Had Sir Andrew Flack but
survived the chill that had carried him off a month ago, Master Justice
Baine would have made short work of the accusation lodged against him.
As it was, when he urged the positive knowledge he possessed, and told
them how he had made the examination to which Sir Oliver had voluntarily
submitted, his single word carried no slightest conviction. Not for a
moment was it supposed that this was aught but the subterfuge of one who
had been lax in his duty and who sought to save himself from the
consequences of that laxity. And the fact that he cited as his
fellow-witness a gentleman now deceased but served to confirm his judges
in this opinion. He was deposed from his office and subjected to a
heavy fine, and there the matter ended, for the hue-and-cry that was
afoot entirely failed to discover any trace of the missing Sir Oliver.
For Master Lionel a new existence set in from that day. Looked upon as
one in danger of suffering for his brother's sins, the countryside
determined to help him as far as possible to bear his burden. Great
stress was laid upon the fact that after all he was no more than Sir
Oliver's half-brother; some there were who would have carried their
kindness to the lengths of suggesting that perhaps he was not even that,
and that it was but natural that Ralph Tressilian's second wife should
have repaid her husband in kind for his outrageous infidelities.
Pages:
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118