"It means that those papers are yours to do what you like with.
I drafted the second one so that you should be absolutely secure
against any further attempt at blackmail. As a matter of fact,
though, Walter is on his last legs. I doubt whether he will live
to land in Australia."
"You know that I killed Oliver Hilditch?" Sir Timothy said, his
eyes fixed upon the other's.
"I know that you killed Oliver Hilditch," Francis repeated. "If
I had been Margaret's father, I think that I should have done the
same."
Sir Timothy seemed suddenly very much younger. The droop of his
lips was no longer pathetic. There was a little humourous twitch
there.
"You, the great upholder of the law?" he murmured.
"I have heard the story of Oliver Hilditch's life," Francis
replied. "I was partially responsible for saving him from the
gallows. I repeat what I have said. And if you will--"
He held out his hand. Sir Timothy hesitated for one moment.
Instead of taking it, he laid his hand upon Francis' shoulder.
"Ledsam," he said, "we have thought wrong things of one another.
I thought you a prig, moral to your finger-tips with the morality
of the law and the small places. Perhaps I was tempted for that
reason to give you a wrong impression of myself. But you must
understand this.
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