"But you did see it; your husband's life depends on the fact. Refresh your memory; his life, remember—his life!"
"Yes—yes. I—I saw!"
It was not a deliberate falsehood; the weak mind was held and moulded by a strong will. For the moment that old woman absolutely believed that she had witnessed the scene, which had been so often impressed upon her fancy. The lawyer saw his power, and a faint smile stole over his lip, half undoing the work his craft had accomplished. The old woman began to shrink slowly back; she met the calm, sorrowful gaze of her husband, and her eyes fell under the reproach it conveyed.
The lawyer saw all this, and without giving her time to retract, went on.
"By remembering this you have saved his life—saved him from the gallows—his name from dishonor—his body from being mangled at the medical college."
The old woman wove her wrinkled fingers together; the kerchief on her bosom quivered with the struggle of her breath.
"I saw it—I saw it all!" she cried, lifting up her clasped hands and dropping them heavily on her lap. "God forgive me, I saw it all!"
"Wife!" said the old man, in a voice so solemn that it made even the lawyer shrink. "Wife!"
She did not answer; her head dropped upon her bosom; those old hands unlocked and fell apart in her lap, but she muttered still, "God forgive me, I saw it all!"