'He thought it unnecessary to assure me that he hadn't betrayed the trust I put in him.'
'Do you mean to say the letter left any doubt in your mind?' said Boulger.
'Why on earth should I believe the unsupported words of a subordinate who was dismissed for misbehaviour?'
'For my part, I can only say that I never read anything more convincing in my life.'
'I could hardly believe him guilty of such a crime if he confessed it with his own lips.'
Bobbie shrugged his shoulders. It was only with difficulty that he held back the cruel words that were on his lips. But as if Lucy read his thoughts, her cheeks flushed.
'I think it's infamous that you should all be ready to believe the worst,' she said hotly, in a low voice that trembled with indignant anger. 'You're all of you so petty, so mean, that you welcome the chance of spattering with mud a man who is so infinitely above you. You've not given him a chance to defend himself.'
Bobbie turned very pale. Lucy had never spoken to him in such a way before, and wrath flamed up in his heart, wrath mixed with hopeless love. He paused for a moment to command himself.
'You don't know apparently that interviewers went to him from the evening papers, and he refused to speak.'
'He has never consented to be interviewed. Why should you expect him now to break his rule?'