Witness. "Well, not exactly. Those who are behind the scenes have the best advantage. As a rule the people who back horses are gulls. That is why the book-makers make fortunes. They are playing at a game they know nine out of ten who bet with them are playing at a game they don't know. That is how it is. I have heard Mr. Beach say, 'The devil is on our side.'"
The Attorney-general. "Meaning on the side of the book-makers?"
Witness. "Yes."
The Attorney-general. "Were you fond of betting yourself?"
Witness. "I hated it. I only did what my mistress advised me to do, to please her."
The Attorney-general. "To return to the house which was partly paid for with the money your mistress won. Did the prisoner take an active part in the selection of the furniture?"
Witness. "He did nothing whatever. Everything was done by my mistress, and she was disappointed because he would not go with her to the different establishments she visited. But in the end she argued as she always did when he was in question. He was quite right, she said; she could not expect him to trouble himself about such things; it was a woman's business, and, by leaving everything to her, it showed that he believed she had good taste."
The Attorney-general. "When they were settled in London what kind of society did they keep?"
Witness. "At first the same as used to come to Mr. Beach's house. Mr. Beach brought them, but Mr. Layton was rude and uncivil to them, and after a time they stopped away. I must say, if he was rude and uncivil to them, they were quite as rude and uncivil to him, and if he had met them with the temper they displayed, nothing could have prevented the occurrence of disgraceful scenes. He behaved to them in exactly the same way he behaved to my mistress when they disagreed. He left the house, and did not return till they were all gone."
The Attorney-general. "Were they in the habit of coming to the house without receiving an invitation from its master?"