“Therewastheonesufficientanswer，whichwasstrongenoughtobackhimindenyinganything!
Hemadeouttheletterinhisownmind。“Somethinglikethiswoulddo，“hethought，ashewentroundandroundthewalnut-tree：“Youmaybesurprisednottohaveseenme。Youhaveonlyyourselftothankforit。Iknowwhattookplacebetweenyouandhimattheinn。Ihavehadalawyer’sadvice。YouareArnoldBrinkworth’swife。Iwishyoujoy，andgood-byforever。“Addressthoselines：“ToMrs。ArnoldBrinkworth；“instructthemessengertoleavetheletterlatethatnight，withoutwaitingforananswer；startthefirstthingthenextmorningforhisbrother’shouse；andbehold，itwasdone!
Butevenheretherewasanobstacle——onelastexasperatingobstacle——stillintheway。
Ifshewasknownattheinnbyanynameatall，itwasbythenameofMrs。Silvester。Aletteraddressedto“Mrs。ArnoldBrinkworth“wouldprobablynotbetakeninatthedoor；orifitwasadmitted。andifitwasactuallyofferedtoher，shemightdeclinetoreceiveit，asaletternotaddressedtoherself。A
manofreadiermentalresourceswouldhaveseenthatthenameontheoutsideofthelettermatteredlittleornothing，solongasthecontentswerereadbythepersontowhomtheywereaddressed。
ButGeoffrey’swastheorderofmindwhichexpressesdisturbancebyattachingimportancetotrifles。Heattachedanabsurdimportancetopreservingabsoluteconsistencyinhisletter，outsideandin。IfhedeclaredhertobeArnoldBrinkworth’swife，hemustdirecttoherasArnoldBrinkworth’swife；orwhocouldtellwhatthelawmightsay，orwhatscrapehemightnotgethimselfintobyamerescratchofthepen!Themorehethoughtofit，themorepersuadedhefeltofhisownclevernesshere，andthehotterandtheangrierhegrew。
Thereisawayoutofeverything。Andtherewassurelyawayoutofthis，ifhecouldonlyseeit。
Hefailedtoseeit。Afterdealingwithallthegreatdifficulties，thesmalldifficultyprovedtoomuchforhim。Itstruckhimthathemighthavebeenthinkingtoolongaboutit——consideringthathewasnotaccustomedtothinkinglongaboutanything。Besides，hisheadwasgettinggiddy，withgoingmechanicallyroundandroundthetree。Heirritablyturnedhisbackonthetreeandstruckintoanotherpath：resolvedtothinkofsomethingelse，andthentoreturntohisdifficulty，andseeitwithaneweye。
Leavinghisthoughtsfreetowanderwheretheyliked，histhoughtsnaturallybusiedthemselveswiththenextsubjectthatwasuppermostinhismind，thesubjectoftheFoot-Race。Inaweek’stimehisarrangementsoughttobemade。Now，astothetraining，first。
Hedecidedonemployingtwotrainersthistime。OnetotraveltoScotland，andbeginwithhimathisbrother’shouse。Theothertotakehimup，withafresheyetohim，onhisreturntoLondon。Heturnedoverinhismindtheperformancesoftheformidablerivalagainstwhomhewastobematched。Thatothermanwastheswiftestrunnerofthetwo。ThebettinginGeoffrey’sfavorwasbettingwhichcalculatedontheunparalleledlengthoftherace，andonGeoffrey’sprodigiouspowersofendurance。Howlongheshould“waiton“theman？Whereaboutsitwouldbesafeto“pickthemanup？“Howneartheendtocalculatetheman’sexhaustiontoanicety，and“putonthespurt，“andpasshim？Thesewerenicepointstodecide。Thedeliberationsofapedestrian-privy-councilwouldberequiredtohelphimunderthisheavyresponsibility。Whatmencouldhetrust？HecouldtrustA。
andB——bothofthemauthorities：bothofthemstanch。QueryaboutC。？Asanauthority，unexceptionable；asaman，doubtful。
TheproblemrelatingtoC。broughthimtoastandstill——anddeclinedtobesolved，eventhen。Nevermind!hecouldalwaystaketheadviceofA。andB。InthemeantimedevoteC。totheinfernalregions；and，thusdismissinghim，tryandthinkofsomethingelse。Whatelse？Mrs。Glenarm？Oh，botherthewomen!
oneofthemisthesameasanother。Theyallwaddlewhentheyrun；andtheyallfilltheirstomachsbeforedinnerwithsloppytea。That’stheonlydifferencebetweenwomenandmen——therestisnothingbutaweakimitationofUs。Devotethewomentotheinfernalregions；and，sodismissing_them，_tryandthinkofsomethingelse。Ofwhat？Ofsomethingworththinkingof，thistime——offillinganotherpipe。
Hetookouthistobacco-pouch；andsuddenlysuspendedoperationsatthemomentofopeningit。
Whatwastheobjecthesaw，ontheothersideofarowofdwarfpear-trees，awaytotheright？Awoman——evidentlyaservantbyherdress——stoopingdownwithherbacktohim，gatheringsomething：herbstheylookedlike，aswellashecouldmakethemoutatthedistance。
Whatwasthatthinghangingbyastringatthewoman’sside？A
slate？Yes。Whatthedeucedidshewantwithaslateatherside？
Hewasinsearchofsomethingtodiverthismind——andhereitwasfound。“Anythingwilldoforme，“hethought。“SupposeI’chaff’
heralittleaboutherslate？“