Their grave countenances, marked by watching and eager discussion, at once proclaimed that they were the jury.
There was a low murmur heard throughout the court as they took their seats; and instinctively many an eye was turned towards the dock, to watch how he bore himself in that trying moment With a steady gaze fixed upon the spot from which his doom was to be spoken, he stood erect, with arms folded and his head high. He was deathly pale; but not a trace of anything like fear in the calm lineaments of his manly features.
“The jury seem very grave,” whispered Upton to Frobisher.
“I wish that stupid old judge would bestir himself,” replied Lord Charles, looking at his watch; “it wants four minutes to five: he 'll scarcely be in court before it strikes, and I shall lose a pony through it.”
“Here he comes!—here he comes!” said another; and the Chief Baron entered the court, his face betraying that he had been aroused from sleep.
“Are you agreed, gentlemen of the jury?” asked the judge, in a low voice.
“Not perfectly, my Lord,” said the foreman. “We want your Lordship to decide a point for us; which is—If we should be of opinion that any grave provocation led to the death of Kennyfeck, whether our verdict could be modified, and our finding be, in consequence, for manslaughter, and not murder?”
“The indictment,” said the judge, “does not give you that option. It is framed without any count for the minor offence. I ought, perhaps, also to observe, that nothing has transpired in the evidence given here, this day, to warrant the impression you seem inclined to entertain. Your verdict must be one of Guilty or Not Guilty.”
“We are of opinion, my Lord,” said a juryman, “that great latitude in the expression of temper should be conceded to a young man reared and educated as the prisoner has been.”
“These sentiments, honorable to you as they are, cannot be indulged at the expense of justice, however they may find a fitting place in a recommendation to mercy; and even this must be accompanied by something more than sympathies.”