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?“