'Now, there you mistake,’ said Sir John, in his most benignant way. ‘There—which is a most remarkable circumstance for a man of your punctuality and exactness, Haredale—you fall into error. I don’t belong to the body; I have an immense respect for its members, but I don’t belong to it; although I am, it is certainly true, the conscientious opponent of your being relieved. I feel it my duty to be so; it is a most unfortunate necessity; and cost me a bitter struggle.—Will you try this box? If you don’t object to a trifling infusion of a very chaste scent, you’ll find its flavour exquisite.’



I found myself pronouncing the "g" hard, and wondered if that were correct, as I have never heard in pronounced. Turns out that is correct, though it sounds horrid to me.
benignant [bý'nýgnənt]
adjective
1 kind; gracious, as a king to his subjects

2 a less common word for: benign [3] [4]
be'nignancy noun
be'nignantly adverb(ial)

makes it rhyme with "malignant", its antonym. I'm used to the hard "g" there, and it doesn't bother me.

rhyme with "malignant

I thought of indignant.

Dear etaoin: the thing that jarred me was going from "benigh" to "benignant".

going from "benign" to "benignant"

ah, yes, I see. one of those "change the pronunciation when you change the tense" kind of words...