"Mind, I don't pretend to like the man.

We were at school together, and he was a coward then and a sneak, but for all that one should look at it fairly.

The Doctor asserts that Bathurst is morally brave, but that somehow or other his nerves are too much for him.

I don't pretend to understand it myself, but there is no doubt about the Doctor's pluck, and I don't think he would stand up for Bathurst as he does unless he really thought he was not altogether accountable for showing the white feather.

I think, too, from what he let drop, that the Major is to some extent of the same opinion.