Orley Farm (Serial)/Chapter 71
CHAPTER XXXI.
SHOWING HOW JOHN KENNEBY AND BRIDGET BOLSTER BORE THEMSELVES IN COURT.
On the next morning they were all in their places at ten o'clock, and the crowd had been gathered outside the doors of the court from a much earlier hour. As the trial progressed the interest in it increased, and as people began to believe that Lady Mason had in truth forged a will, so did they the more regard her in the light of a heroine. Had she murdered her husband after forging his will, men would have paid half a crown apiece to have touched her garments, or a guinea for the privilege of shaking hands with her. Lady Mason had again taken her seat with her veil raised, with Mrs. Orme on one side of her and her son on the other. The counsel were again ranged on the seats behind, Mr. Furnival sitting the nearest to the judge, and Mr. Aram again occupied the intermediate bench, so placing himself that he could communicate either with his client or with the barristers. These were now their established places, and great as was the crowd, they found no difficulty in reaching them. An easy way is always made for the chief performers in a play.
This was to be the great day as regarded the evidence. 'It is a case that depends altogether on evidence,' one young lawyer said to another. 'If the counsel know how to handle the witnesses, I should say she is safe.' The importance of this handling was felt by every one, and therefore it was understood that the real game would be played out on this middle day. It had been all very well for Chaffanbrass to bully Dockwrath and make the wretched attorney miserable for an hour or so, but that would have but little bearing on the verdict. There were two persons there who were prepared to swear that on a certain day they had only signed one deed. So much the solicitor-general had told them, and nobody doubted that it would be so. The question now was this, would Mr. Furnival and Mr. Chaffanbrass succeed in making them contradict themselves when they had so sworn? Could they be made to say that they had signed two deeds, or that they might have done so?
It was again the duty of Mr. Furnival to come first upon the stage,—that is to say, he was to do so as soon as Sir Richard had performed his very second-rate part of eliciting the evidence in chief. Poor John Kenneby was to be the first victim, and he was placed in the box before them all very soon after the judge had taken his seat. Why had he not emigrated to Australia, and escaped all this,—escaped all this, and Mrs. Smiley also? That was John Kenneby's reflection as he slowly mounted the two steps up into the place of his torture. Near to the same spot, and near also to Dockwrath who had taken these two witnesses under his special charge, sat Bridget Bolster. She had made herself very comfortable that morning with buttered toast and sausages; and when at Dockwrath's instance Kenneby had submitted to a slight infusion of Dutch courage,—a bottle of brandy would not have sufficed for the purpose,—Bridget also had not refused the generous glass. 'Not that I wants it,' said she, meaning thereby to express an opinion that she could hold her own, even against the great Chaffanbrass, without any such extraneous aid. She now sat quite quiet, with her hands crossed on her knees before her, and her eyes immovably fixed on the table which stood in the centre of the court. In that position she remained till her turn came; and one may say that there was no need for fear on account of Bridget Bolster.
And then Sir Richard began. What would be the nature of Kenneby's direct evidence the reader pretty well knows. Sir Richard took a long time in extracting it, for he was aware that it would be necessary to give his witness some confidence before he came to his main questions. Even to do this was difficult, for Kenneby would speak in a voice so low that nobody could hear him; and on the second occasion of the judge enjoining him to speak out, he nearly fainted. It is odd that it never occurs to judges that a witness who is naturally timid will be made more so by being scolded. When I hear a judge thus use his authority, I always wish that I had the power of forcing him to some very uncongenial employment,—jumping in a sack, let us say; and then when he jumped poorly, as he certainly would, I would crack my whip and bid him go higher and higher. The more I so bade him, the more he would limp; and the world looking on, would pity him and execrate me. It is much the same thing when a witness is sternly told to speak louder.
But John Kenneby at last told his plain story. He remembered the day on which he had met old Usbech and Bridget Bolster and Lady Mason in Sir Joseph's chamber. He had then witnessed a signature by Sir Joseph, and had only witnessed one on that day;—of that he was perfectly certain. He did not think that old Usbech had signed the deed in question, but on that matter he declined to swear positively. He remembered the former trial. He had not then been able to swear positively whether Usbech had or had not signed the deed. As far as he could remember, that was the point to which his cross-examination on that occasion had chiefly been directed. So much John Kenneby did at last say in language that was sufficiently plain.
