“You are acquainted,” he says, “with Miss Jean Bower. I take it, Miss Prince, that you have a very high opinion of that young lady?”
There follows a pause—a terrible pause. It is as if all in the crowded court-house are holding their breath.
“I know very little of Miss Jean Bower,” answers Miss Prince coldly.
Alas, that gives Sir Almeric his chance when re-examining Miss Prince. And he draws out of her with infinite skill, not only that she does not think well of the unhappy girl who will so soon stand where she is standing—that is, in the witness-box—but that, on the very day which preceded Mrs. Garlett’s sudden and terrible death, she actually saw Jean Bower and Henry Garlett walking home together from the Etna China factory.
Miss Prince has proved a most damaging witness. Sir Harold looks grim, preoccupied, and what his enemies call “sour.”
To the surprise of the Court, the next witness is Mr. Garlett’s builder. He is only a short time in the witness-box and what he says is regarded on the whole as bearing against his employer. While he declares that, as far as he can remember, Mr. Garlett had said nothing to him implying that he had actually seen the gutters, he admits that Mr. Garlett had shown a remarkable knowledge of the nature and extent of the damage.
When Sir Harold re-examines, he points out to the man that the letter written by Miss Prince had given the most detailed description of the havoc the rain and storm had caused. Even so, on the whole the general impression of the Court is that the builder unwillingly believes that Mr. Garlett had been to the house and seen the damage.
Every one is tired and just a little cross by now. Whatever happens, people must eat, and it is long past one o’clock. The prisoner is taken below. Judge, jury, and lawyers leave the Court, and those spectators who are determined not to lose their places take out their little packets of sandwiches.
There is a buzz of conversation. Bets are freely offered and taken as to how long the trial will last. Only one man present bets on an acquittal. He is a widower, and takes the milk round Terriford village, and though some years younger than Elsie MacTaggart, is supposed to be “sweet” on her.