canonlyexplainthethingveryimperfectly。Therearecertainpainfulcircumstancesassociatedinhislordship’smemorywiththislady，orwithsomememberofherfamily。Wecanonlygatherthathedidsomething——intheearlypartofhisprofessionalcareer——whichwasstrictlywithinthelimitsofhisduty，butwhichapparentlyledtoverysadresults。SomedayssinceheunfortunatelyheardeitherthroughMrs。GlenarmorthroughMrs。
JuliusDelamaynofMissSilvester’sappearanceatSwanhavenLodge。Noremarkonthesubjectescapedhimatthetime。Itwasonlythismorning，whenthecodicilgivingthelegacytoGeoffreywaswaitingtobeexecuted，thathisrealfeelinginthemattercameout。Toourastonishment，herefusedtosignit。’FindAnneSilvester’wastheonlyanswerwecouldgetfromhim；’andbringhertomybedside。Youallsaymysonisguiltlessofinjuringher。Iamlyingonmydeath-bed。Ihaveseriousreasonsofmyown——Ioweittothememoryofthedead——toassuremyselfofthetruth。IfAnneSilvesterherselfacquitshimofhavingwrongedher，IwillprovideforGeoffrey。Nototherwise。’WewentthelengthofremindinghimthathemightdiebeforeMissSilvestercouldbefound。Ourinterferencehadbutoneresult。HedesiredthelawyertoaddasecondcodiciltotheWill——whichheexecutedonthespot。ItdirectshisexecutorstoinquireintotherelationsthathaveactuallyexistedbetweenAnneSilvesterandhisyoungerson。IfwefindreasontoconcludethatGeoffreyhasgravelywrongedher，wearedirectedtopayheralegacy——providedthatsheisasinglewomanatthetime。“
“Andhermarriageviolatestheprovision!“exclaimedSirPatrick。
“Yes。Thecodicilactuallyexecutedisnowworthless。AndtheothercodicilremainsunsigneduntilthelawyercanproduceMissSilvester。HehasleftthehousetoapplytoGeoffreyatFulham，astheonlymeansatourdisposaloffindingthelady。Somehourshavepassed——andhehasnotyetreturned。“
“Itisuselesstowaitforhim，“saidSirPatrick。“WhilethelawyerwasonhiswaytoFulham，LordHolchester’ssonwasonhiswaytoPortlandPlace。Thisisevenmoreseriousthanyousuppose。Tellme，whatunderlesspressingcircumstancesIshouldhavenorighttoask。ApartfromtheunexecutedcodicilwhatisGeoffreyDelamayn’spositioninthewill？“
“Heisnotevenmentionedinit。“
“Haveyougotthewill？“
Mr。Marchwoodunlockedadrawer，andtookitout。
SirPatrickinstantlyrosefromhischair。“Nowaitingforthelawyer!“herepeated，vehemently。“Thisisamatteroflifeanddeath。LadyHolchesterbitterlyresentsherson’smarriage。ShespeaksandfeelsasafriendofMrs。Glenarm。DoyouthinkLordHolchesterwouldtakethesameviewifheknewofit？“
“Itdependsentirelyonthecircumstances。“
“SupposeIinformedhim——asIinformyouinconfidence——thathisson_has_gravelywrongedMissSilvester？AndsupposeIfollowedthatupbytellinghimthathissonhasmadeatonementbymarryingher？“
“Afterthefeelingthathehasshowninthematter，Ibelievehewouldsignthecodicil。“
“Then，forGod’ssake，letmeseehim!“
“Imustspeaktothedoctor。“
“Doitinstantly!“
Withthewillinhishand，Mr。Marchwoodadvancedtothebedroomdoor。Itwasopenedfromwithinbeforehecouldgettoit。Thedoctorappearedonthethreshold。HehelduphishandwarninglywhenMr。Marchwoodattemptedtospeaktohim。
“GotoLadyHolchester，“hesaid。“It’sallover。“
“Dead？“
“Dead。“
SIXTEENTHSCENE——SALTPATCH。
CHAPTERTHEFORTY-EIGHTH。
THEPLACE。
EARLYinthepresentcenturyitwasgenerallyreportedamongtheneighborsofoneReubenLimbrickthathewasinafairwaytomakeacomfortablelittlefortunebydealinginSalt。
HisplaceofabodewasinStaffordshire，onamorseloffreeholdlandofhisown——appropriatelycalledSaltPatch。Withoutbeingabsolutelyamiser，helivedinthehumblestmanner，sawverylittlecompany；skillfullyinvestedhismoney；andpersistedinremainingasingleman。
Towardeighteenhundredandfortyhefirstfelttheapproachofthechronicmaladywhichultimatelyterminatedhislife。Aftertryingwhatthemedicalmenofhisownlocalitycoulddoforhim，withverypoorsuccess，hemetbyaccidentwithadoctorlivinginthewesternsuburbsofLondon，whothoroughlyunderstoodhiscomplaint。Aftersomejourneyingbackwardandforwardtoconsultthisgentleman，hedecidedonretiringfrombusiness，andontakinguphisabodewithinaneasydistanceofhismedicalman。
FindingapieceoffreeholdlandtobesoldintheneighborhoodofFulham，heboughtit，andhadacottageresidencebuiltonit，underhisowndirections。Hesurroundedthewhole——beingamansingularlyjealousofanyintrusiononhisretirement，orofanychanceobservationofhiswaysandhabits——withahighwall，whichcostalargesumofmoney，andwhichwasrightlyconsideredadismalandhideousobjectbytheneighbors。Whenthenewresidencewascompleted，hecalleditafterthenameoftheplaceinStaffordshirewherehehadmadehismoney，andwherehehadlivedduringthehappiestperiodofhislife。Hisrelatives，failingtounderstandthataquestionofsentimentwasinvolvedinthisproceeding，appealedtohardfacts，andremindedhimthattherewerenosaltminesintheneighborhood。ReubenLimbrickanswered，“Somuchtheworsefortheneighborhood“——andpersistedincallinghisproperty，“SaltPatch。“
