Mr. Carr saw that he had pained her, and he was evidently not a little anxious to give her no offence.
"No, no," he replied, eagerly--"not entirely, my dear Miss Barham--not entirely; there are various other important things to be done. I must have your authority, as well as your brother's, to act upon. He is not quite of age yet, you know; and I have to consult with you upon a great many matters, though I have put your affairs into the hands of a gentleman, who agrees to take it upon the 'no cure, no pay' system. He sees his way as clearly as I do, and signs an agreement to stand all the expenses if he does not recover your property. Nevertheless, there is much to be talked about; and as to this affair," he continued, seeing that the first effect upon Helen's mind was wearing away--"you know, my dear Miss Barham, I acted for the best in giving you the subpœna here, where I was at your elbow to afford you advice and assistance. If I had not done so, they would have sent it to you in London, and what would have come of it then? Nobody can escape such a thing, you know, my dear Miss Barham; it is one of the bounden duties of Englishmen to give evidence for the purpose of promoting the ends of justice."
Helen sat silent for a moment, and then asked--"What are the consequences, Mr. Carr, of a person refusing to give evidence?"
"Oh, very terrible, indeed!" exclaimed Mr. Carr; "I can scarcely tell you what might, or what might not be done; but, certainly, in the very first instance, anybody doing so would be committed for contempt of court, and then they might stay their whole life in prison."
Helen's cheek turned very pale, and Mr. Carr continued--"When anything happens to make witnesses wish not to answer, they generally contrive to evade the question, to say they are not sure of this thing or that--to equivocate a little, in short."
"But suppose they do not choose to equivocate?" said Helen.
"Then they tell the truth," said Mr. Carr, sharply.
Helen was silent and thoughtful, but there was a look of resolution in her face, which made Mr. Carr somewhat apprehensive that she would not act exactly in the way that he wished; and he was preparing all his eloquence to show her the dangers and inconveniences of the plan he suspected she was about to pursue, when one of the maids came into the room quickly, saying, with an impatient air--"There is an old woman, sir, at the door, wants to speak to you."
"I can't speak with her now, Sally," replied Mr. Carr; "she must come again."
"But she says she must speak with you directly, sir," rejoined the maid; "indeed, she is very saucy about it."