Juve clasped the magistrate's hand.
"I'm off to Bretigny this instant," he said in a low tone.

Throughout this incident Maitre Roger de Seras had remained in a state
of blank incomprehension.

Gurn's face was more expressionless and impenetrable than ever.

XXVIII. THE COURT OF ASSIZE

"Call Lady Beltham!"

It was a perfect May day, and everyone who could pretend, on any
conceivable ground, to belong to "Paris" had schemed and intrigued to
obtain admission to a trial over which public opinion had been excited
for months: the trial of Gurn for the murder of Lord Beltham,
ex-Ambassador and foremost man of fashion, whose murder, two years
before, had caused a great sensation.

The preliminary formalities of the trial had furnished nothing to tickle
the palates of the sensation-loving crowd. The indictment had been
almost inaudible, and, besides, it contained nothing that had not
already been made public by the Press. Nor had the examination of the
prisoner been any more interesting; Gurn sat, strangely impassive, in
the dock between two municipal guards, and hardly listened to his
counsel, the eminent Maitre Barberoux, who was assisted by a galaxy of
juniors, including young Roger de Seras. Moreover, Gurn had frankly
confessed his guilt almost immediately after his arrest. There was not
much for him to add to what he had said before, although the President
of the Court pressed him as to some points which were still not
satisfactorily clear with respect to his own identity, and the motives
which had prompted him to commit his crime, and, subsequently, to pay
that most risky visit to Lady Beltham, at the close of which Juve had
effected his arrest.

But Lady Beltham's evidence promised to be much more interesting. Rumour
had been busy for a long time with the great lady and her feelings, and
odd stories were being whispered. She was said to be beautiful, wealthy
and charitable; people said, under their breath, that she must know a
good deal about the murder of her spouse, and when she made her
appearance in the box a sudden hush fell upon the crowded court. She
was, indeed, a most appealing figure, robed in long black weeds, young,
graceful, and very pale, so sympathetic a figure that scandal was
forgotten in the general tense desire to hear her answers to the
President of the Court.

Following the usher to the witness-box, she took off her gloves as
desired, and, in a voice that trembled slightly but was