“I say that my father is just the dearest and noblest man that ever lived. He sent you to do that, didn’t he, Mr. Wilkins, and never said a word about it to me? Isn’t that just like Daddy?”
Hezekiah smiled but said no word. Possibly he remembered the amount of the check. Professional confidences make lawyers cynical. He drummed a spirited march upon his desk with his fingers and took no other part in the acclaim of Obadiah.
“Mr. Wilkins,” worried Virginia, “do you suppose that you could have hurt Mr. Curtis’s feelings?”
“I did not intend to. Men are never as gentle as women, though.” Hezekiah was playing a foxy game. “A man is rougher. It is easy for him to hurt the feelings of a sensitive person without having the slightest intention of doing so.”
“This request appeared to require deep thought”
Virginia gave serious regard to memories of a pair of black eyes. “I think Joe Curtis is very sensitive,” she said softly.
“Probably,” agreed the crafty Hezekiah.
“Would you mind, Mr. Wilkins–” she gave the lawyer an appealing glance after some moments of consideration–“if I talked with Mr. Curtis about it?”