The Nine of Hearts. Farjeon Benjamin Leopold

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СКАЧАТЬ to say for herself upon general subjects."

      The Attorney-general. "But she was passionately in love with the prisoner?"

      Witness. "Passionately."

      The Attorney-general. "Did she limp?"

      Witness. "Yes. One leg was shorter than the other."

      The Attorney-general. "Had she known the prisoner for any length of time before the engagement?"

      Witness. "For a few weeks only, I believe."

      The Attorney-general. "In what way did he make her acquaintance?"

      Witness. "He came to the house."

      The Attorney-general. "In a friendly way?"

      Witness. "He came first upon business."

      The Attorney-general. "To see whom?"

      Witness. "My mistress's father, Mr. Beach."

      The Attorney-general. "Upon what business?"

      Witness. "Upon betting business, my mistress said."

      The Attorney-general. "What was Mr. Beach's occupation?"

      Witness. "He was a book-maker."

      The Attorney-general. "A betting man?"

      Witness. "Yes. He used to make large books."

      The Attorney-general. "On racing?"

      Witness. "Yes."

      The Attorney-general. "Was he an educated man?"

      Witness. "No."

      The Attorney-general. "Would you call him a vulgar man?"

      Witness. "Yes."

      The Attorney-general. "Did he move in good society?"

      Witness. "He did not."

      The Attorney-general. "But he was rich?"

      Witness. "Very rich. He drank a great deal of champagne."

      The Attorney-general. "You say the prisoner first came to the house upon business. Do you know upon what particular business?"

      Witness. "It was something about horses, and bets he had made upon them."

      The Attorney-general. "Bets which he had lost?"

      Witness. "Yes."

      The Attorney-general. "How was it that your mistress became acquainted with him on that occasion, when the fact was that he came upon business?"

      Witness. "He was asked by Mr. Beach to stay to dinner, and he stayed."

      The Attorney-general. "Mr. Beach, you say, was not in good society. Had he any desire to get into it?"

      Witness: "He was crazy about it."

      The Attorney-general. "Upon the first occasion of the prisoner dining at Mr. Beach's house, did your mistress make any remark with reference to the prisoner?"

      Witness. "She never ceased speaking about him. She said she had seen the handsomest man in the world."

      The Attorney-general. "Narrate as briefly as you can what occurred between your mistress and the prisoner up to the time they were engaged."

      Witness. "He came five or six times to the house, and every time he came my mistress was more and more in love with him. I understood from what she told me that he was in difficulties, and that he had lost a great deal of money at horse-racing."

      The Attorney-general. "Did he keep racing horses?"

      Witness. "I did not understand that, but that he had been betting upon horses. There was money owing not only to Mr. Beach, but to other book-makers as well, and the prisoner wished Mr. Beach to arrange the whole matter. 'Those things are easily arranged,' I said to my mistress; 'all you have to do is to pay.' 'But supposing you haven't the money to pay?' asked my mistress. 'I thought Mr. Layton was a gentleman,' I said. 'There are poor gentlemen as well as rich gentlemen,' my mistress said, 'and my papa gets a lot of money out of all sorts of people.' That was true enough; I have heard him and his friends chuckling over it many times, and Mr. Beach used to call them a lot of something fools. I heard a great deal about 'swells,' as Mr. Beach called them, being ruined by backing horses, and I knew that that was the way he had grown rich. He used to say that he had got a lot of stuck-up swells under his thumb. 'I can arrange Mr. Layton's business with papa,' my mistress said; and when I found her practising songs at the piano, out of time and out of tune-for she had no ear for music-I knew that she was making up to him. It came about as she wished, and one night she told me she was the happiest woman in the world-that Mr. Layton had proposed and she had accepted him."

      The Attorney-general. "Were there rejoicings in the house?"

      Witness. "A good many big dinners were given, but I can't say much for the company. My mistress was sometimes very happy, and sometimes very miserable. To-day she complained that he was cold to her, to-morrow she would go on in the most ridiculous way because he gave her a flower, as though it was better than a big diamond."

      The Attorney-general. "Did he seem to be wanting in attention to her during the courtship?"

      Witness. "He wasn't a very warm lover, as far as I could see. But my mistress was so much in love that she put up with anything. He had only to give her a smile or a pleasant word, and you would think she was in heaven."

      The Attorney-general. "How did the prisoner get along with Mr. Beach?"

      Witness. "I know they had words on two or three occasions."

      The Attorney-general. "About what?"

      Witness. "About the settlements. My mistress told me, and she said her father was a screw."

      The Attorney-general. "A screw! What was meant by the word?"

      Witness. "That he was mean and sharp, that was what she meant."

      The Attorney-general. "Go on. That her father was a screw-"

      Witness. "And wanted to bind Mr. Layton down too tight. He had conversations with her about it."

      The Attorney-general. "He! Who?"

      Witness. "Mr. Layton."

      The Attorney-general. "Did he seek these conversations?"

      Witness. "Oh no; they were of her seeking. She was afraid that something might occur to break off the engagement. She said to me more than once, 'If anything goes wrong, I sha'n't care to live.' I never in all my life saw a woman so madly in love as she was."

      The Attorney-general. "Do you know the result of those conversations about the settlements between the prisoner and your mistress?"

      Witness. "Both Mr. Beach and Mr. Layton stood out, and I don't believe either of them would have given way if my mistress had not taken it up. She and her father had some warm scenes."

      The Attorney-general. "By 'warm' do you mean 'angry?'"

      Witness. СКАЧАТЬ