The Judge: ‘You had better confine yourself to the questions now. You will have an opportunity of explaining afterwards.’
‘You went straight to your aunt. Was she pleased to see you?’
‘Yes, she seemed very pleased.’
‘And yet she let you stay at a hotel?’
‘That was only the first night. It was arranged that I was to occupy a bedroom in her house afterwards.’
‘Oh!’
Type cannot do justice to the peculiar intonation with which the barrister uttered this exclamation. The whole court was aroused to suspect something beneath the surface. Then he turned round to the jury with a mysterious expression, and slowly repeated the answer:
‘It was arranged that you were to occupy a room in her house after that night?’
The jury roused themselves for a grand effort, and succeeded in imparting a distinct air of suspicion to their countenances.
At last Mr. Lewis’s temper came into play. He cried out: