"Exactly. You use the very words in regard to it which I would have used myself. That is a contingency, I imagine, which you would strongly desire to avoid."
"So strongly do I desire it, that you would not be surprised if I had already taken measures with that end in view."
"Decidedly not. But it will be only natural that the prosecution should try and damage Walcott as much as possible—showing the motive he would have for getting rid of his wife, and, going into the details of their former quarrels. The question is whether any man can be expected, in doing this, to abstain from mentioning the names of third parties."
"Has it never occurred to you, Mr. Larmer, that there is one way, and only one way, in which I could certainly guarantees that the name of the lady in question should not be mentioned? Your plan, if you will excuse my saying so, is clumsy and liable to fail. Mine is perfectly secure against failure, and perhaps a little more congenial."
Larmer's face fell.
"You do not mean," he said, "that you have taken a brief from the prosecution!"
"If I had, I should have stopped you as soon as you began to speak, and told you so. But I may say as much as this—if I am retained by them I shall go into court; and, if they retain anyone else, I shall have good reason to know that the case will be conducted precisely as I should conduct it myself. I imagine that this matters very little to you, Mr. Larmer. I have not done much with this class of cases, and there will be no difficulty in finding a stronger man."
Mr. Larmer was silent for a minute or two. Sydney Campion's manner took him aback.
"I am sorry to hear what you have said," he remarked at last. "I fear it must inevitably prejudice my client if it is known that you are on the other side."
"I don't see why it should," Sydney said, with manifest indifference. "At any rate, with respect to the point you were mentioning, it is clear that the lady's name will not be introduced by the prosecution."