Armadale Book the third, Chapter XIII, pt 1

In which Mr. Bashwood, a nervous and troubled old man, seeks an urgent audience with Mr. Pedgift to confess his troubling curiosity and suspicions about the past of one Miss Gwilt, stirring a mixture of bewilderment and sympathy in the seasoned lawyer. Their conversation reveals Mr. Bashwood’s internal conflict and desperate desire for truth and justice, set against the lawyer’s keen judgment and unwillingness to entangle himself further in the matter.