With no great disparity between them
in point of years, they were, in every other respect, as unlike and
far removed from each other as two men could well be. The one was
soft-spoken, delicately made, precise, and elegant; the other, a burly
square-built man, negligently dressed, rough and abrupt in manner,
stern, and, in his present mood, forbidding both in look and speech. The
one preserved a calm and placid smile; the other, a distrustful frown.
The new-comer, indeed, appeared bent on showing by his every tone and
gesture his determined opposition and hostility to the man he had come
to meet. The guest who received him, on the other hand, seemed to feel
that the contrast between them was all in his favour, and to derive a
quiet exultation from it which put him more at his ease than ever.
'Haredale,' said this gentleman, without the least appearance of
embarrassment or reserve, 'I am very glad to see you.'
'Let us dispense with compliments. They are misplaced between us,'
returned the other, waving his hand, 'and say plainly what we have to
say. You have asked me to meet you. I am here. Why do we stand face to
face again?'
'Still the same frank and sturdy character, I see!'
'Good or bad, sir, I am,' returned the other, leaning his arm upon
the chimney-piece, and turning a haughty look upon the occupant of
the easy-chair, 'the man I used to be.
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