The authorship was only matter of gossip.

Could it not be denied?
"As it is written," says Cicero, "in a style inferior to that which is usual to me, can it not be shown not to have been mine ?"[285] Had Cicero possessed all the Christian virtues, as we hope that prelates and pastors possess them in this happy land, he would not have been betrayed into, at any rate, the expression of such a wish.

As it is, the enemies of Cicero must make the most of it.

His friends, I think, will look upon it leniently.
Continued efforts were made among Cicero's friends at Rome to bring him back, with which he was not altogether contented.

He argues the matter repeatedly with Atticus, not always in the best temper.