And then Mr. Furnival arose. The reader is acquainted with the state of his mind on the subject of this trial. The enthusiasm on behalf of Lady Mason, which had been aroused by his belief in her innocence, by his old friendship, by his ancient adherence to her cause, and by his admiration for her beauty, had now greatly faded. It had faded much when he found himself obliged to call in such fellow-labourers as Chaffanbrass and Aram, and had all but perished when he learned from contact with them to regard her guilt as certain. But, nevertheless, now that he was there, the old fire returned to him. He had wished twenty times that he had been able to shake the matter from him and leave his old client in the hands of her new advisers. It would be better for her, he had said to himself. But on this day—on these three days—seeing that he had not shaken the matter off, he rose to his work as though he still loved her, as though all his mind was still intent on preserving that ill-gotten inheritance for her son. It may almost be doubted whether at moments during these three days he did not again persuade himself that she was an injured woman. Aram, as may be remembered, had felt misgivings as to Mr. Furnival's powers for such cross-examination; but Chaffanbrass had never doubted it. He knew that Mr. Furnival could do as much as himself in that way; the difference being this,—that Mr. Furnival could do something else besides.
'And now, Mr. Kenneby, I'll ask you a few questions,' he said; and Kenneby turned round to him. The barrister spoke in a mild low voice, but his eye transfixed the poor fellow at once; and though Kenneby was told a dozen times to look at the jury and speak to the jury, he never was able to take his gaze away from Mr. Furnival's face.
'You remember the old trial,' he said; and as he spoke he held in his hand what was known to be an account of that transaction. Then there arose a debate between him and Sir Richard, in which Chaffanbrass, and Graham, and Mr. Steelyard all took part, as to whether Kenneby might be examined as to his former examination; and on this point Graham pleaded very volubly, bringing up precedents without number,—striving to do his duty to his client on a point with which his own conscience did not interfere. And at last it was ruled by the judge that this examination might go on;—whereupon both Sir Richard and Mr. Steelyard sat down as though they were perfectly satisfied. Kenneby, on being again asked, said that he did remember the old trial.
'It is necessary, you know, that the jury should hear you, and if you look at them and speak to them, they would stand a better chance.' Kenneby for a moment allowed his eye to travel up to the jury box, but it instantly fell again, and fixed itself on the lawyer's face. 'You do remember that trial?'
'Yes, sir, I remember it,' whispered Kenneby.
'Do you remember my asking you then whether you had been in the habit of witnessing Sir Joseph Mason's signature?'
'Did you ask me that, sir?'
'That is the question which I put to you. Do you remember my doing so?'
'I dare say you did, sir.'
'I did, and I will now read your answer. We shall give to the jury a copy of the proceedings of that trial, my lord, when we have proved it,—as of course we intend to do.'
And then there was another little battle between the barristers. But as Lady Mason was now being tried for perjury, alleged to have been committed at that other trial, it was of course indispensable that all the proceedings of that trial should be made known to the jury.
'You said on that occasion,' continued Furnival, 'that you were sure you had witnessed three signatures of Sir Joseph's that summer,—that you had probably witnessed three in July, that you were quite sure you had witnessed three in one week in July, that you were nearly sure you had witnessed three in one day, that you could not tell what day that might have been, and that you had been used as a witness so often that you really did not remember anything about it. Can you say whether that was the purport of the evidence you gave then?'
'If it's down there———' said John Kenneby, and then he stopped himself.
'It is down here; I have read it.'
'I suppose it's all right,' said Kenneby.
'I must trouble you to speak out,' said the judge; 'I cannot hear you, and it is impossible that the jury should do so.' The judge's words were not uncivil, but his voice was harsh, and the only perceptible consequence of the remonstrance was to be seen in the thick drops of perspiration standing on John Kenneby's brow.
'That is the evidence which you gave on the former trial? May the jury presume that you then spoke the truth to the best of your knowledge?'
'I tried to speak the truth, sir.'
'You tried to speak the truth? But do you mean to say that you failed?'
'No, I don't think I failed.'
'When, therefore, you told the jury that you were nearly sure that you had witnessed three signatures of Sir Joseph's in one day, that was truth?'
'I don't think I ever did.'
'Ever did what?'
'Witness three papers in one day.'
'You don't think you ever did?'
'I might have done, to be sure.'
