Counsel for the defense, at whose left Mr. Bonnithorne sat as attorney for the defendant, cross-examined the witness. "You say that on the night following the morning of your marriage your husband left you at a convent?" "I do." Mr. Bonnithorne dropped his twinkling eyes, and muttered something that was inaudible to the witness. There was a titter among the people who stood behind him. "And you say that Mrs. Drayton took you the message of which you have spoken. Did she tell you that your husband had been ill?" "She did." "We are to infer that you visited the house of the Draytons at Hendon?" "A railway accident drove us there." "Did any one accompany the defendant to St. Pancras that night?" "My husband's brother, Mr. Hugh Ritson, was with him." "Tell the jury where your husband now is, if he is not at this moment in court." No answer. Amid a profound silence the plaintiff's lawyer was understood to object to the question. "Well, we can afford to waive it," said counsel, with a superior smile. "One further question, Mrs. Ritson. Had you any misunderstanding with your husband?" "None whatever." "Will you swear that your voices were not raised in angry dispute while you were at the inn at Hendon?" Greta lifted her head and her eyes flashed. "Yes, I will swear it," she said in a soft voice but with impressive emphasis. Mr. Bonnithorne reached up to the ear of counsel and was understood to say that perhaps the point was too delicate to be pressed. Parson Christian was next examined. The defendant in the present action was not the man whom he married to the plaintiff. He had since seen Paul Ritson. Where? In the convict prison of Dartmoor. In cross-examination he was asked by what name the convict was known to the directors of Dartmoor. Paul Drayton. "Then tell the court how you came to identify the defendant as Drayton." "There were many facts pointing that way." "Give us one." "On the morning of the marriage I found a letter lying open before the fire in my vestry. It was from Mr. Hugh Ritson to Mr. Bonnithorne, and it mentioned the name of Drayton in a connection which, by the light of later revelations, provoked many inferences." Mr. Bonnithorne was unprepared for this answer. Counsel looked at him inquiringly, but the attorney glanced down and colored deeply. "Can you show us the letter?" "No; I left it where I found it." "Then it can hardly be received as evidence." The attorney smiled, and the tension of Drayton's face relaxed. There was a slight shuffle among the people; the witness had stepped back.