“I’ve arranged that. They offered me the command. I refused to take it from him. He’ll go.”
The judge bent his brows.
“You’ve no right to do that! It’s paying a premium on falsehood. He came back here a jay in peacock’s plumes, and fooled us all; now you’re letting him carry off the prize. You’ve no right to shelter him.”
“I have the right that comes to the injured party. If I have no mind to enforce publicity, no one else should complain. You see that, judge?”
“I see you’re trying to spare him because”—he looked at his visitor keenly again—“because of Diane?”
Overton’s face changed sharply.
“Yes.”
“She has left him—you know that?”
“Dr. Gerry told me. It doesn’t constitute a reason for me to ruin him. Talk about him will involve her in the scandal.”
The judge sank back in his chair, strumming on the arms with nervous fingers.