anted no one to tell him that his own
mother was not a thief, a forger, a castaway among the world's worst
wretches. He thanked no one for such an assurance. Every honest man
must sympathise with a woman so injured. It would be a necessity
of his manhood and of his honesty! But he would have valued most a
sympathy which would have abstained from all expression till after
that trial should be over. It should have been for him to act and for
him to speak during this terrible period. But his mother who was a
free agent had willed it otherwise.

And there had been one other scene. Mr. Furnival had introduced Lady
Mason to Mr. Solomon Aram, having explained to her that it would be
indispensable that Mr. Aram should see her, probably once or twice
before the trial came on.

"But cannot it be done through you?" said Lady Mason. "Though of
course I should not expect that you can so sacrifice your valuable
time."

"Pray believe me that that is not the consideration," said Mr.
Furnival. "We have engaged the services of Mr. Aram because he is
supposed to understand difficulties of this sort better than any
other man in the profession, and his chance of rescuing you from
this trouble will be much better if you can bring yourself to have
confidence in him--full confidence." And Mr. Furnival looked into
her face as he spoke with an expression of countenance that was very
eloquent. "You must not suppose that I shall not do all in my power.
In my proper capacity I shall be acting for you with all the energy
that I can use; but the case has now assumed an aspect which requires
that it should be in an attorney's hands." And then Mr. Furnival
introduced her to Mr. Solomon Aram.

Mr. Solomon Aram was not, in outward appearance, such a man as Lady
Mason, Sir Peregrine Orme, or others quite ignorant in such matters
would have expected. He was not a dirty old Jew with a hooked
nose and an imperfect pronunciation of English consonants. Mr.
Chaffanbrass, the barrister, bore more resemblance to a Jew of that
ancient type. Mr. Solomon Aram was a good-looking man about forty,
perhaps rather over-dressed, but bearing about him no other sign of
vulgarity. Nor at first sight would it probably have been discerned
that he was of the Hebrew persuasion. He had black hair and a
well-formed face; but his eyes were closer than is common with most
of us, and his nose seemed to be somewhat swollen about the bridge.
When one knew that he was a Jew one sa