Sir Jasper Carew Part 22

It was late in the day when the Crown counsel rose to open his case. His address was calm and dispa.s.sionate. It was divested of what might seem to be any ungenerous allusion to the peculiar character or temperament of the accused, but it promised an amount of circ.u.mstantial evidence which, were the credit of the witnesses to stand unimpeached, would be almost impossible to reconcile with anything short of the guilt of the prisoner in the dock.

"We shall show you, gentlemen of the jury," said he, "first of all that there was a manifest motive for this crime,--at least, what to a man of the prisoner's temper and pa.s.sions might adequately represent a motive.

We shall produce evidence before you to prove his arrival secretly in Dublin, where he lodged in an obscure and little-frequented locality, avoiding all occasion of recognition, and pa.s.sing under an a.s.sumed name.

We shall show you that on each evening he was accustomed to visit an acquaintance--a solicitor, whom we shall produce on the table--whose house is situated at the very opposite end of the city; returning from which, it was his habit to pa.s.s through Stephen's Green, and that he took this path on the night of the murder, having parted from his friend a little before midnight. We shall next show you that the traces of the footsteps correspond exactly with his boots, even to certain peculiarities in their make. And, lastly, we shall prove his immediate and secret departure from the capital on this very night in question; his retirement to a distant part of the country, where he remained till within a few days previous to his arrest.

"Such are the brief outlines of a case, the details of which will comprise a vast number of circ.u.mstances,--slight, perhaps, and trivial individually, but which, taken collectively, and considered in regard to their bearing on the matter before us, will make up a ma.s.s of evidence that the most sceptical cannot reject.

"Although it may not be usual to advert to the line of conduct which the prisoner has adopted, in refusing to name a counsel for his defence, I cannot avoid warning the jury that such a course may bear an interpretation very remote from that which at first sight it seems to convey. He would wish you to accept this position as the strongest evidence of innocence; as if, relying on the justice of his cause, he requires neither guidance nor counsel!

"It will be for you, gentlemen, to determine if the evidence placed before you admit of such a construction; or whether, on the contrary, it be not of such a nature that would foil the skill of the craftiest advocate to shake, and be more effectually reb.u.t.ted by a general and vague denial, than by any systematic endeavors to impeach.

"You are not, therefore, to accept this rejection of aid as by any means a proof of conscious innocence. Far from it. The more correct reading might show it to be the crafty policy of a man who throughout his whole life has been as remarkable for self-reliance as for secrecy; who, confiding in his own skill to direct him in the most difficult circ.u.mstances, places far more reliance on his personal adroitness than upon the most practised advocacy; and whose depreciatory estimate of mankind is but the gloomy reflection of a burdened conscience."

It was so late when the counsel had concluded that the court adjourned its proceedings till the following morning; and the vast a.s.sembly which thronged the building dispersed, deeply impressed with the weighty charge against the prisoner, and with far less of sympathy than is usually accorded to those who stand in like predicament.

CHAPTER XVI. AN UNLOOKED-FOR DISCLOSURE.

On the second day of the trial, the court-house was even more densely crowded than on the first. The rank and station which the accused had held in society, as well as the mysterious character of the case itself, had invested the event with an uncommon interest; and long before the doors were opened, a vast concourse filled the streets, amidst which were to be seen the equipages of many of the first people of the country.

Scarcely had the judges taken their places, when every seat in the court was occupied,--the larger proportion of which displayed the rank and beauty of the capital, who now thronged to the spot, all animated with the most eager curiosity, and speculating on the result in a spirit which, whatever anxiety it involved, as certainly evinced little real sympathy for the fate of the prisoner. The bold, defiant tone which Curtis had always a.s.sumed in the world had made him but few friends, even with his own party; his sneering, caustic manner had rendered him unpopular; few could escape his censures,--none his sarcasms. It would, indeed, have been difficult to discover one for whom less personal interest was felt than for the individual who that morning stood erect in the dock, and with a calm but stern expression regarded the bench and the jury-box.

As the court continued to fill, Curtis threw his eyes here and there over the crowded a.s.semblage, but in no wise disconcerted by the universal gaze of which he was the object. On the contrary, he nodded familiarly to some acquaintances at a distance; and, recognizing one whom he knew well in the gallery over his head, he called out,--

"How are you, Ruxton? Let me advise you to change your bootmaker, or I would n't say that the Crown lawyers won't put you, one day, where I stand now!"