Thecottagewassosmallthatitlookedquitelostinthelargegardenallroundit。Therewasaground-floorandaflooraboveit——andthatwasall。
Oneithersideofthepassage，onthelowerfloor，weretworooms。Attheright-handside，onenteringbythefront-door，therewasakitchen，withitsouthousesattached。Theroomnexttothekitchenlookedintothegarden。InReubenLimbrick’stimeitwascalledthestudyandcontainedasmallcollectionofbooksandalargestoreoffishing-tackle。Ontheleft-handsideofthepassagetherewasadrawing-roomsituatedatthebackofthehouse，andcommunicatingwithadining-roominthefront。Ontheupperfloortherewerefivebedrooms——twoononesideofthepassage，correspondinginsizewiththedining-roomandthedrawing-roombelow，butnotopeningintoeachother；threeontheothersideofthepassage，consistingofonelargerroominfront，andoftwosmallroomsattheback。Alltheseweresolidlyandcompletelyfurnished。Moneyhadnotbeenspared，andworkmanshiphadnotbeenstinted。Itwasallsubstantial——and，upstairsanddownstairs，itwasallugly。
ThesituationofSaltPatchwaslonely。Thelandsofthemarket-gardenersseparateditfromotherhouses。Jealouslysurroundedbyitsownhighwalls，thecottagesuggested，eventothemostunimaginativepersons，theideaofanasylumoraprison。ReubenLimbrick’srelatives，occasionallycomingtostaywithhim，foundtheplacepreyontheirspirits，andrejoicedwhenthetimecameforgoinghomeagain。Theywereneverpressedtostayagainsttheirwill。ReubenLimbrickwasnotahospitableorasociableman。Hesetverylittlevalueonhumansympathy，inhisattacksofillness；andheborecongratulationsimpatiently，inhisintervalsofhealth。“Icareaboutnothingbutfishing，“
heusedtosay。“Ifindmydogverygoodcompany。AndIamquitehappyaslongasIamfreefrompain。“
Onhisdeath-bed，hedividedhismoneyjustlyenoughamonghisrelations。TheonlypartofhisWillwhichexposeditselftounfavorablecriticism，wasaclauseconferringalegacyononeofhissistersthenawidowwhohadestrangedherselffromherfamilybymarryingbeneathher。Thefamilyagreedinconsideringthisunhappypersonasundeservingofnoticeorbenefit。HernamewasHesterDethridge。ItprovedtobeagreataggravationofHester’soffenses，intheeyesofHester’srelatives，whenitwasdiscoveredthatshepossessedalife-interestinSaltPatch，andanincomeoftwohundredayear。
Notvisitedbythesurvivingmembersofherfamily，living，literally，byherselfintheworld，Hesterdecided，inspiteofhercomfortablelittleincome，onlettinglodgings。Theexplanationofthisstrangeconductwhichshehadwrittenonherslate，inreplytoaninquiryfromAnne，wasthetrueone。“I
havenotgotafriendintheworld：Idarenotlivealone。“Inthatdesolatesituation，andwiththatmelancholymotive，sheputthehouseintoanagent’shands。ThefirstpersoninwantoflodgingswhomtheagentsenttoseetheplacewasPerrythetrainer；andHester’sfirsttenantwasGeoffreyDelamayn。
Theroomswhichthelandladyreservedforherselfwerethekitchen，theroomnexttoit，whichhadoncebeenherbrother’s“study，“andthetwosmallbackbedroomsupstairs——oneforherself，theotherfortheservant-girlwhomsheemployedtohelpher。Thewholeoftherestofthecottagewastolet。Itwasmorethanthetrainerwanted；butHesterDethridgerefusedtodisposeofherlodgings——eitherastotheroomsoccupied，orastotheperiodforwhichtheyweretobetaken——onotherthanherownterms。Perryhadnoalternativebuttolosetheadvantageofthegardenasaprivatetraining-ground，ortosubmit。
Beingonlytwoinnumber，thelodgershadthreebedroomstochoosefrom。Geoffreyestablishedhimselfintheback-room，overthedrawing-room。Perrychosethefront-room，placedontheothersideofthecottage，nexttothetwosmallerapartmentsoccupiedbyHesterandhermaid。Underthisarrangement，thefrontbedroom，ontheoppositesideofthepassage——nexttotheroominwhichGeoffreyslept——wasleftempty，andwascalled，forthetimebeing，thespareroom。Asforthelowerfloor，theathleteandhistraineratetheirmealsinthedining-room；andleftthedrawing-room，asaneedlessluxury，totakecareofitself。
TheFoot-Raceonceover，Perry’sbusinessatthecottagewasatanend。Hisemptybedroombecameasecondspareroom。Thetermforwhichthelodgingshadbeentakenwasthenstillunexpired。
OnthedayaftertheraceGeoffreyhadtochoosebetweensacrificingthemoney，orremaininginthelodgingsbyhimself，withtwosparebedroomsonhishands，andwithadrawing-roomforthereceptionofhisvisitors——whocalledwithpipesintheirmouths，andwhoseideaofhospitalitywasapotofbeerinthegarden。