"And who was the woman? Much depends upon who she is. It may be a case of black-mail."
"It was a girl from your own place, a neighbour of yours, Jean Benton."
With a gurgled groan of abandoned hope, Stubbles sank back and remained huddled in his chair, a pitiable object of misery. The man who had acted the tyrant for years, who hardly knew the meaning of mercy, and had crushed all who opposed him, was now being paid back tenfold. As he had sown, so was he reaping.
"We must go now," the lawyer reminded him, after a few seconds of silence. "But remember, Mr. Stubbles, the instant you lay a charge against Mr. Handyman here, or any of the men who took part in last night's affair, you will know what to expect. And as for you, Mr. Hawkins," and he turned to the Squire, "I shall deal with you later for wilfully perverting justice. You acted with cowardice and partiality at the trial, and you must put up with the consequences."
"Don't do anything, for God's sake!" Hawkins cried, now smitten with a terrible fear. "I will do what you say, but don't take action, I beseech you. It will ruin my business."
This was just what Garton wanted, and an amused twinkle danced in his eyes. He hesitated, however, for a few seconds as if lost in deep thought.
"Very well, then, Mr. Hawkins," he at length replied, "if you are willing to make a public acknowledgment of your wrong decision, I will take no notice this time. As you know from my record, I am not easily turned aside when I once make up my mind. However, I will make an exception this time, if you obey me at once."
"I will, sir, I certainly will. What shall I do?"
"Write out a plain confession of your wrong decision at the trial and post it on the door of your store, or in some other public place, where all can see it. That is what I demand."
"I shall do it at once, sir," came the low response. It was quite evident that the Squire was feeling keenly his humiliation, but there was nothing else for him to do, as he had a great fear and respect for the lawyer standing before him.