And now they all gathered in great excitement round the corpus delicti; and there, sure enough, was a long black mole. Then was there a buzz of pity for Griffith Gaunt, followed by a stern murmur of execration. "Gentlemen," said the coroner solemnly, "behold in this the finger of Heaven. The poor gentleman may well have put off his boots, since, it seems, he left his horse; but he could not take from his forehead his natal sign; and that, by God's will, hath strangely escaped mutilation, and revealed a most foul deed. We must now do our duty, gentlemen, without respect of persons." A warrant was then issued for the apprehension of Thomas Leicester. And, that same night, Mrs. Gaunt left Hernshaw in her own chariot between two constables, and escorted by armed yeomen. Her proud head was bowed almost to her knees, and her streaming eyes hidden in her lovely hands. For why? A mob accompanied her for miles, shouting, "Murderess!--Bloody Papist!--Hast done to death the kindliest gentleman in Cumberland. We'll all come to see thee hanged.--Fair face but foul heart!"--and groaning, hissing and cursing, and indeed only kept from violence by the escort. And so they took that poor proud lady and lodged her in Carlisle gaol. She was enceinte into the bargain. By the man she was to be hanged for murdering. CHAPTER X The county was against her, with some few exceptions. Sir George Neville and Mr. Houseman stood stoutly by her. Sir George's influence and money obtained her certain comforts in gaol; and, in that day, the law of England was so far respected in a gaol, that untried prisoners were not thrown into cells, nor impeded, as they now are, in preparing their defense. Her two staunch friends visited her every day, and tried to keep her heart up. But they could not do it. She was in a state of dejection bordering upon lethargy. "If he is dead," said she, "what matters it? If, by God's mercy, he is alive still, he will not let me die for want of a word from him. Impatience hath been my bane. Now, I say, God's will be done. I am weary of the world." Houseman tried every argument to rouse her out of this desperate frame of mind; but in vain. It ran its course, and then, behold, it passed away like a cloud, and there came a keen desire to live and defeat her accusers. She made Houseman write out all the evidence against her; and she studied it by day, and thought of it by night; and often surprised both her friends by the acuteness of her remarks. Mr. Atkins discontinued his advertisements; it was Houseman who now filled every paper with notices informing Griffith Gaunt of his accession to fortune, and entreated him for that, and other weighty reasons, to communicate in confidence with his old friend John Houseman, attorney-at-law. Houseman was too wary to invite him to appear and save his wife; for, in that case, he feared the Crown would use his advertisements as evidence at the trial, should Griffith not appear.