Among the crowd, but not on the bench, was Tommy's wife. She came in
with an elderly lady and gentleman, whom I took to be her father and
mother, or else Tommy's--I could not make my mind up which--and a
younger gentleman, who still was pretty well on in years. I had no
doubt that he was Tommy's solicitor. As Mrs. Tennant came in two of the
barristers, who were sitting among a heap of others at a table, stood
up and shook hands with her. I found out afterwards that, as I
suspected at the time, they were Tommy's counsel. Somebody must have
known who she was, because, directly she appeared, quite a buzz of
whispering went round the court. The women on the bench leaned towards
each other, and stared and did everything but point at her. They might
have been ladies--gentlewomen, as my old mother used to have it, they
were not. She removed her veil and looked at them--just once, and that
was all. She looked very sweet and pale and troubled, but grit to the
finger-ends.
Other counsel were sitting cheek by jowl with Tommy's counsel. One of
them, turning as Mrs. Tennant entered, looked her keenly up and down.
He was an ugly, mean-looking, colourless, bloodless little man. His
robe, or whatever they called the thing he wore, was different to the
others--it was of silk. I wondered what he was.
Suddenly there was a stir in court. Somebody appeared like an
undertaker's mute--only he wasn't a mute--from a door at the back.
"The judge."
Everybody rose to their feet. In waddled the fat little fellow I had
seen in the train. He reminded me, somehow, of the comic man in the
burlesque. He had on an enormous wig, about sixty yards of what, from
where I sat, looked like some sort of scarlet blanketing, and--as if
that wasn't enough!--fur. He presented a dreadful spectacle. Goodness
knows that he had a red enough face of his own! They might have put him
in white.
There was some rubbish which I did not understand--and did not want to.
It was some time before I could take my eyes off the judge. He was
something to stare at. The more I looked at him the more I wondered
what they would do if the man was struck with apoplexy. To me the risk
of something of the kind, which he seemed to be running, was simply
awful.
Then they swore in the jury. Among them were some of the
stupidest-looking men I ever saw. If they were married it was a pity
they could not have sent their wives, and they themselves have stayed
at home. There must have been more sense somewhere in the family.
Then somebody said--
"Bring in Thomas Tennant!"
A hush came over the court. All eyes were turned in one direction. I,
alone, did not dare to turn to look. There were movements behind me,
then all was still. I noticed that Mrs. Tennant had removed her veil
again, and had turned round in her seat and was looking at some one
whom I could not see--looking at this some one with a smile.
I knew that she was looking at her husband, and that Tommy was going to
be tried for the murder of me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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