The attachment between the widow of seventy-five and the medium of thirty-three grew apace and soon the spirit of her husband suggested that she adopt Home as her son “for he would be such a comfort to her.” The suggestion was immediately acted upon and the medium began to call himself Daniel Home Lyon. Nor was the spirit forgetful of the needs of a son, suggesting that an allowance of seven hundred pounds a year would be about right. In January (1867) Mrs. Lyon assigned a mortgage of thirty thousand pounds to Home, only reserving the interest as an annuity for herself. Not until a month later did she become worried and consult a lawyer, who assured her that she had been imposed upon, but she was not convinced until she had questioned the spirits through a girl of twelve, the daughter of a flower medium by the name of Murray. As reported by this girl even the spirits seemed to think that Mrs. Lyon had been fleeced out of sixty thousand pounds and she accordingly demanded its return by Home. He ignored the demand but offered to return the mortgage if she would give him undisputed possession of the first thirty thousand pounds and allow him to drop the name of Lyon. She would not agree to this. Home was arrested and a suit for recovery begun. The litigation was long, the case finally ending in May, 1868, with a judgment in favor of Mrs. Lyon; the Court holding that as the transfer of money and deed had been accomplished by _fraud_ it was therefore void. In his closing remarks the Vice Chancellor referred to Mrs. Lyon as an old lady with a mind “_saturated with delusion_” and characterized Spiritualism as being, according to the evidence, a “system of mischievous nonsense well calculated to delude the vain, the weak, the foolish, and the superstitious.”[40] Home continued his mediumship, notwithstanding, and between 1870 and 1872 he held several seances with Sir William Crookes,[41] who was so impressed that he credited him with being “one of the most lovable of men--whose perfect genuineness was above suspicion,” an opinion strikingly in contrast with the verdict in the case of Mrs. Lyon, but which shows how thoroughly and easily the followers of Spiritualism are beguiled and misled. _No_ medium is _ever_ open to suspicion by the faithful and Sir William Crookes’ statement encourages the belief that even scientists are not always immune from the influence of _personal magnetism_. He is also quoted as saying: “As to the theory of fraud, it is obvious that this theory can account for a very small portion of the facts observed. I am willing to admit that some so-called mediums of whom the public have heard much, are arrant impostors, who have taken advantage of the public demand for Spiritualistic excitement, to fill their purses with easily earned guineas; _while others who have no pecuniary motive for imposture are tempted to cheat, it would seem, solely by a desire for notoriety_.”