anthony aubrey slumped across the big desk between them , grey taking no pleasure in watching a person find the centre of their pain , as this lion of a man , father of the town , who had bought employment to its men , security to its families , had raised tens of thousands of pounds for good causes , had bestowed on his son the kind of legacy only a desperate attempt to live up to a father could destroy , burst into tears , with all the dignity a man can only manage when those tears have been held back all his life .