He seemed to be saying really: "Now look here, I have had
quite enough bother about you; and please don't let me have any more
of it."
"Then, sir, I thank you--and--er--that's all."
"Very glad if--" Mr. Barradine made the same gesture that Dale had
seen a few hours ago: a wave of the right hand. But to Dale it seemed
that it was different now, that it indicated languor and haughtiness;
indeed, it seemed that the whole man was different. Could this be the
advocate who had spoken up so freely for a friend in trouble? All the
majesty and the force, as well as the generous friendliness, had
disappeared. The face, the voice, the whole bearing belonged to
another man. The tired eyes had not a spark of fire in them; those
puffy bags of loose flesh, that hung between the outer corners of the
cheekbones and the thin birdlike nose, were so ugly as to be
disfiguring; the mouth, instead of looking soft and kind, although
proud, now appeared to close in the unbending lines of a very obdurate
self-esteem. This new aspect of his patron made Dale stammer
uncomfortably; and he felt something akin to humiliation in lieu of
the fine glow of gratitude with which he had come hurrying from the
Euston Road.
"Then my duty--and my thanks--and I'll say good afternoon, sir.
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