“Quite sure. After I had gone a few yards I turned round, meaning to say something to him, but he was walking so quickly that I gave up the idea. He was going in the opposite direction to the farm then.”
The Coroner leaned forward.
“You were not on friendly terms with Mr. Leslie when you parted, I understand?”
“I was furious with him at the moment and I expect he loathed me. I got over it almost at once. That’s why I turned round, meaning to call to him.”
“You considered that he had treated you badly?”
“It wasn’t that, exactly. I was angry because he would go on trying to treat me too well, or at least what he thought was well. I didn’t agree with him and lost my temper. He’d got into his head that because he’d no prospects and couldn’t marry for a long time he was putting me in a false position and that he ought to break off the engagement.”
“Was this the first time he had made the suggestion to break off the engagement?”
“O dear, no. He began worrying about it ten minutes after we first became engaged.”
A ripple of nervous laughter ran through the court and the Jury, who had pricked up their ears at the Coroner’s question, relapsed into somewhat amused languor.
“Was it an old argument between you?”