Brothers In Law by Henry Cecil

you. Worse, probably. He’d have talked nonsense; you only said nothing. Neither of you ought to have been allowed to do it, but there you are, my dear fellow, they will do these things, they will do these things.’
    â€˜Was I what you call “devilling”?’ asked Roger.
    â€˜Well,’ said Henry, ‘if looking unhappy and saying nothing can be called devilling, you were.’
    â€˜I suppose,’ said Roger, ‘that that’s what Gilbert was referring to when he said:
    â€œ Pocket a fee with a grin on your face
    " When you haven’t been there to attend to the case.”’
    â€˜Yes,’ said Henry, ‘but it isn’t entirely fair to the Bar to put it just like that. A chap can’t be in two places at once and he can’t tell when he first accepts a brief in a case that it’s going to clash with any other. So there are times when he’s got to get help from someone else. All I say is that pupils shouldn’t be allowed to give it. Your case is certainly an extreme one and I don’t suppose it has happened before or will happen again, but the principle is just the same. No offence to you, but during the whole of your year you won’t be capable of handling a defended case in the High Court efficiently, even if you’ve read it thoroughly.’
    â€˜Then why didn’t Grimes ask you to help him?’ asked Roger.
    â€˜Well,’ said Henry, ‘that could be a long story, but I’ll make it a short one. In a nutshell, I’ve got too big for my boots and I won’t devil a brief unless I do the whole thing, or at any rate get half the fee.’
    â€˜Look,’ said Roger, ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but you tell me an awful lot. How am I to know you’re right?’
    â€˜Good for you,’ said Henry. ‘You can’t know. And you’re quite right to ask. Go on asking. Don’t take anything for granted, not even Grimeyboy. In a month or two you’ll think everything he says and does is right.’
    â€˜Isn’t it?’
    â€˜It doesn’t matter whether it is or it isn’t, you’ll think it is. Almost every pupil swears by his master. And it’s often quite a long time before he realizes that his written work was bad, that he was only a very moderate lawyer and a poor advocate. I’m not saying any of that about Grimeyboy. It wouldn’t in fact be true. But the point is, you must judge for yourself. Ask “why” the whole time. Oh, hullo, Peter. How’s the Old Bailey? You know that Thursby had to devil for you yesterday?’
    â€˜Thanks very much,’ said Peter. ‘I’ll give you half my fee. Quite a good assault case, as a matter of fact. I’d have been sorry to have missed that. Oh, and there’s a good one in the Court of Criminal Appeal tomorrow, I’m told.’
    â€˜D’you think I could go?’ asked Roger.
    â€˜You certainly could,’ said Henry, ‘and if you want to become like Peter, I should. But if you’re wise you’ll get on with your work here. Popping off to the Old Bailey or the Court of Criminal Appeal to get a cheap thrill won’t teach you anything.’
    â€˜I may decide to go to the Criminal Bar,’ said Peter.
    â€˜If I were you, I should,’ said Henry. ‘Now I must go and work for once.’
    Henry went to his room and Roger started to open a set of papers.
    â€˜Don’t feel much like work this morning,’ said Peter. ‘Had a bit of a night last night. What are you reading?’
    â€˜I haven’t started really,’ said Roger. ‘This is something called Biggs and Pieman.’
    â€˜Oh, that’s quite amusing. Pieman’s the MP, you know. It’ll never come into Court. It’s a sort of woman scorned action. Neither side can afford to fight it. Wish they would. It’d be great fun. She’s a very attractive woman. I saw her in the