“ ‘However, she did not want me to sit with her, so I thought that the best thing I could do was to tell Mr. David Graham that her ladyship did not seem very cheerful. Her ladyship was so fond of Mr. David; it always made her happy to have him with her. I then went to my room, and at half-past eight Mr. David called me. He said: “Your mistress does seem a little restless tonight. If I were you I would just go and listen at her door in about an hour’s time, and if she has not gone to bed I would go in and stay with her until she has.” At about ten o’clock I did as Mr. David suggested, and listened at her ladyship’s door. However, all was quiet in the room, and, thinking her ladyship had gone to sleep, I went back to bed.
“ ‘The next morning at eight o’clock, when I took in my mistress’s cup of tea, I saw her lying on the floor, her poor dear face all purple and distorted. I screamed, and the other servants came rushing along. Then Mr. Graham had the door locked and sent for the doctor and the police.’
“The poor woman seemed to find it very difficult not to break down. She was closely questioned by Sir James Fenwick, but had nothing further to say. She had last seen her mistress alive at eight o’clock on the evening of the 24th.
“ ‘And when you listened at her door at ten o’clock,’ asked Sir James, ‘did you try to open it?’
“ ‘I did, but it was locked,’ she replied.
“ ‘Did Lady Donaldson usually lock her bedroom at night?’
“ ‘Nearly always.’
“ ‘And in the morning when you took in the tea?’
“ ‘The door was open. I walked straight in.’
“ ‘You are quite sure?’ insisted Sir James.
“ ‘I swear it,’ solemnly asserted the woman.
“After that we were informed by several members of Mr. Graham’s establishment that Miss Crawford had been in to tea at Charlotte Square in the afternoon of the 24th, that she told everyone she was going to London by the night mail, as she had some special shopping she wished to do there. It appears that Mr. Graham and David both tried to persuade her to stay to dinner, and then to go by the 9:10 p.m. from the Caledonian Station. Miss Crawford however had refused, saying she always preferred to go from the Waverley Station. It was nearer to her own rooms, and she still had a good deal of writing to do.
“In spite of this, two witnesses saw the accused in Charlotte Square later on in the evening. She was carrying a bag which seemed heavy, and was walking towards the Caledonian Railway Station.
“But the most thrilling moment in that sensational trial was reached on the second day, when David Graham, looking wretchedly ill, unkempt, and haggard, stepped into the witness-box. A murmur of sympathy went round the audience at sight of him, who was the second, perhaps, most deeply stricken victim of the Charlotte Square tragedy.
“David Graham, in answer to Crown Counsel, gave an account of his last interview with Lady Donaldson.
“ ‘Tremlett had told me that she seemed anxious and upset, and I went to have a chat with her; she soon cheered up and. …’
“There the unfortunate young man hesitated visibly, but after a while resumed with an obvious effort.
“ ‘She spoke of my marriage, and of the gift she was about to bestow upon me. She said the diamonds would be for my wife, and after that for my daughter, if I had one. She also complained that Mr. Macfinlay had been so punctilious about preparing the deed of gift, and that it was a great pity the £100,000 could not just pass from her hands to mine without so much fuss.
“ ‘I stayed talking with her for about half an hour; then I left her, as she seemed ready to go to bed; but I told her maid to listen at the door in about an hour’s time.’
“There was deep silence in the court for a few moments, a silence which to me seemed almost electrical. It was as if, some time before it was uttered, the next question put by Crown Counsel to the witness had hovered in the air.
“ ‘You were engaged to Miss Edith Crawford at one time, were you not?’
“One felt, rather than heard, the almost inaudible ‘Yes’ which escaped from David Graham’s compressed lips.
“ ‘Under what circumstances was that engagement broken off?’
“Sir James Fenwick had already risen in protest, but David Graham had been the first to speak.
“ ‘I do not think that I need answer that question.’
“ ‘I will put it in a different form, then,’ said Crown Counsel urbanely—‘one to which my learned friend cannot possibly take exception. Did you or did you not on October 27th receive a letter from the accused, in which she desired to be released from her promise of marriage to you?’
“Again David Graham would have refused to answer, and he certainly gave no audible reply to the learned counsel’s question; but everyone in the audience there present—aye, every member of the jury and of the bar—read upon David Graham’s pale countenance and large, sorrowful eyes that ominous ‘Yes!’ which had failed to reach his trembling lips.”
XVI
“Non Proven”
“There is no doubt,” continued the man in the corner, “that what little sympathy the young girl’s terrible position had aroused in the public mind had died out the moment that David Graham left the witness-box on the second day of the trial. Whether Edith Crawford was guilty of murder or not, the callous way in
