This interruption, it need not be said, came from Tressamer. He had risen to his feet, and put on that scowl of scornful indignation with which an experienced counsel knows how to daunt a young beginner and make him feel he has committed himself.
‘My lord, my friend cannot prove that, and if he could it cannot possibly be evidence against the prisoner. It is a most improper question.’
The Judge looked a little puzzled.
‘It is irrelevant,’ he said, ‘and I won’t allow it if you object. In a case like this we can’t be too strict, of course.’
Mr. Pollard began to realize that greatness has its snares as well as its triumphs. He tried to get back on to the track.
‘You went to see the deceased on the first of June?’
‘I did.’
‘And you came away——’
Here the barrister’s brother leant over and handed him a slip of paper. He took it and read it, turned red, and, trying to appear as if he had not been prompted, put the question contained in the slip of paper: