“Then it is Richard. They have found him?” She shrank away from her father and her sobs ceased. “It has come at last. Father––if––if––I had––been married 383 to Richard––then would they make me go in court and testify against him?”
“No. A wife is not compelled to give testimony against her husband, nor may she testify for him, either.”
Betty rose and straightened herself defiantly; with flaming cheeks and flashing eyes she looked down upon him.
“Then I will tell one great lie––father––and do it even if––if it should drag me down to––hell. I will say I am married to Richard––and will swear to it.” Bertrand was silent, aghast. “Father! Where is Richard?”
“He is there in Leauvite, in jail. You must do what is right in the eye of God, my child, and tell the truth.”
“If I tell the truth,––they will do what is right in their own eyes. They don’t know what is right in the eye of God. If they drag me into court––there before all the world I will lie to them until I drop dead. Has––has––the Elder seen him?”
“Not yet. He refused to see him until the trial.”
“He is a cruel, vindictive old man. Does he think it will bring Peter back to life again to hang Richard? Does he think it will save his wife from sorrow, or––or bring any one nearer heaven to do it?”
“If Richard has done the thing he is accused of doing, he deserves the extremest rigor of the law.”
“Father! Don’t let the Elder make you hard like himself. What is he accused of doing?”