He did not often get the chance of being engaged in such a big case, and he was bent on making the most of it.
“Pray, Miss Fulford, were you not acquainted some time ago with a person named Charles Peace?”
“I did know Mr. Peace when he resided in this neighbourhood.”
“Ah, I thought so! And was he also a lover of yours?”
Miss Fulford became red with indignation.
“No, he was not. He paid me some attention, it is true.”
“Very marked attention, was it not?”
“Mr. Slapperton, I think you are quite out of order,” remarked one of the magistrates. “The man Peace has been in prison for some considerable time, and I for one strongly object to you introducing his name in this case.”
“I shall not shrink from doing my duty,” said Slapperton, perfectly unmoved. “I affirm most positively and emphatically that I am quite justified in the course I am pursuing. If the bench is of an opposite opinion I have no alternative but to submit to their decision, but I shall do so under protest—I say under protest.”
The magistrates conversed together, after which the chairman said—