Come home soon, dear, and let us go out together sometimes. Have very little news. Going to a dinner on Monday and a theatre to-night.
With much love,
Yours always,
Charles.”
The Solicitor General.—(Severely) “I ask you, Taylor, for an explanation, for it requires one, of the use of the words “come home soon, dear”, as between two men.”
Taylor.—(Laughing nervously) “I do not see anything in it.”
The Solicitor General.—“Nothing in it?”
Witness.—“Well, I am not responsible for the expressions of another.”
The Solicitor General.—“You allowed yourself to be addressed in this strain?”
Witness.—“It’s the way you read it.”
The summing-up followed and after a consultation of three-quarters of an hour, the jury returned a verdict against Taylor on the indecency counts, not agreeing, however, as to the charges of procuration. Sentence was postponed, pending the result of the trial of Oscar Wilde, which began next day.