'But then, at that trial, about twelve months after the man's death, you were nearly sure you had done so.'
'Was I?'
'So you told the jury.'
'Then I did, sir.'
'Then you did what?'
'Did witness all those papers.'
'You think then now that it is probable you witnessed three signatures on the same day?'
'No, I don't think that.'
'Then what do you think?'
'It is so long ago, sir, that I really don't know.'
'Exactly. It is so long ago that you cannot depend on your memory.'
'I suppose I can't, sir.'
'But you just now told the gentleman who examined you on the other side, that you were quite sure you did not witness two deeds on the day he named,—the 14th of July. Now, seeing that you doubt your own memory, going back over so long a time, do you wish to correct that statement?'
'I suppose I do.'
'What correction do you wish to make?'
'I don't think I did.'
'Don't think you did what?'
'I don't think I signed two———'
'I really cannot hear the witness,' said the judge
'You must speak out louder,' said Mr. Furnival, himself speaking very loudly.
'I mean to do it as well as I can,' said Kenneby.
'I believe you do,' said Furnival; 'but in so meaning you must be very careful to state nothing as a certainty, of the certainty of which you are not sure. Are you certain that on that day you did not witness two deeds?'
'I think so.'
'And yet you were not certain twenty years ago, when the fact was so much nearer to you?'
'I don't remember.'
'You don't remember whether you were certain twelve months after the occurrence, but you think you are certain now.'
'I mean, I don't think I signed two.'
'It is, then, only a matter of thinking?'
'No;—only a matter of thinking.'
'And you might have signed the two?'
'I certainly might have done so.'
'What you mean to tell the jury is this: that you have no remembrance of signing twice on that special day, although you know that you have acted as witness on behalf of Sir Joseph Mason more than twice on the same day?'
'Yes.'
'That is the intended purport of your evidence?'
'Yes, sir.'
And then Mr. Furnival travelled off to that other point of Mr. Usbech's presence and alleged handwriting. On that matter Kenneby had not made any positive assertion, though he had expressed a very strong opinion. Mr. Furnival was not satisfied with this, but wished to show that Kenneby had not on that matter even a strong opinion. He again reverted to the evidence on the former trial, and read various questions with their answers; and the answers as given at that time certainly did not, when so taken, express a clear opinion on the part of the person who gave them; although an impartial person on reading the whole evidence would have found that a very clear opinion was expressed. When first asked, Kenneby had said that he was nearly sure that Mr. Usbech had not signed the document. But his very anxiety to be true had brought him into trouble. Mr. Furnival on that occasion had taken advantage of the word 'nearly,' and had at last succeeded in making him say that he was not sure at all. Evidence by means of torture,—thumbscrew and such-like,—we have for many years past abandoned as barbarous, and have acknowledged that it is of its very nature useless in the search after truth. How long will it be before we shall recognise that the other kind of torture is equally opposed both to truth and civilization?
'But Mr. Usbech was certainly in the room on that day?' continued Mr. Furnival.
'Yes, he was there.'
'And knew what you were all doing, I suppose?'
'Yes, I suppose he knew.'
'I presume it was he who explained to you the nature of the deed you were to witness?'
'I dare say he did.'
'As he was the lawyer, that would be natural.'
'I suppose it would.'
'And you don't remember the nature of that special deed, as explained to you on the day when Bridget Bolster was in the room?'
'No, I don't.'
'It might have been a will?'
'Yes, it might. I did sign one or two wills for Sir Joseph, I think.'
'And as to this individual document, Mr. Usbech might have signed it in your presence, for anything you know to the contrary?'
'He might have done so.'
'Now, on your oath, Kenneby, is your memory strong enough to enable you to give the jury any information on this subject upon which they may firmly rely in convicting that unfortunate lady of the terrible crime laid to her charge.' Then for a moment Kenneby glanced round and fixed his eyes upon Lady Mason's face. 'Think a moment before you answer; and deal with her as you would wish another should deal with you if you were so situated. Can you say that you remember that Usbech did not sign it?'
'Well, sir, I don't think he did.'
'But he might have done so?'
'Oh, yes; he might.'
'You do not remember that he did do so?'
'Certainly not.'
'And that is about the extent of what you mean to say?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Let me understand,' said the judge—and then the perspiration became more visible on poor Kenneby's face;—'do you mean to say that you have no memory on the matter whatever?—that you simply do not remember whether Usbech did or did not sign it?'
