"
"To the absolute exoneration of Miss Morriston?"
"Naturally."
"I must have your assurance in writing."
Henshaw fell back a step and for a moment showed signs of an
uncompromising refusal. "You are going a little too far, Mr. Gifford,"
he said doggedly.
"Not at all," Gifford retorted. "It is imperatively necessary."
"Is it?" Henshaw sneered. "For what purpose?"
"For Miss Morriston's protection."
The sneer deepened. "I should have thought that purpose quite negligible,
seeing how valiantly the lady is already protected. But I have no
objection," he added in an offhand tone, "as you seem to distrust the
lasting power of bluff, to give you an extra safeguard. Indeed I think it
just as well, all things considered, that Miss Morriston should have it.
Give me a pen and a sheet of paper." Henshaw's manner was now the
quintessence of insolence, but Gifford could afford, although it cost him
an effort, to ignore it. With the practised pen of a lawyer Henshaw
quickly wrote down a short declaration, signing it with a flourish and
then flicking it across the table to Gifford. "That should meet the
case," he said, leaning back confidently and thrusting his hands into his
pockets.
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