"
"What made her tell you?"
"She was angry with me--I forget about what. I did not understand at
first what she was saying. Oliver"--she grasped his hand tightly, while
the lids dropped over the eyes, as though she would shut out even his
face as she asked her question--"is it true that--that--the death
sentence--"
"Yes," said Marsham, reluctantly. "But it was at once commuted. And
three weeks after the sentence she was released. She lived, Sir James
tells me, nearly two months after your father brought her home."
"I wrote last night to the lawyers"--Diana breathed it almost in a
whisper. "I am sure there is a letter for me--I am sure papa wrote."
"Promise me one thing!" said Marsham. "If they send you newspapers--for
my sake, don't read them. Sir James will tell you, this afternoon,
things the public have never known--facts which would certainly have
altered the verdict if the jury had known. Your poor mother struck the
blow in what was practically an impulse of self-defence, and the
evidence which mainly convicted her was perjured evidence, as the liar
who gave it confessed years afterward. Sir James will tell you that.
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