"That's not true!" Ann interrupted.
Her unexpected words brought a startled gasp from the spectators. The judges leaned forward alertly.
"According to the evidence ..." the Chief Justice began again.
"He wasn't a man!" Ann cried scornfully. Her glance flickered across at Jacques. "There are no more men."
Ponderously, like a slow moving river that would not be diverted from its course, the Chief Justice returned to the facts of the case:
"Ye speak in riddles, Lady Ann! The evidence makes it full clear that the victim was a man...."
"Evidence!" Ann gestured toward the breathless stands. "There is your evidence! Ask those women what they are doing here! Ask them what their great, great grandmothers were doing at the ancient wrestling matches!! Ask them if they have ever known a real man—or ask your own wives!"
The Chief Justice's impassiveness was shattered. His cheeks puffed out indignantly. A strange, tense silence gripped the women in the stands; the men drew back their padded shoulders, and shouted in reproof:
"Shame! For shame, Lady Ann!"
"Why don't you ask them?" Ann persisted.