“A charge of murder is preposterous.” He turned, almost angrily, upon Agatha, “Why do you talk nonsense? There can be no murder without motive.”
Lady Selina smiled faintly.
“Thank you, Mr. Grimshaw. That ought to be obvious to any intelligence.”
Agatha’s face indicated confoundment. Stung more by Grimshaw’s manner than his words, she said acrimoniously:
“So you side with Authority, Mr. Grimshaw?”
Once again, Grimshaw’s part in the proceedings was forced. A different appeal from weakness to strength might have been met in a very different fashion. Irritated by the consciousness of being in a false position, irritated even more by Agatha’s undisguised sneer, he said emphatically:
“I detest violence, Miss Farleigh. Violence, let me tell you, always defeats its ends.”
He turned to Lady Selina who was visibly impressed.
“You are too generous, Lady Selina, not to make allowance for Timothy Farleigh, a man beside himself with misery and anxiety.”
More and more pleased with Grimshaw, Lady Selina replied graciously: