"I could tell you many things that would surprise you," Margaret
continued. "One night, for instance, when we were staying at The
Sanctuary, he and I were going out to dine with some neighbours
and he heard a cat mewing in the hedge somewhere. He stopped the
car, got out himself, found that the cat had been caught in a
trap, released it, and sent me on to the dinner alone whilst he
took the animal back to the veterinary surgeon at The Walled
House. He was simply white with fury whilst he was tying up the
poor thing's leg. I couldn't help asking him what he would have
done if he could have found the farmer who set the trap. He
looked up at me and I was almost frightened. 'I should have
killed him,' he said,--and I believe he meant it. And, Francis,
the very next day we were motoring to London and saw a terrible
accident. A motor bicyclist came down a side road at full speed
and ran into a motor-lorry. My father got out of the car, helped
them lift the body from under the wheels of the lorry, and came
back absolutely unmoved. 'Serve the silly young fool right!' was
his only remark. He was so horribly callous that I could
scarcely bear to sit by his side. Do you understand that?"
"It isn't easy," he admitted.
There was a knock at the door. Margaret glanced at the clock.
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