How, when one of his dogs had failed to
win a prize, he would go about muttering to himself, and visiting his
annoyance and disappointment on those about him.
She had drawn a sad picture of the last long months of their joint life
together and Radmore began to feel very, very sorry for her.... What an
awful ordeal the poor little woman had gone through!
The doctor's evidence made painful reading, but what had really clinched
the matter was the evidence of one Piper, the Croftons' general odd man
and trusted servant. He had been Colonel Crofton's batman during part of
the war, and was evidently much attached to him. When Piper repeated the
words in which his master had once or twice threatened to take his own
life, his evidence had obviously made a strong impression on both coroner
and jury.
Radmore remembered Piper with a faint feeling of dislike. It was Piper
who had prepared the puppy, Flick, for the cross-country journey to
Beechfield, and Radmore had given the man a handsome tip for all the
trouble he had taken.
Yes, he had not liked Piper; so much he remembered. He had thought the
man self-assertive, over self-confident, while disagreeably cringing in
manner.
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