THE VERDICT
Eloquent and earnest as had been Raymond's impassioned outburst it hardly moved the throng as did the woman's short and broken confession. In the hearts of all men and women who are worthy of the name there is ever pity for a fallen woman; but in this case there was something more than that. Pity for the wrecks of vice is often tempered by the instinctive feeling that the lost are mercifully drugged by their own excesses until they are incapable of realizing fully that they have fallen beyond the reach of redemption.
But here there was none of that. In that prayer for her son, every mother in the room heard a mother crying out to her across an unbridgeable gulf—every man knew that the woman's soul was writhing under the torture of seeing herself as she was; and the soft weeping and the pressed lips and shining eyes were eloquent of their emotion.
Even the old President felt the spell, and it was with an effort that he took his eyes off the bowed figure with Raymond bending over it and turned to address the jury. At his first words—delivered tin a matter-of-fact "legal" tone—a rustle and stir ran over the benches. It was over.
"Gentlemen of the jury," he said, "you have to answer this question: Is the prisoner guilty of the murder committed on April 3d, on the body of her lover, Frederick Laroque? If the majority of you believe that the prisoner is guilty or not guilty, your verdict will be worded accordingly.
"If the majority of you believe, on the other hand, that there are extenuating circumstances, you are to give your verdict in these words:
"'The majority of the jurors believe that there are extenuating circumstances in favor of the prisoner.'
"I point out to you that your vote must be a secret one. Kindly withdraw to the jury-room. The court is rising!"
As he spoke he rose, accompanied by the ether' judges and moved toward the door of his private room, opening off the "bank." The usher pounded his desk.
"The court is rising!" he repeated in a loud tone. With the shuffling of many feet the throng rose and the hum of conversation filled the room. Escorted by two gendarmes, Jacqueline was taken out to the prisoner's room to await the verdict.