In both these reports the case for the Crown was neat, clear, cogent,
straight-forward, and supported by evidence. The defense was chiefly
argument of counsel to prove the improbability of a clergyman and a man
of good character passing a forged note. One of the reports stated that
Mr. Arthur Wardlaw, a son of the principal witness, had taken the
accusation so much to heart that he was now dangerously ill at Oxford.
The other report did not contain this, but, on the other hand, it stated
that the prisoner, after conviction, had endeavored to lay the blame on
Mr. Arthur Wardlaw, but that the judge had stopped him, and said he could
only aggravate his offense by endeavoring to cast a slur upon the
Wardlaws, who had both shown a manifest desire to shield him, but were
powerless for want of evidence.
In both reports the summing up of the judge was moderate in expression,
but leaned against the prisoner on every point, and corrected the
sophistical reasoning of his counsel very sensibly. Both reports said an
expert was called for the prisoner, whose ingenuity made the court smile,
but did not counterbalance the evidence. Helen sat cold as ice with the
extracts in her hand.
Not that her sublime faith was shaken, but that poor Robert appeared to
have been so calmly and fairly dealt with by everybody. Even Mr.
Hennessy, the counsel for the Crown, had opened the case with humane
regret, and confined himself to facts, and said nobody would be more
pleased than he would, if this evidence could be contradicted, or
explained in a manner consistent with the prisoner's innocence.
What a stone she had undertaken to roll--up what a hill!
What was to be her next step? Go to the Museum, which was now open to
her, and read more reports? She shrank from that.
"The newspapers are all against him," said she; "and I don't want to be
told he is guilty, when I know he is innocent."
She now re-examined the extracts with a view to names, and found the only
names mentioned were those of the counsel. The expert's name was not
given in either. However, she knew that from Robert. She resolved to
speak to Mr. Hennessy first, and try and get at the defendant's solicitor
through him.
She found him out by the Law Directory, and called at a few minutes past
four.
Hennessy was almost the opposite to Tollemache. He was about the size of
a gentleman's wardrobe; and, like most enormous men, good-natured. He
received her, saw with his practiced eye that she was no common person,
and, after a slight hesitation on professional grounds, heard her
request. He sent for his note-book, found the case in one moment,
remastered it in another, and told her the solicitor for the Crown in
that case was Freshfleld.
"Now," said he, "you want to know who was the defendant's solicitor?
Jenkins, a stamped envelope. Write your name and address on that."
While she was doing it, he scratched a line to Mr. Freshfield, asking him
to send the required information to the inclosed address.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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