I
wouldn't be a party for a single moment to any plan for insulting a
really nice woman like Miss King."
"Don't fret about that," said Meldon. "What I'm doing is exactly what
Miss King wants done. She told me so herself."
CHAPTER XX.
Sir Gilbert Hawkesby was, on the whole, a good-tempered man; but he was
liable to sudden outbursts of anger of a violent kind. Lady Hawkesby
knew this, and always bowed meekly to the storm. His butler knew it,
and felt no resentment when he was called an incompetent fool. The
barristers who practised their art in his court knew it, and always
gave up pressing objectionable points on his notice when they
recognised the early signs of approaching indignation. The butler and
the barristers, not Lady Hawkesby, admitted that the judge's anger was
invariably justified. He never lost control of himself without some
good excuse. Therefore they suffered patiently, knowing that they
suffered justly, and knowing also that they would not suffer long; for
the judge's outbursts were as brief as they were fierce, and he bore no
malice afterwards. Doyle unfortunately did not know Sir Gilbert's
peculiarities, and so he was depressed and unhappy.
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