human
After, however, having taken all the circumstances of the affair into consideration, which I have done most carefully, he resumed,
gpt
Pardon me, Mr. Avison, said John, with an unwonted break in his voice, as he bent forward and laid a hand heavily on the table,
human
I have not said so, Brancker, and I think you have no right to draw any such inference, responded the Banker, with a slight flushing of his sallow cheeks.
gpt
What I have done has been out of pure consideration for you and your interests.
human
I thank you, sir, for the kindly feeling which has prompted you to act as you have, but I am far from having any desire to break up my home, and leave Ashdown, where I have lived for a great part of my life, in order to settle in a strange place.
gpt
But consider the associations, Brancker; the very painful associations which this place cannot fail to have for you in time to come.
human
That they will be painful, I do not doubt, sir. Mr. Hazeldine and I were ever the best of friends, and there was no man in the world whom I respected more; but most of us have many painful things to bear as we go through life, and, in my case, this will merely be one more added to the number.
gpt
My allusions were not so much intended to apply to poor Hazeldine's death as to other matters. I was certainly under the impression that, after so terrible a charge had been laid at your door, and after having undergone the ignominy of being imprisoned and brought to trial, you would be grateful to anyone who was willing to assist you to find a home elsewhere.
human
You must pardon me, Mr. Avison, if I altogether fail to see where what you term the ignominy comes in. Through a series of unfortunate accidents, some of which I frankly confess myself utterly at a loss to explain, a terrible suspicion was cast upon me; of that suspicion my imprisonment and subsequent trial were the inevitable outcome. But, sir, the verdict of a jury of my countrymen has cleared me from any complicity in a crime of which you, knowing me as you do, ought to be one of the last men in the world to believe me guilty.
gpt
Yes, he said, in his chilliest tones,
human
Do you mean to imply, sir, that any suspicion, even the slightest, still lingers in your mind that I was in any way privy to the death of Mr. Hazeldine?
gpt
I mean to imply nothing, Brancker. I am not in the habit of dealing in implications. After careful consideration of all the circumstances, I have deemed it advisable that you and I should part, at least for a time; for which reason it is that I have interested myself in your favor with my relative, Mr. Pencathlow, who will, I am sure----
human
Mr. Avison, not another word is needed, broke in John, with an abrupt wave of his arm.
gpt
If those are your sentiments towards me, then, indeed, the sooner you and I part the better.