What Bertram would certainly not have done to secure his own escape he might have done for the sake of his father and the girl he was to marry.
Admitting all this, Challoner could not take his son's guilt for granted.

There was room for doubt.

Blake must be summoned home and forced to declare the truth.
Then Challoner's thoughts went back to the man whose tale had so disturbed him.

There had been nothing forcible or obviously threatening in Clarke's last few remarks, but their effect was somehow sinister.

Challoner wondered whether he had done well in suggesting that Blake's denial would prove the man's greatest difficulty.