"
"What was its colour?"
"A drop only was let fall into water, which it tinged with a
greenish hue, as of a sapphire."
"Didst thou mark any peculiarity?"
"On one occasion, when, owing to very sudden sickness, the medicine
was not taken, my sister and I marked with surprise, that the
medicine thus diluted had changed to a crimson colour."
General sensation. Etienne hid his face in his mantle; the
churchman and nobles conferred together. William spoke:
"Thou hast thy lesson perfect, boy. Didst thou ever see this Jew
Abraham?"
"Never; or he had not lived to tell thee."
"Then there is no possible collusion between the witnesses--I
appeal to thee, my lord of Coutances?"
"None; I will answer for it as a bishop. It was a providential
thought, which led me to interrogate the Jew respecting the
appearance of the medicine, and one utterly unpremeditated."
"Remove the prisoner," said the king.
While Wilfred was absent, William conferred with his lords
spiritual and temporal. This was no court wherein the popular
element found place; the whole issue of the trial lay with the
mighty chieftain--the rest were but his consultees.
We will not record the deliberations, only their result.
After half an hour had passed--a time of dread suspense to the
prisoner--Wilfred was again summoned to the bar.
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