On the other hand, the case for the defence was that--as
I have stated--it was in the maddened state of feeling, provoked by his
attack upon her honor, and made intolerable by the wife's taunts and
threats, that Juliet Sparling struck the fatal blow. At the trial the
judge believed me; the jury--and a large part of the public--you, I have
no doubt among them--believed Wing. The jury were probably influenced by
some of the evidence given by the fellow-guests in the house, which
seemed to me simply to amount to this--that a woman in the strait in
which Juliet Sparling was will endeavor, out of mortal fear, to keep the
ruffian who has her in his power in a good-humor."
"However, I have now confirmatory evidence for my theory of the
matter--evidence which has never been produced--and which I tell you now
simply because the happiness of her child--and of your son--is
at stake."
Lady Lucy moved a little. The color returned to her cheeks. Sir James,
however, gave her no time to interrupt. He stood before her, smiting
one hand against another, to emphasize his words, as he continued:
"Francis Wing lived for some eighteen years after Mrs.
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