“Whatmaythatbe？“
“Youarelivinghereveryunhappily，Geoffrey，withyourwife。“
“Whosaysso？Idon’t，forone。“
Juliuslaidhishandkindlyonhisbrother’sarm。
“Don’ttriflewithsuchaseriousmatterasthis，“hesaid。“Yourmarriageis，ineverysenseoftheword，amisfortune——notonlytoyoubuttoyourwife。Itisimpossiblethatyoucanlivetogether。Ihavecomeheretoaskyoutoconsenttoaseparation。
Dothat——andtheprovisionmadeforyouintheunsignedcodicilisyours。Whatdoyousay？“
Geoffreyshookhisbrother’shandoffhisarm。
“Isay——No!“heanswered。
LadyHolchesterinterferedforthefirsttime。
“Yourbrother’sgenerousofferdeservesabetteranswerthanthat，“shesaid。
“Myanswer，“reiteratedGeoffrey，“is——No!“
Hesatbetweenthemwithhisclenchedfistsrestingonhisknees——absolutelyimpenetrabletoanythingthateitherofthemcouldsay。
“Inyoursituation，“saidJulius，“arefusalissheermadness。I
won’tacceptit。“
“Doasyoulikeaboutthat。Mymind’smadeup。Iwon’tletmywifebetakenawayfromme。Hereshestays。“
ThebrutaltoneinwhichhehadmadethatreplyrousedLadyHolchester’sindignation。
“Takecare!“shesaid。“Youarenotonlybehavingwiththegrossestingratitudetowardyourbrother——youareforcingasuspicionintoyourmother’smind。Youhavesomemotivethatyouarehidingfromus。“
HeturnedonhismotherwithasuddenferocitywhichmadeJuliusspringtohisfeet。Thenextinstanthiseyeswereontheground，andthedevilthatpossessedhimwasquietagain。
“SomemotiveI’mhidingfromyou？“herepeated，withhisheaddown，andhisutterancethickerthanever。“I’mreadytohavemymotivepostedalloverLondon，ifyoulike。I’mfondofher。“
Helookedupashesaidthelastwords。LadyHolchesterturnedawayherhead——recoilingfromherownson。SooverwhelmingwastheshockinflictedonherthateventhestronglyrootedprejudicewhichMrs。Glenarmhadimplantedinhermindyieldedtoit。AtthatmomentsheabsolutelypitiedAnne!
“Poorcreature!“saidLadyHolchester。
Hetookinstantoffenseatthosetwowords。“Iwon’thavemywifepitiedbyanybody。“Withthatreply，hedashedintothepassage；
andcalledout，“Anne!comedown!“
Hersoftvoiceanswered；herlightfootfallwasheardonthestairs。Shecameintotheroom。Juliusadvanced，tookherhand，andhelditkindlyinhis。“Wearehavingalittlefamilydiscussion，“hesaid，tryingtogiveherconfidence。“AndGeoffreyisgettinghotoverit，asusual。“
Geoffreyappealedsternlytohismother。
“Lookather!“hesaid。“Isshestarved？Issheinrags？Isshecoveredwithbruises？“HeturnedtoAnne。“Theyhavecomeheretoproposeaseparation。TheybothbelieveIhateyou。Idon’thateyou。I’magoodChristian。IoweittoyouthatI’mcutoutofmyfather’swill。Iforgiveyouthat。IoweittoyouthatI’velostthechanceofmarryingawomanwithtenthousandayear。I
forgiveyou_that。_I’mnotamanwhodoesthingsbyhalves。I
saiditshouldbemyendeavortomakeyouagoodhusband。Isaiditwasmywishtomakeitup。Well!Iamasgoodasmyword。Andwhat’stheconsequence？Iaminsulted。Mymothercomeshere，andmybrothercomeshere——andtheyoffermemoneytopartfromyou。
Moneybehanged!I’llbebeholdentonobody。I’llgetmyownliving。Shameonthepeoplewhointerferebetweenmanandwife!
