"Ah; but, my friend, it is no matter, no matter at all."
To this speech Lovel made no reply, as he was listening intently to the opening speech of the counsel for the Crown. This barrister--an eminent man in his profession--set forth all the circumstances of the crime, detailing the supposed movements of the prisoner on the night of the murder, and ended with an allusion to the witnesses he proposed to call in order to prove his guilt. Then one by one those who had appeared at the inquest, including Lovel and Iris, gave their evidence, which, as may be guessed, incriminated Lester in a very decided fashion. To the majority of the spectators, ignorant of what had been discovered since the inquest, it seemed probable that Lester was guilty, that he would be convicted, sentenced, and ultimately hanged.
Thinking thus, those present in the court were astonished to see how serene was the demeanour of the prisoner. Dr. Lester, dressed in mourning for his child--a fact which the female portion of the audience resented as hypocrisy--stood quite composed in the dock, and paid the greatest attention to the accusations which were leveled against him. Only once did he wince, and that was when allusion was made to his drunken habits and frequent states of dangerous frenzy induced by intoxication. Otherwise he was unmoved.
"You say this one not wicked!" whispered Catinka to Lovel, who had returned to his seat after giving his evidence. "I think they all say he kill that poor daughter."
"Wait till you hear both sides of the question," replied Lovel, in the same low tones; "the doctor has yet to make his defence."
Counsel for the accused made a very short speech. He stated that the prisoner had been drunk on the night and at the time of the murder; that he had taken a loaded pistol, and had gone out in search of Mr. Lovel at half-past eight o'clock. After leaving the house, he recollected no more until he returned home at dawn; and the Crown relied on this state of forgetfulness, caused by intoxication, to prove the prisoner's guilt. Under the circumstances it indeed was hard to tell if the prisoner had not shot the deceased in mistake for Mr. Lovel; but fortunately, in the interests of justice, he, the counsel for the accused, could produce, and intended to produce, a lady of well-known veracity, who could prove that the man in the dock was entirely innocent, and had not committed the crime alleged against him. Counsel stated also that he had only one witness, a lady, and that lady Miss Clyde, but that she would be able to refute all the evidence brought against the prisoner by the prosecution. As the jury now understood what he proposed to do, he, counsel for the defense, would call Selina Clyde.
Miss Clyde at once stepped into the witness-box, and was duly sworn. She gave in detail the evidence of her taking the pistol off Lester, and related almost in the same words the story which she had told to Mexton. Counsel for the Crown cross-examined her severely, but nothing could shake her testimony; and when she left the witness-box the tide had turned in favour of Lester, and all present believed him to be guiltless. The summing up of the judge inclined towards this view; and the jury, without leaving the box--so great was the impression produced by Miss Clyde's evidence--pronounced the prisoner innocent. A verdict of not guilty was given; the judge discharged the doctor, and Lester stepped down from the box a free man, amid the applause of the court.
"So he did not kill after all?" said Catinka, who looked rather disappointed with the verdict.
"No," replied Lovel coldly. "You have heard the evidence; Lester is innocent."
"And who is guilty?"