Arnoldsaidawordofsympathytohisfriend，whentheywerealone。
　　“Iamsorryforthis，Geoffrey。IhopeandtrustyouwillgettoLondonintime。“
　　Hestopped。TherewassomethinginGeoffrey’sface——astrangemixtureofdoubtandbewilderment，ofannoyanceandhesitation——whichwasnottobeaccountedforasthenaturalresultofthenewsthathehadreceived。Hiscolorshiftedandchanged；hepickedfretfullyathisfinger-nails；helookedatArnoldasifhewasgoingtospeak——andthenlookedawayagain，insilence。
　　“Istheresomethingamiss，Geoffrey，besidesthisbadnewsaboutyourfather？“askedArnold。
　　“I’minthedevil’sownmess，“wastheanswer。
　　“CanIdoanythingtohelpyou？“
　　Insteadofmakingadirectreply，Geoffreyliftedhismightyhand，andgaveArnoldafriendlyslapontheshoulderwhichshookhimfromheadtofoot。Arnoldsteadiedhimself，andwaited——wonderingwhatwascomingnext。
　　“Isay，oldfellow!“saidGeoffrey。
　　“Yes。“
　　“DoyourememberwhentheboatturnedkeelupwardinLisbonHarbor？“
　　Arnoldstarted。Ifhecouldhavecalledtomindhisfirstinterviewinthesummer-housewithhisfather’soldfriendhemighthaverememberedSirPatrick’spredictionthathewouldsoonerorlaterpay，withinterest，thedebtheowedtothemanwhohadsavedhislife。Asitwashismemoryrevertedataboundtothetimeoftheboat-accident。Intheardorofhisgratitudeandtheinnocenceofhisheart，healmostresentedhisfriend’squestionasareproachwhichhehadnotdeserved。
　　“DoyouthinkIcaneverforget，“hecried，warmly，“thatyouswamashorewithmeandsavedmylife？“
　　Geoffreyventuredastepnearertotheobjectthathehadinview。
　　“Onegoodturndeservesanother，“hesaid，“don’tit？“
　　Arnoldtookhishand。“Onlytellme!“heeagerlyrejoined——“onlytellmewhatIcando!“
　　“Youaregoingto-daytoseeyournewplace，ain’tyou？“
　　“Yes。“
　　“Canyouputoffgoingtillto-morrow？“
　　“Ifit’sanythingserious——ofcourseIcan!“
　　Geoffreylookedroundattheentrancetothesummer-house，tomakesurethattheywerealone。
　　“Youknowthegovernesshere，don’tyou？“hesaid，inawhisper。
　　“MissSilvester？“
　　“Yes。I’vegotintoalittledifficultywithMissSilvester。Andthereisn’talivingsoulIcanasktohelpmebut_you。_“
　　“YouknowIwillhelpyou。Whatisit？“
　　“Itisn’tsoeasytosay。Nevermind——you’renosainteither，areyou？You’llkeepitasecret，ofcourse？Lookhere!I’veactedlikeaninfernalfool。I’vegoneandgotthegirlintoascrape——“
　　Arnolddrewback，suddenlyunderstandinghim。
　　“Goodheavens，Geoffrey!Youdon’tmean——“
　　“Ido!Waitabit——that’snottheworstofit。Shehasleftthehouse。“
　　“Leftthehouse？“
　　“Left，forgoodandall。Shecan’tcomebackagain。“
　　“Whynot？“
　　“Becauseshe’swrittentohermissus。Womenhang’em!neverdothesethingsbyhalves。She’sleftalettertosayshe’sprivatelymarried，andgoneofftoherhusband。Herhusbandis——Me。NotthatI’mmarriedtoheryet，youunderstand。Ihaveonlypromisedtomarryher。Shehasgoneonfirstontheslytoaplacefourmilesfromthis。AndwesettledIwastofollow，andmarryherprivatelythisafternoon。That’soutofthequestionnow。Whileshe’sexpectingmeattheinnIshallbebowlingalongtoLondon。Somebodymusttellherwhathashappened——orshe’llplaythedevil，andthewholebusinesswillburstup。Ican’ttrustanyofthepeoplehere。I’mdonefor，oldchap，unlessyouhelpme。“
　　Arnoldliftedhishandsindismay。“It’sthemostdreadfulsituation，Geoffrey，Ieverheardofinmylife!“
　　Geoffreythoroughlyagreedwithhim。“Enoughtoknockamanover，“hesaid，“isn’tit？I’dgivesomethingforadrinkofbeer。“Heproducedhiseverlastingpipe，fromsheerforceofhabit。“Gotamatch？“heasked。
　　Arnold’smindwastoopreoccupiedtonoticethequestion。
　　“Ihopeyouwon’tthinkI’mmakinglightofyourfather’sillness，“hesaid，earnestly。“Butitseemstome——Imustsayit——itseemstomethatthepoorgirlhasthefirstclaimonyou。“
　　Geoffreylookedathiminsurlyamazement。
　　“Thefirstclaimonme？DoyouthinkI’mgoingtoriskbeingcutoutofmyfather’swill？Notforthebestwomanthateverputonapetticoat!“
　　Arnold’sadmirationofhisfriendwasthesolidly-foundedadmirationofmanyyears；admirationforamanwhocouldrow，box，wrestle，jump——aboveall，whocouldswim——asfewothermencouldperformthoseexercisesincontemporaryEngland。Butthatanswershookhisfaith。Onlyforthemoment——unhappilyforArnold，onlyforthemoment。
　　“Youknowbest，“hereturned，alittlecoldly。“WhatcanIdo？“
　　Geoffreytookhisarm——roughlyashetookeverything；butinacompanionableandconfidentialway。
　　“Go，likeagoodfellow，andtellherwhathashappened。We’llstartfromhereasifwewerebothgoingtotherailway；andI’lldropyouatthefoot-path，inthegig。Youcangetontoyourownplaceafterwardbytheeveningtrain。Itputsyoutonoinconvenience，andit’sdoingthekindthingbyanoldfriend。
　　There’snoriskofbeingfoundout。I’mtodrive，remember!
