“I will answer your questions, sir, without any hesitation,” the accused replied, with a degree of steadiness that Dunscomb deemed astonishing.
“How long has this piece of gold been in your possession, if you please, Miss?”
“About a twelvemonth. I began to collect the gold I have, very nearly a year since.”
“Has it been in your possession, uninterruptedly, all that time?”
“So far as I know, sir, it has. A portion of the time, and a large portion of it, it has not been kept in my purse; but I should think no one could have meddled with it, when it has been elsewhere.”
“Have you anything to remark on the testimony just given?”
“It is strictly true. Poor Mrs. Goodwin certainly had the store of gold mentioned by Mrs. Pope, for she once showed it to me. I rather think she was fond of such things; and had a pleasure in counting her hoards, and showing them to other persons. I looked over her coins; and finding she was fond of those that are a little uncommon, I gave her one or two of those that I happened to own. No doubt, Mrs. Pope saw the counterpart of this piece, but surely not the piece itself.”
“I understand you to say, then, that Mrs. Goodwin had a gold coin similar to this, which gold coin came from yourself. What did Mrs. Goodwin allow you in the exchange?”
“Sir?”
“How much did you estimate the value of that Italian piece at, and in what money did Mrs. Goodwin pay you for it? It is necessary to be particular in these cases.”