Like enough she may be only the merest
acquaintance.
The writer is not likely to forget a distinguished lawyer's
instructions to his client who happened also to be a childhood
acquaintance--as she was about to go into court as the
plaintiff in a suit for damages:
"I would fold my hands in my lap, Gwendolyn--yes, like that
--and be calm, very calm. And, Gwendolyn, above all things,
be demure, Gwendolyn! Be demure!"
Gwendolyn was the demurest of the demure, letting her eyes
fall beneath their pendant black lashes at the conclusion of
each answer, and won her case without the slightest
difficulty.
The unconscious or conscious influence of women upon the
intellects of jurymen has given rise to a very prevalent
impression that it is difficult if not impossible successfully
to prosecute a woman for crime. This feeling expresses itself
in general statements to the effect that as things stand
to-day a woman may commit murder with impunity. Experience,
supplemented by the official records, demonstrates, however,
that, curious as it must seem, the same sentiment aroused by a
woman supposed to have been wronged is not inspired in a jury
by a woman accused of crime.
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