Sir John asserted that my conduct had been impertinent and unprofessional.

I replied that I had only done my duty and appealed to Dr.Jeffries, who remarked drily that we had to deal not with opinions and theories but with facts and that the facts seemed to bear me out.

On learning the truth, the relatives, who until now had been against me, turned upon Sir John and reproached him in strong terms, after which they went away leaving us face to face.

There was an awkward silence, which I broke by saying that I was sorry to have been the unwilling cause of this unpleasantness.
"You may well be sorry, sir," Sir John answered in a cold voice that was yet alive with anger, "seeing that by your action you have exposed me to insult, I who have practised in this city for over thirty years, and who was your father's partner before you were in your cradle.

Well, it is natural to youth to be impertinent.