The laugh which followed this sally was scarcely repressed, when the trial began. The first witness produced was a certain Joseph Martin, the solicitor at whose house Curtis had pa.s.sed the evening on which the murder was committed. His evidence, of course, could throw little or no light upon the event, and merely went to establish the fact that Curtis had stayed with him till nigh midnight, and left him about that hour to proceed to his home. When questioned as to the prisoner's manner and general bearing during that evening, he replied that he could detect nothing strange or unusual in it; that he talked pretty much as he always did, and upon the same topics.

"Did he allude to the Government, or to any of its officials?" was then asked; and, before a reply could be given, Curtis cried out,--

"Yes. I told Martin that if the scoundrels who rule us should only continue their present game, n.o.body could regret the ruin of a country that was a disgrace to live in. Did n't I say that?"

"I must remind you, sir," interposed the judge, gravely, "how seriously such conduct as this is calculated to prejudice the character of your defence."

"Defence! my Lord," broke in Curtis, "when did I ever think of a defence? The gentlemen of the jury have heard me more plainly than your Lords.h.i.+p. I told them, as I now tell you, that innocence is no protection to a man when hunted down by legal bloodhounds; that--"

"I must enforce silence upon you, sir, if I cannot induce caution,"

said the judge, solemnly; "you may despise your own safety, but you must respect this court."

"You 'll find that even a more difficult lesson to teach me, my Lord.

I can remember some eight-and-forty years of what is called the administration of justice in Ireland. I am old enough to remember when you hanged a priest who married a Protestant, and disbarred the lawyer that defended him."

"Be silent, sir," said the judge, in a voice of command; and with difficulty was Curtis induced to obey the admonition.

As the trial proceeded, it was remarked that Colonel Vereker was seen in close communication with one of the Crown lawyers, who soon afterwards begged to tender him as a witness for the prosecution. The proposal itself and the object it contained were made the subject of a very animated discussion; and although the testimony offered seemed of the greatest importance, the court decided that it was of a kind which, according to the strict rules of evidence, could not be received.

"Then you may rely upon it, gentlemen of the jury," cried Curtis, "it is favorable to me."

"Let me a.s.sure you, sir, to the contrary," said the judge, mildly, "and that it is with a jealous regard for your interest we have agreed not to accept this evidence."

"And have you had no respect for poor Vereker, my Lord? He looks as if he really would like to tell the truth for once in his life."

"If Colonel Vereker's evidence cannot be admitted upon this point, my Lord," said the Crown lawyer, "there is yet another, in which it is all-essential. He was one of those who stood beside Rutledge on the balcony when the words were uttered which attracted his notice. The tone of voice, and the manner in which they were uttered, made a deep impression upon him, and he is fully persuaded that they were spoken by the prisoner in the dock."

"Let us listen to him about that," said Curtis, who now bestowed a more marked attention to the course of the proceeding. Vereker was immediately sworn, and his examination began. He detailed with great clearness the circ.u.mstances which preceded the fatal event, and the nature of the conversation on the balcony, till he came to that part where the interruption from the street took place. "There," he said, "I cannot trust my memory as to the words employed by Rutledge, although I am confident as to the phrase used in rejoinder, and equally certain as to the voice of him who uttered it."

"You mean to say," said the judge, "that you have recognized that voice as belonging to the prisoner."

"I mean to say, my Lord, that were I to hear him utter the same words in an excited tone, I should be able to swear to them."

"That's a lie!" cried Curtis.

"These were the words, and that the voice, my Lord," said Vereker; and as he spoke, a deep murmur of agitated feeling rang through the crowded court.

"By Heaven!" cried Curtis, in a tone of pa.s.sionate excitement, "I hold my life as cheaply as any man; but I cannot see it taken away by the breath of a false witness: let me interrogate this man." In vain was it that the practised counsel appointed to conduct his case interposed, and entreated of him to be silent. To no purpose did they beg of him to leave in their hands the difficult game of cross-examination. He rejected their advice as haughtily as he had refused their services, and at once addressed himself to the critical task.

"With whom had you dined, sir, on the day in question,--the 7th of June?" asked he of Vereker.

"I dined with Sir Marcus Hutchinson."

"There was a large party?"

"There was."

"Tell us, so far as you remember, the names of the guests."

"Some were strangers to me,--from England, I believe; but of those I knew before, I can call to mind Leonard Fox, Hamilton Gore, John Fortescue, and his brother Edward, Tom Beresford, and poor Rutledge."

"It was a convivial party, and you drank freely?"

"Freely, but not to excess."

"You dined at five o'clock?"

"At half-after five."

"And rose from table about eleven?"

"About that hour."

"There were speeches made and toasts drunk, I believe?"

"There were,--a few."

"The toasts and the speeches were of an eminently loyal character; they all redounded to the honor and credit of the Government?"