'I don't think he signed it.'
'But why do you think he did not, seeing that his name is there?'
'I didn't see him.'
'Do you mean,' continued the judge, 'that you didn't see him, or that you don't remember that you saw him?'
'I don't remember that I saw him.'
'But you may have done so? He may have signed, and you may have seen him do so, only you don't remember it?'
'Yes, my lord.'
And then Kenneby was allowed to go down. As he did so, Joseph Mason, who sat near to him, turned upon him a look black as thunder. Mr. Mason gave him no credit for his timidity, but believed that he had been bought over by the other side. Dockwrath, however, knew better. 'They did not quite beat him about his own signature,' said he; 'but I knew all along that we must depend chiefly upon Bolster.'
Then Bridget Bolster was put into the box, and she was examined by Mr. Steelyard. She had heard Kenneby instructed to look up, and she therefore fixed her eyes upon the canopy over the judge's seat. There she fixed them, and there she kept them till her examination was over, merely turning them for a moment on to Mr. Chaffanbrass, when that gentleman became particularly severe in his treatment of her. What she said in answer to Mr. Steelyard, was very simple. She had never witnessed but one signature in her life, and that she had done in Sir Joseph's room. The nature of the document had been explained to her. 'But,' as she said, 'she was young and giddy then, and what went in at one ear went out at another.' She didn't remember Mr. Usbech signing, but he might have done so. She thought he did not. As to the two signatures purporting to be hers, she could not say which was hers and which was not. But this she would swear positively, that they were not both hers. To this she adhered firmly, and Mr. Steelyard handed her over to Mr. Chaffanbrass.
Then Mr. Chaffanbrass rose from his seat, and every one knew that his work was cut out for him. Mr. Furnival had triumphed. It may be said that he had demolished his witness; but his triumph had been very easy. It was now necessary to demolish Bridget Bolster, and the opinion was general that if anybody could do it Mr. Chaffanbrass was the man. But there was a doggedness about Bridget Bolster which induced many to doubt whether even Chaffanbrass would be successful. Mr. Aram trusted greatly; but the bar would have preferred to stake their money on Bridget.
Chaffanbrass as he rose pushed back his small ugly wig from his forehead, thrusting it rather on one side as he did so, and then, with his chin thrown forward, and a wicked, ill-meaning smile upon his mouth, he looked at Bridget for some moments before he spoke to her. She glanced at him, and instantly fixed her eyes back upon the canopy. She then folded her hands one on the other upon the rail before her, compressed her lips, and waited patiently.
'I think you say you're—a chambermaid?' That was the first question which Chaffanbrass asked, and Bridget Bolster gave a little start as she heard his sharp, angry, disagreeable voice.
'Yes, I am, sir, at Palmer's Imperial Hotel, Plymouth, Devonshire; and have been for nineteen years, upper and under.'
'Upper and under! What do upper and under mean?'
'When I was under, I had another above me; and now, as I'm upper, why there's others under me.' So she explained her position at the hotel, but she never took her eyes from the canopy.
'You hadn't begun being—chambermaid, when you signed these documents?'
'I didn't sign only one of 'em.'
'Well, one of them. You hadn't begun being chambermaid then?'
'No, I hadn't; I was housemaid at Orley Farm.'
'Were you upper or under there?'
'Well, I believe I was both; that is, the cook was upper in the house.'
'Oh, the cook was upper. Why wasn't she called to sign her name?'
'That I can't say. She was a very decent woman,—that I can say,—and her name was Martha Mullens.'
So far Mr. Chaffanbrass had not done much; but that was only the preliminary skirmish, as fencers play with their foils before they begin.
'And now, Bridget Bolster, if I understand you,' he said, 'you have sworn that on the 14th of July you only signed one of these documents.'
'I only signed once, sir. I didn't say nothing about the 14th of July, because I don't remember.'
'But when you signed the one deed, you did not sign any other?'
'Neither then nor never.'
'Do you know the offence for which that lady is being tried—Lady Mason?'
'Well, I ain't sure; it's for doing something about the will.'