　　There’snoservantwithus，oldboy，tonotice，andtelltales。“
　　EvenArnoldbegantoseedimlybythistimethathewaslikelytopayhisdebtofobligationwithinterest——asSirPatrickhadforetold。
　　“WhatamItosaytoher？“heasked。“I’mboundtodoallIcandotohelpyou，andIwill。ButwhatamItosay？“
　　Itwasanaturalquestiontoput。Itwasnotaneasyquestiontoanswer。Whataman，undergivenmuscularcircumstances，coulddo，nopersonlivingknewbetterthanGeoffreyDelamayn。Ofwhataman，undergivensocialcircumstances，couldsay，nopersonlivingknewless。
　　“Say？“herepeated。“Lookhere!sayI’mhalfdistracted，andallthat。And——waitabit——tellhertostopwheresheistillIwritetoher。“
　　Arnoldhesitated。Absolutelyignorantofthatlowandlimitedformofknowledgewhichiscalled“knowledgeoftheworld，“hisinbreddelicacyofmindrevealedtohimtheseriousdifficultyofthepositionwhichhisfriendwasaskinghimtooccupyasplainlyasifhewaslookingatitthroughthewarily-gatheredexperienceofsocietyofamanoftwicehisage。
　　“Can’tyouwritetohernow，Geoffrey？“heasked。
　　“What’sthegoodofthat？“
　　“Considerforaminute，andyouwillsee。Youhavetrustedmewithaveryawkwardsecret。Imaybewrong——Ineverwasmixedupinsuchamatterbefore——buttopresentmyselftothisladyasyourmessengerseemsexposinghertoadreadfulhumiliation。AmI
　　togoandtellhertoherface：’Iknowwhatyouarehidingfromtheknowledgeofalltheworld；’andisshetobeexpectedtoendureit？“
　　“Bosh!“saidGeoffrey。“Theycanendureadealmorethanyouthink。Iwishyouhadheardhowshebulliedme，inthisveryplace。Mygoodfellow，youdon’tunderstandwomen。Thegrandsecret，indealingwithawoman，istotakeherasyoutakeacat，bythescruffoftheneck——“
　　“Ican’tfaceher——unlessyouwillhelpmebybreakingthethingtoherfirst。I’llstickatnosacrificetoserveyou；but——hangit!——makeallowances，Geoffrey，forthedifficultyyouareputtingmein。Iamalmostastranger；Idon’tknowhowMissSilvestermayreceiveme，beforeIcanopenmylips。“
　　Thoselastwordstouchedthequestiononitspracticalside。Thematter-of-factviewofthedifficultywasaviewwhichGeoffreyinstantlyrecognizedandunderstood。
　　“Shehasthedevil’sowntemper，“hesaid。“There’snodenyingthat。PerhapsI’dbetterwrite。Havewetimetogointothehouse？“
　　“No。Thehouseisfullofpeople，andwehaven’taminutetospare。Writeatonce，andwritehere。Ihavegotapencil。“
　　“WhatamItowriteon？“
　　“Anything——yourbrother’scard。“
　　GeoffreytookthepencilwhichArnoldofferedtohim，andlookedatthecard。Thelineshisbrotherhadwrittencoveredit。Therewasnoroomleft。Hefeltinhispocket，andproducedaletter——theletterwhichAnnehadreferredtoattheinterviewbetweenthem——theletterwhichshehadwrittentoinsistonhisattendingthelawn-partyatWindygates。
　　“Thiswilldo，“hesaid。“It’soneofAnne’sownletterstome。
　　There’sroomonthefourthpage。IfIwrite，“headded，turningsuddenlyonArnold，“youpromisetotakeittoher？Yourhandonthebargain!“
　　HeheldoutthehandwhichhadsavedArnold’slifeinLisbonHarbor，andreceivedArnold’spromise，inremembranceofthattime。