Shame!——that’swhatIsay——shame!“
Annelooked，foranexplanation，fromherhusbandtoherhusband’smother。
“Haveyouproposedaseparationbetweenus？“sheasked。
“Yes——ontermsoftheutmostadvantagetomyson；arrangedwitheverypossibleconsiderationtowardyou。Isthereanyobjectiononyourside？“
“Oh，LadyHolchester!isitnecessarytoaskme？Whatdoeshesay？“
“Hehasrefused。“
“Refused!“
“Yes，“saidGeoffrey。“Idon’tgobackfrommyword；IsticktowhatIsaidthismorning。It’smyendeavortomakeyouagoodhusband。It’smywishtomakeitup。“Hepaused，andthenaddedhislastreason：“I’mfondofyou。“
Theireyesmetashesaidittoher。JuliusfeltAnne’shandsuddenlytightenroundhis。Thedesperategraspofthefrailcoldfingers，theimploringterrorinthegentlesensitivefaceasitslowlyturnedhisway，saidtohimasifinwords，“Don’tleavemefriendlessto-night!“
“Ifyoubothstopheretilldomesday，“saidGeoffrey，“you’llgetnothingmoreoutofme。Youhavehadmyreply。“
Withthat，heseatedhimselfdoggedlyinacorneroftheroom；
waiting——ostentatiouslywaiting——forhismotherandhisbrothertotaketheirleave。Thepositionwasserious。Toarguethematterwithhimthatnightwashopeless。ToinviteSirPatrick’sinterferencewouldonlybetoprovokehissavagetempertoanewoutbreak。Ontheotherhand，toleavethehelplesswoman，afterwhathadpassed，withoutanotherefforttobefriendher，was，inhersituation，anactofdownrightinhumanity，andnothingless。
Juliustooktheonewayoutofthedifficultythatwasleft——theonewayworthyofhimasacompassionateandanhonorableman。
“Wewilldropitforto-night，Geoffrey，“hesaid。“ButIamnotthelessresolved，inspiteofallthatyouhavesaid，toreturntothesubjectto-morrow。Itwouldsavemesomeinconvenience——asecondjourneyherefromtown，andthengoingbackagaintomyengagements——ifIstaidwithyouto-night。Canyougivemeabed？“
AlookflashedonhimfromAnne，whichthankedhimasnowordscouldhavethankedhim。
“Giveyouabed？“repeatedGeoffrey。Hecheckedhimself，onthepointofrefusing。Hismotherwaswatchinghim；hiswifewaswatchinghim——andhiswifeknewthattheroomabovethemwasaroomtospare。“Allright!“heresumed，inanothertone，withhiseyeonhismother。“There’smyemptyroomupstairs。Haveit，ifyoulike。Youwon’tfindI’vechangedmymindto-morrow——butthat’syourlook-out。Stophere，ifthefancytakesyou。I’venoobjection。Itdon’tmattertoMe——Willyoutrusthislordshipundermyroof？“headded，addressinghismother。“ImighthavesomemotivethatI’mhidingfromyou，youknow!“Withoutwaitingforananswer，heturnedtoAnne。“GoandtelloldDummytoputthesheetsonthebed。Saythere’salivelordinthehouse——she’stosendinsomethingdevilishgoodforsupper!“Heburstfiercelyintoaforcedlaugh。LadyHolchesterroseatthemomentwhenAnnewasleavingtheroom。“Ishallnotbeherewhenyoureturn，“shesaid。“Letmebidyougood-night。“
SheshookhandswithAnne——givingherSirPatrick’snote，unseen，atthesamemoment。Annelefttheroom。Withoutaddressinganotherwordtohersecondson，LadyHolchesterbeckonedtoJuliustogiveherhisarm。“Youhaveactednoblytowardyourbrother，“shesaidtohim。“Myonecomfortandmyonehope，Julius，areinyou。“Theywentouttogethertothegate，Geoffreyfollowingthemwiththekeyinhishand。“Don’tbetooanxious，“
Juliuswhisperedtohismother。“Iwillkeepthedrinkoutofhiswayto-night——andIwillbringyouabetteraccountofhimto-morrow。ExplaineverythingtoSirPatrickasyougohome。“
HehandedLadyHolchesterintothecarriage；andre-entered，leavingGeoffreytolockthegate。Thebrothersreturnedinsilencetothecottage。Juliushadconcealeditfromhismother——buthewasseriouslyuneasyinsecret。Naturallypronetolookatallthingsontheirbrighterside，hecouldplacenohopefulinterpretationonwhatGeoffreyhadsaidanddonethatnight。Theconvictionthathewasdeliberatelyactingapart，inhispresentrelationswithhiswife，forsomeabominablepurposeofhisown，hadrooteditselffirmlyinJulius。Forthefirsttimeinhisexperienceofhisbrother，thepecuniaryconsiderationwasnottheuppermostconsiderationinGeoffrey’smind。Theywentbackintothedrawing-room。“Whatwillyouhavetodrink？“saidGeoffrey。
“Nothing。“
“Youwon’tkeepmecompanyoveradropofbrandy-and-water？“
“No。Youhavehadenoughbrandy-and-water。“
Afteramomentoffrowningself-considerationintheglass，GeoffreyabruptlyagreedwithJulius“Ilooklikeit，“hesaid。
“I’llsoonputthatright。“Hedisappeared，andreturnedwithawettoweltiedroundhishead。“Whatwillyoudowhilethewomenaregettingyourbedready？LibertyHallhere。I’vetakentocultivatingmymind——I’mareformedcharacter，youknow，nowI’mamarriedman。Youdowhatyoulike。Ishallread。“
Heturnedtotheside-table，and，producingthevolumesoftheNewgateCalendar，gaveonetohisbrother。Juliushandeditbackagain。
“Youwon’tcultivateyourmind，“hesaid，“withsuchabookasthat。VileactionsrecordedinvileEnglish，makevilereading，Geoffrey，ineverysenseoftheword。“