Pawley made a deprecating gesture.
“Has Omnipotence spared her? The longer I live, Grimshaw, the more amazed I am at human fallibility. We mean well, most of us, and we do ill. And ill follows our benevolent efforts. Per contra, good rises out of evil. Anyway, compromise has been the curse of my life.” He paused, adding in a lower tone: “Compromise came between me and the woman I loved. It was too much for both of us. Be honest with Lady Selina. It’s your best chance. In her heart, and it’s a big heart, she must have a measure of contempt for poor old Goodrich and me, because we have kowtowed to her.”
“If I could get at her heart——I have a weapon——”
“A weapon?” Pawley winced at the word. “What sort of weapon?”
“It would lose some of its edge if I showed it to you, I shall not use it unless I am driven to do so.”
Pawley was too courteous to ask for further explanation.
II
Grimshaw returned to the Rockram cottage much the better for his talk with Pawley, but conscious, also, that a wise old man was not optimistic in regard to his chances. He had the wit and the will to plead his case strongly. The real issue, so he reflected, lay between strength and obstinacy.
Mrs. Rockram was awaiting him.
“You made a pore dinner, sir, and I thought, maybe, you’d fancy some nice hot soup.”