Patience Sparhawk and Her Times: A NovelAtherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
General
Patience Sparhawk and Her Times: A Novel
Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn
American fiction -- 19th century
He was followed by the New York physician, a man of eminence, who had
assisted at the death-bed, then by the coroner. The fact of young
Peele’s death being firmly established in the jury box, a chemist was
put upon the stand to testify that he had found morphine in the stomach
of the deceased. He was worried and badgered and ridiculed and derided
by Bourke, who temporarily infected everybody in the court room with his
scorn of the exercise of chemistry as applied to morphine in the stomach
of a dead man, but held his ground, having been maltreated in a like
manner many times before. Following, came a civil engineer, who
described the grounds and general position of Peele Manor to the jury;
and the testimony for the day was over.
The next morning the prosecution passed on to the motive. Honora was the
first witness called. She wore a black frock and hat, and looked
dignified and sad. In her clear childlike voice she described to the
jury her moment of confusion and horror when awakened from a profound
sleep by the prisoner; told the mournful story of the unavailing
attempts at resuscitation; and hesitatingly admitted, in full detail,
the unmistakable indifference of the wife. To the latter testimony Mr.
Bourke “objected,” as he had done to similar testimony by the doctors,
but the objection was over-ruled by the judge. She also admitted having
seen from her window the defendant returning from town after her early
visit on the morning of the “Eye” story, inappropriately attired in grey
and pink, and having discovered the newspapers in confusion on the
library floor before any other member of the household except the
prisoner had arisen. She related Patience’s previous complaint that her
husband always waited until she was in her first heavy sleep before
demanding the morphine, and her fear lest she should some night give him
an overdose. The jury must have been small headed indeed, to fail to
understand the district attorney’s insinuations regarding the prisoner’s
deep-laid scheme to avert suspicion.
As Honora gave her testimony Patience saw Mr. Bourke’s eyes sparkle. She
knew that some pregnant idea had flashed into that lightning-like brain.
As the district attorney took his seat he rose slowly and smiled
sociably at Honora. She bent her head slightly; she had always liked
him.
“Miss Mairs,” he said haltingly, his eyes wandering to the judge, as if
in search of inspiration, his hand flirting the loose cloth of the
table, “you are sure that Mrs. Peele wore a gray gown to New York that
morning?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And the condition of the newspapers seemed to you to indicate great
agitation of mind?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, yes. And she returned in an hour or two, you say?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Miss Mairs!” he thundered, turning suddenly upon her and pointing a
rigid finger straight at her startled face, “are you sure that you were
asleep when Mrs. Peele awakened you on the night of Beverly Peele’s
death?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account