"He desired me," he said at last, "to give you a message that should prove to you that there is still something left in him of the unfortunate gentleman that...
that.., for which once you knew him." "That is not now necessary," said she very gravely.

He misunderstood her, of course, knowing nothing of the enlightenment that yesterday had come to her.
"I think..., nay, I know that you do him an injustice," said he.
Her hazel eyes continued to regard him.
"If you will deliver the message, it may enable me to judge." To him, this was confusing.

He did not immediately answer.

He found that he had not sufficiently considered the terms he should employ, and the matter, after all, was of an exceeding delicacy, demanding delicate handling.

It was not so much that he was concerned to deliver a message as to render it a vehicle by which to plead his own cause.