MARRIAGE IS IMPOSSIBLE.
Directly the Judge had finished his summing-up, the jury rose and left the Court to consider their verdict.
The general opinion was that they would not take much time before coming to a decision, and so quite half the people remained in their places. A subdued hum of conversation arose; women surreptitiously powdered their faces, others fanned themselves. In the corridors outside barristers discussed the case.
"Guilty, right enough!" the majority agreed. A few wiseacres shook their heads. They were not so sure. Certainly Rupert Dale's attitude had been that of a guilty man, so much so that to those who had had a wide experience of criminals he seemed innocent.
It's the guilty man who invariably assumes the mask of innocence to perfection.
It was in vain that both counsel and solicitors tried to persuade Ruby Strode to leave the Court. She was as white as death and looked as if at any moment she might faint. Her friend Iris Colyer sat by her side and did her best to comfort and console her. But Ruby seemed scarcely conscious of her surroundings. Feeling had almost deserted her.
She was possessed by just one thought. She had failed to save her lover. Twice she had tried to save him. And each time she had failed.
Now she had been prepared to take his place in the dock—to suffer for the crime she had committed. And they would not believe her. The fools would not believe her when she confessed she was guilty. In her own mind she had proved her guilt. She sat huddled up, her hands clasped between her knees, her eyes fixed on the door through which the jury had disappeared. But ever and again she muttered to herself, and those sitting near her caught fragments of what she said:
"I alone am guilty. I did it."
Once Robert Despard strolled across to her side, and the solicitors made way for him. He made a few conventional remarks in the usual strain. Ruby took no notice. But suddenly he said something which caused her to sit upright and look at him with flaming eyes, eyes in which contempt and hatred shone.