It was intimated to her that she was at liberty to sit down, and with a slight bend of her proud head she availed herself of the permission.
Mr. Munger opened the proceedings with a short and technical explanation as to the nature and purport of the warrant of arrest, the issuing of which had been formally requested by the Russian Government, and acceded to by that of the United States, not as a matter of absolute right, but through that comity of nations by which the relationships existing between two great powers were kept intact and justly balanced. The warrant thus issued had been executed upon the person of Patricia Hildreth, alias Adèle Lamien, alias Adèle Lallovich, on the charge of her having been an accomplice in the murder of Stevan Lallovich, which occurred at St. Petersburg in the month of December last. The investigation of this warrant was what they had before them now, and in so doing he would first call attention to the point of nationality, since upon this point very much depended. Should Miss Hildreth, or rather should Adèle Lamien, prove to be a Muscovite subject, the American authorities could have but one course open to them, namely, to surrender her to the Russian officials, and let her be put upon trial in the country, and according to the laws, where the crime was committed.
A like course had been adopted by another foreign Power, when the United States was the petitioner, and the offender a political criminal. Spain had at once delivered up this fugitive from justice,[1] though not legally compelled to do so, and the offender was brought to trial solely through the courtesy of a foreign Government. Having then this case as a precedent, it would, according to national honour, be impossible to refuse a like amenity in the present instance. As the Bench was aware, the circumstances in the case now before them were of so extraordinary a nature, it had been deemed wise to allow of evidence being given, a course entirely at variance with the usual procedure in such cases. Special emergencies, however, required special treatment. But before he availed himself of the privilege thus accorded, he would call the attention of the Bench to a few of the peculiarities of this case, by which it would be seen how weighty and grave were the reasons which led to the demand and the issuing of the warrant.
In his opinion there had never been a more deliberately planned and executed murder than that of Count Stevan Lallovich, nor one in which greater skill and finesse had been displayed, both before and after the perpetration of it. It was needless for him to tell the Bench who the lady purported to be that stood accused before them; her name and her position were far too well known and defined to require any blazoning forth by him. His task was the more unpleasant one of proving that this Patricia Hildreth had no right to her recognised patronymic, since she, under the name of Adèle Lamien, had contracted a marriage with Count Stevan Lallovich, and had subsequently consented to, and participated in, the murder of the same Stevan Lallovich. It was owing to these exceptional features that the warrant had been issued against her, and he submitted to his honour that the papers of arrest would be found regular on all these points.
Having gone thus far, Mr. Munger paused and threw an imperative glance at the Judge and auditors collectively; it was plainly evident that his statement had made a decided impression.
The public interest in the case had been pronounced enough even when but little of its real nature had been revealed, and now, when the true aspect of the charge was exposed, and Patricia Hildreth stood stripped of all protection, even that afforded her by her name and position, and was openly branded not only as a murderer, but as a wilful impostor and adventuress, the excitement reached fever heat, and not one pair of all those hundreds of watching eyes but were turned upon the proud beautiful face of the accused woman; that face never faltered nor winced beneath their gaze, eager though they were to note the first sign or expression of fear upon it.
After this scarcely perceptible pause, Mr. Munger took up his theme again, and in incisive phrases, with rough eloquence, told the story of the brilliant, dissolute, captivating Russian noble, Stevan Lallovich; painting his character in forcible lights and deep shadows; dwelling strongly on his blood connection with the Muscovite Emperor, his life at Court, the unstinted adulation poured upon him, the continuous round of success that attended his every caprice; until it became an article of belief in his circle that he had but to express a wish, or whisper a desire, and the fulfilment of it was accomplished without the asking. Like Jove of old, did he but nod his head his whole world trembled, or smile and they rejoiced. With great skill the able pleader brought down his narrative to ten years ago, when, as he said, with a disagreeable smile, Miss Hildreth, then in the full glory of her exceptional beauty, had left her native country—he would not suggest under what circumstances—and for the greater part of those succeeding ten years had been an independent wanderer over the European continent, answerable to no one; concerning her experiences during those ten years Miss Hildreth was known to be obstinately reticent. They had her admission, however, as he would show later, of her having been in St. Petersburg a part of that time, and also of her having known Count Stevan Lallovich. The date of her acknowledged visit to Petersburg comprised the month before and the very day of Count Stevan's murder. She returned to America early in February, the crime having been committed in the December previous.
It was a well-known fact among Count Lallovich's friends, that about a year before his ill-fated death he had become so infatuated by the extreme beauty of a foreign lady—foreign in the sense of her not being a Muscovite subject—as to marry her according to the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church, which Church, not holding communion with the Greek religion, is looked upon in Russia as schismatic. After a few months of retired felicity the affair became known to the Tsar, who revoked the marriage by Imperial ukase, and recalled Count Stevan to Petersburg; the unfortunate lady was thus turned adrift, with her character ruined, and her personality numbered among the many suspects, over whom the Chancellerie keeps so close a watch.
On the morning of the 28th of December, Count Stevan Lallovich was found murdered in his own palace, stabbed through the heart. The assassin had left behind no more tangible proof of identity than was contained in a small handkerchief, evidently dropped in the haste of flight, marked across one corner in embroidered letters A. de L.; above these letters the initials P. H. had been carelessly written in ink. The handkerchief was that of a woman, and was traced as belonging to Adèle Lamien, or de Lallovich, Count Stevan's repudiated wife. Suspicion fell naturally upon this woman, a suspicion which soon became assurance; but she, with consummate cunning, eluded every effort put forth for her apprehension, and finally escaped to America, landing in New York some time within the month of February last.
It would be understood that in so grave and terrible a crime, where the victim was a member of the Imperial Russian family, no efforts would be spared to track and find the perpetrator of the deed. From positive and unimpeachable evidence the Chancellerie had reason to believe the assassin to be in the United States, and they accordingly authorised Count Vladimir Mellikoff, a member of the Tsar's household, to act as their agent in the matter; and he it was who in the furtherance of this work had traced the criminal link by link, and bit by bit, until he was able to lodge such information before the proper authorities in this country as resulted in the arrest of Patricia Hildreth; who now, as Adèle Lamien, or Lallovich, stands accused of her husband's murder.