"Champagne."
"In fact, you had a good evening?"
"I enjoyed myself very much."
"Exactly. And you returned—shall we say, 'happy'?"
"If you are suggesting that I was under the influence of drink——"
"Answer my question, sir."
The Judge interfered.
"Either, Mr. Blink, you are suggesting that the witness was under the influence of drink, or I fail to see the point of your questions."
Hurriedly counsel agreed, announced magnanimously that he would not pursue the matter, and plunged into a series of causeless and empty inquiries in the hope of stumbling upon an answer with which he might first of all hammer the witness and then erect a defence. His efforts went unrewarded, and behind him in the dock Mr. Morgan ground his teeth with vexation. That he was not getting his friends' money's worth was obvious. He did not expect to get off, but if he could have seen Lyveden discredited he would have taken his gruel with a grin. Venomously he gnawed his fingers….
For the twentieth time counsel drew a bow at a venture.