“Don’t let it worry you in any way, my dear fellow,” said the vicar in a tone of reassurance. “Proper and ample provision can easily be made for the poor man if we behave sensibly. At least Whymper thinks so.”
“Hidebound donkey! What has he to do with it?”
The abrupt querulousness of the tone was so unlike Brandon that it rather disconcerted the vicar.
“I have always found Whymper a very honest man,” he said soothingly. “And he is also a magistrate.”
“Oh, yes, a local Shallow.”
The vicar was hurt, but the high sense of duty was with him in his task. And that task was to tell Brandon in a few concise words of Dr. Parker’s visit, of his opinion of John Smith, and his views concerning him.
“And I felt it my duty to come and tell you,” said the vicar, in a slow, calm, patient voice, “that Parker will meet a specialist in consultation. But the question now is, who shall it be? To my mind the point does not arise, but Joliffe, who I am sorry to say is not as helpful as he might be, is making difficulties. Parker would like Murfin, but Joliffe thinks Moriarty. But Murfin or Moriarty, what does it matter? They are both first-rate men; besides the case is so clear that it doesn’t present the slightest difficulty. It is really a waste of money to pay a big fee for a London opinion when a local man like Sharling of Brombridge would do quite as well.”
Brandon shook his head. A look of grave trouble came into his eyes. “No,” he said, “this is a case for the best man the country can provide.”
“Well, you shall choose him, my dear fellow,” Mr. Perry-Hennington’s air was all largeness and magnanimity. “Murfin or Moriarty, or why not such a man as Birdwood Thompson? He is in quite the front rank, I believe. But before you incur an expense that I’m convinced is unnecessary, I should like you to realize my own position in the matter. To my mind, it will be far kinder to have the man certified and quietly removed, rather than ask the law to take a course which may stir up local feeling in certain directions, and breed undesirable publicity in certain newspapers. Still that is neither here nor there. One is prepared to face all consequences, be what they may.”
“Mr. Perry-Hennington,” said Brandon in a hollow tone, “I can’t help thinking that you are making a tragic mistake.”