"
For a while Henshaw made no reply. He sat thinking strenuously, evidently
weighing his chances, estimating the strength of his adversary's
position. Now and again he shot a glance, half probing, half sullen, at
Gifford, who leaned back against the mantelpiece coolly awaiting his
answer. At length he spoke.
"This is a very fine piece of bravado, Mr. Gifford. But I am not such a
fool as it pleases you to think me. It is very good of you to explain to
me my position in this affair; I am, however, quite capable of seeing
that for myself. And you can hardly expect me to look upon your
gratuitous advice as disinterested."
The man was talking to gain time; Gifford shrewdly guessed that. "I
might be pardoned for supposing you do not altogether realize how you
stand," he replied quietly. "But, after all, that is, as you suggest,
your affair."
Henshaw forced a smile. "The point of view is everything," he said in a
preoccupied tone; "and ours, yours and mine, are diametrically opposed."
"The point of view which perhaps ought most to be considered," Gifford
retorted with rising impatience, "is that of the honourable profession to
which we both belong.
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