'No, woman, it is not.' And then, as Mr. Chaffanbrass raised his voice, and spoke with savage earnestness, Bridget again started, and gave a little leap up from the floor. But she soon settled herself back in her old position. 'No one has dared to accuse her of that,' continued Mr. Chaffanbrass, looking over at the lawyers on the other side. 'The charge they have brought forward against her is that of perjury—of having given false evidence twenty years ago in a court of law. Now look here, Bridget Bolster; look at me, I say.' She did look at him for a moment, and then turned her eyes back to the canopy. 'As sure as you're a living woman, you shall be placed there and tried for the same offence,—for perjury,—if you tell me a falsehood respecting this matter.'
'I won't say nothing but what's right,' said Bridget.
'You had better not. Now look at these two signatures;' and he handed to her two deeds, or rather made one of the servants of the court hold them for him; 'which of those signatures is the one which you did not sign?'
'I can't say, sir.'
'Did you write that further one,—that with your hand on it?'
'I can't say, sir.'
'Look at it, woman, before you answer me.'
Bridget looked at it, and then repeated the same words—
'I can't say, sir.'
'And now look at the other.' And she again looked down for a moment. 'Did you write that?'
'I can't say, sir.'
'Will you swear that you wrote either?'
'I did write one once.'
'Don't prevaricate with me, woman. Were either of those signatures there written by you?'
'I suppose that one was.'
'Will you swear that you wrote either the one or the other?'
'I'll swear I did write one, once.'
'Will you swear you wrote one of those you have before you? You can read, can't you?'
'Oh yes, I can read.'
'Then look at them.' Again she turned her eyes on them for half a moment. 'Will you swear that you wrote either of those?'
'Not if there's another anywhere else,' said Bridget, at last.
'Another anywhere else,' said Chaffanbrass, repeating her words; 'what do you mean by another?'
'If you've got another that anybody else has done, I won't say which of the three is mine. But I did one, and I didn't do no more.'
Mr. Chaffanbrass continued at it for a long time, but with very indifferent success. That affair of the signatures, which was indeed the only point on which evidence was worth anything, he then abandoned, and tried to make her contradict herself about old Usbech. But on this subject she could say nothing. That Usbech was present she remembered well, but as to his signing the deed, or not signing it, she would not pretend to say anything.
'I know he was cram full of gout,' she said; 'but I don't remember nothing more.'
But it may be explained that Mr. Chaffanbrass had altogether altered his intention and the very plan of his campaign with reference to this witness, as soon as he saw what was her nature and disposition. He discovered very early in the affair that he could not force her to contradict herself and reduce her own evidence to nothing, as Furnival had done with the man. Nothing would flurry this woman, or force her to utter words of which she herself did not know the meaning. The more he might persevere in such an attempt, the more dogged and steady she would become. He therefore soon gave that up. He had already given it up when he threatened to accuse her of perjury, and resolved that as he could not shake her he would shake the confidence which the jury might place in her. He could not make a fool of her, and therefore he would make her out to be a rogue. Her evidence would stand alone, or nearly alone; and in this way he might turn her firmness to his own purpose, and explain that her dogged resolution to stick to one plain statement arose from her having been specially instructed so to do, with the object of ruining his client. For more than half an hour he persisted in asking her questions with this object; hinting that she was on friendly terms with Dockwrath; asking her what pay she had received for her evidence; making her acknowledge that she was being kept at free quarters, and on the fat of the land. He even produced from her a list of the good things she had eaten that morning at breakfast, and at last succeeded in obtaining information as to that small but indiscreet glass of spirits. It was then, and then only, that poor Bridget became discomposed. Beefsteaks, sausages, and pigs' fry, though they were taken three times a day, were not disgraceful in her line of life; but that little thimbleful of brandy, taken after much pressing and in the openness of good fellowship, went sorely against the grain with her. 'When one has to be badgered like this, one wants a drop of something more than ordinary,' she said at last. And they were the only words which she did say which proved any triumph on the part of Mr. Chaffanbrass. But nevertheless Mr. Chaffanbrass was not dissatisfied. Triumph, immediate triumph over a poor maid-servant could hardly have been the object of a man who had been triumphant in such matters for the last thirty years. Would it not be practicable to make the jury doubt whether that woman could be believed? That was the triumph he desired. As for himself, Mr. Chaffanbrass knew well enough that she had spoken nothing but the truth. But had he so managed that the truth might be made to look like falsehood,—or at any rate to have a doubtful air? If he had done that, he had succeeded in the occupation of his life, and was indifferent to his own triumph.