گادفری در دردسر است

Chapter 4

Godfrey is in trouble

Godfrey was not very surprised to find that Dunstan had not come home after his day’s hunting. Perhaps he was staying the night at a public house. But when Dunstan did not return home the next day, Godfrey began to worry about Wildfire. He did not trust his brother, and wondered if Dunstan had gone away to spend the money on gambling. So he decided to go to look for him. On the road near Raveloe he met his neighbour, John Bryce, who had arranged to buy Wildfire from Dunstan.

‘Well, Godfrey,’ said Bryce, ‘did your brother tell you ab the horse?’

‘What do you mean, John?’ replied Godfrey quickly. ‘No, 1 hasn’t been home yet. What’s happened to my horse?’

‘Ah, so he was yours, was he? Dunstan told me you’d give him Wildfire. I was going to buy him, you know.’

‘What’s Dunstan done? Is Wildfire hurt?’ asked Godfrey crossly.

‘Worse than that,’ answered Bryce. ‘I’m afraid your horse! dead. We’ve only just found him. Your brother rode him to the hunt and the horse fell at a gate and broke his back. So you haven’t seen Dunstan since yesterday?’

‘No, and he’d better not come home now!’ replied Godfrey angrily. ‘How stupid I was to trust him with my horse!’

‘But where can Dunstan be? I suppose he wasn’t hurt, because we didn’t find him near the horse.’

‘Him?’ said Godfrey bitterly. ‘Oh, he’ll be all right.

He’ll never be hurt - he only ever hurts other peopled We’ll hear of him soon enough, don’t worry.’

Bryce said goodbye and rode away. Godfrey rode slowly back into Raveloe, thinking about what he would very soon have to do. There was no longer any escape. He must confess the whole truth to his father. For the rest of the day he planned what he would say. He would explain that he had lent Fowler’s money to Dunstan, because Dunstan knew his secret. That would be the right moment to tell the Squire about his secret marriage to Molly. ‘But he’ll be very angry!’ thought Godfrey.

‘And when he’s angry with people, he just wants to punish them!

He won’t listen or calm down! But perhaps he’ll keep my secret - he’s so proud of the family name! And if he disinherited me, everyone would talk about it.’

When he went to bed that night, Godfrey thought he had decided what to say. But when he woke up in the morning, he could not see any reason to confess to the marriage. Why should he lose the chance of marrying Nancy? Why should he tell the whole truth now, when perhaps it was not necessary? No, it would be better to go on in the same way as before. Perhaps Dunstan would stay away for a while, and then there would be no need to tell his father about Molly. ‘But today I’ll tell the Squire about the money,’ he thought. ‘He’ll have to know about that:

Godfrey was already in the dining-room when his father arrived for breakfast. The Squire sat down at the head of the table and ordered the servant to bring him some beer.

‘Haven’t you had breakfast yet, Godfrey?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I have, sir,’ replied Godfrey, ‘but I was waiting to speak to you.’

‘Well, you young people have plenty of time,’ answered the Squire. ‘We older ones have to do all the work.’

Godfrey looked straight at his father. ‘Sir,’ he said bravely, ‘I must tell you - something very unfortunate has happened to Wildfire.’

‘What! Has he broken a leg? I thought you could ride better wan that! Well, you can’t expect me to pay for a new horse. I’m Very short of money at the moment. And I’m angry with Fowler - he still hasn’t paid me what he owes me. If he doesn’t today, he’ll go to prison!’ The Squire’s face was red, and banged angrily on the table as he spoke.

The Squire’s face was purple now, and for a moment he could not speak. ‘You — you let Dunstan have my money?

Why did you give it to him? And why did he want it? Where’s Dunstan now? He’ll answer my questions, or leave this house!

Go and fetch him at once!’

‘Dunstan hasn’t come home, sir. The horse was found dead, and nobody knows where Dunstan is.’

‘Well, why did you let him have my money? Answer me!’ said the Squire, staring angrily at Godfrey.

‘Well, sir, I don’t know,’ replied Godfrey, hesitating. He was not good at lying, and was not prepared for his father’s questions.

‘You don’t know?’ the Squire repeated scornfully. ‘Well, I know why. I think you’ve done something wrong, and you’ve bribed Dunstan to keep it a secret! That’s it, isn’t it?’

The Squire had made a very clever guess, and Godfrey’s heart banged in sudden alarm. He was not ready to confess everything yet. ‘Well, sir,’ he said, trying to speak carelessly, ‘it was just a little business between Dunstan and me. You wouldn’t be interested in it, you know.’

‘How old are you now? Twenty-six?’ asked the Squire angrily- ‘Old enough to look after your money and mine too!

I’ve been much too generous to you boys, but I’m going to be harder on you all from now on. You’ve got a weak character, Godfrey, like your poor mother. I think you need a wife who knows what she wants, because you can’t decide anything by yourself! When you were thinking of marrying Nancy Lammeter, I agreed, didn’t I? Have you asked her or not? She hasn’t refused to marry you, has she?’

‘No, I haven’t asked her,’ said Godfrey, feeling very hot and uncomfortable, ‘but I don’t think she’ll accept me.’

‘Don’t be stupid, Godfrey!’ said the Squire with a scornful laugh. ‘Any woman would want to marry into our family! Do you want to marry her?’

‘There’s no other woman I want to marry,’ said Godfrey, avoiding his father’s eyes.

‘Well, then, let me speak to her father for you, since you aren’t brave enough to do it yourself. She’s a pretty girl, and intelligent.’

‘No, sir, please don’t say anything at the moment,’ said Godfrey quickly. ‘I must ask her myself.’

‘Well, ask her then. When you marry her, you’ll have to for get about horses and so on. It’ll be good for you to do some serious work. You should get married soon.’

‘Please don’t try to hurry things, sir,’ begged Godfrey.

‘I’ll do what I like,’ said the Squire firmly. ‘And if you don’t do what I want, I’ll disinherit you and you can leave the house.

Now, if you know where Dunstan’s hiding — I expect you do — tell him he needn’t come home. He’ll pay for his own food from now on.’

‘I don’t know where he is, sir. Anyway, it’s you who should tell him to leave home.’

‘Don’t argue with me, Godfrey,’ said the Squire, turning back to his breakfast. ‘Just go and tell the servants to get my horse ready.’

Godfrey left the room. He was relieved that his father had not discovered the whole truth. However, he was a little worried that the Squire would try to arrange his marriage with Nancy.

While he was married to Molly, he could not marry Nancy, although it was his dearest wish. But as usual he was waiting and hoping for some unexpected change in his situation, which would save him from any unpleasantness.