“We are ready to submit the proof,” said Mr. Delmas.
The line of examination was changed and Mrs. Thaw was asked to identify more letters.
One of the papers Mrs. Thaw was asked to identify was Harry Thaw’s will.
The old saying, “Nothing but good of the dead,” must have recurred again and again to Mr. Jerome as the slender Evelyn told her story. It is a good old saying, but there is another: “The dead are safe—let us take care of the living.” Jerome strove to protect the cold and unresponsive dead. Delmas tried to save the living, and the fragile little model was the life-line in his hands. Evelyn Nesbit’s story, as she told it, showed new and curious lights and shadows in the character of White. One thing was
Best photograph of
DIST. ATTORNEY WILLIAM TRAVERS JEROME.
evident: White, once possessor of a victim, wished to cling to that victim through the years. Unlike nearly all other men of similar stamp, he did not cast aside his playthings when wearied of them. Possibly he had been like other men in this regard—possibly he had turned from many another victim in the past. But the frail and pitiful little Evelyn seemed to have enthralled his fancies, conquered his vagrant passions. All his thoughts were for her, and for her his future dreams. He lavished his bounty on her, and he strove to keep her from all other men. The story of Evelyn’s affair with Jack Barrymore was a page in real life that made the courtroom crowd strain its eager ears. Barrymore, young, handsome, and romantic, had appealed to the girlish mind and eye. The burly White, with his 50 years, found himself fading into the background. He seized an opportunity to pose as “the friend of the family” by discrediting Barrymore and sending the little girl to school. It was an index to White’s soul—but it showed that White, at least, had no idea of parting from or wearying of his victim.
What had Delmas done?