 chapter 64 of Phineas Redux. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Phineas Redux by Anthony Trellop, chapter 64, Confusion in the Court. On the following morning it was observed that before the judges took their seats, Mr. Chappenbress entered the court with a manner much more brisk than was expected from him now that his own work was done. As a matter of course he would be there to hear the charge, but almost equally as a matter of course he would be languid, silent, cross, and unenergetic. They who knew him were sure when they saw his bearing on this morning that he intended to do something more before the charge was given. The judges entered the court nearly half an hour later than usual and it was observed with surprise that they were followed by the Duke of Omnium. Mr. Chappenbress was on his feet before the Chief Justice had taken his seat, but the judge was the first to speak. It was observed that he held the scrap of paper in his hand and that the barrister held the similar scrap. Then every man in the court knew that some message had come suddenly by the wires. I am informed, Mr. Chappenbress, that you wish to address the court before I begin my charge. Yes, my lord, I'm afraid, my lord, that I shall have to ask your lordship to delay the charge for some days and to subject the jury to the very great inconvenience of prolonged incarceration for another week, either to do that or to call upon the jury to acquit the prisoner. I venture to assert on my own peril that no jury can convict the prisoner after hearing me read that which I hold in my hand. Then Mr. Chappenbress paused as though expecting the judge would speak, but the judge said not a word but sat looking at the old barrister over his spectacles. Every eye was turned upon Phineus Finn, who up to this moment had heard nothing of these new tidings, who did not in the least know on what was grounded the singularly confident almost instantly confident assertion which Mr. Chappenbress had made in his favor. On him the effect was all together distressing. He had borne the trying week with singular fortitude having stood there in the place of shame hour after hour and day after day expecting his doom. It had been to him as a lifetime of torture. He had become almost numb from the weariness of his position and the agonizing strain upon his mind. The jailer had offered him a seat from day to day but he had always refused it preferring to lean upon the rail and gaze upon the court. He had almost ceased to hope for anything except the end of it. He had lost count of the days and had begun to feel that the trial was an eternity of torture in itself. At nights he could not sleep but during the Sunday after mass he had slept all day. Then it had begun again and when Tuesday came he hardly knew how long it had been since that vacant Sunday. And now he heard the advocate declare without knowing on what ground the declaration was grounded that the trial must be postponed or that the jury must be instructed to acquit him. This telegram has reached us only this morning continued Mr. Chaffin-Bress. Milius had a house door key made in preg. We have the mold in our possession and will bring the man who made the key to England. Namela the case in the hands of the police as against this man Milius or Emilius as he has chosen to call himself broke down altogether on the assumption that he could not have let himself in and out of the house in which he had put himself to bed on the night of the murder. We now propose to prove that he had prepared himself with the means of doing so and had done so after fashion which is conclusive as to his having required the key for some guilty purpose. We assert that your Lordship cannot allow this case to go to the jury without taking cognizance of this telegram. And we go further and say that those 12 men as 12 human beings with hearts in their bosoms and ordinary intelligence at their command cannot ignore the message even should your Lordship insist that they're doing so with all energy at your disposal. Then there was a scene in court and it appeared that no less than four messages have been received from Prague all to the same effect. One had been addressed by Madame Gaisler to her friend the Duchess and that message had caused the Duke's appearance on the scene. He had brought his telegram direct to the old Bailey and the Chief Justice now held it in his hand. The lawyer's clerk who had accompanied Madame Gaisler had telephoned to the governor of the jail to Mr. Wickerby and to the Attorney General. Sir Gregory rising with the telegram in his hand stated that he had received the same information. I do not see he said that it all alters the evidence as against the prisoner. Let your evidence go to the jury then said Mr. Chappenbrass with such observations as his Lordship may choose to make on the telegram. I shall be contented. You have already got your other man in prison on a charge of bigamy. I could not take notice of the message in charging the jury. Mr. Chappenbrass said the judge it has come as far as we know from the energy of a warm friend from that hearty friendship with which it seemed yesterday that this gentleman this prisoner at the bar has inspired so many men and women of high character. But it proves nothing. It is an assertion. And where should we all be Mr. Chappenbrass if it should appear here after that the assertion is fictitious prepared purposely to aid the escape of a criminal. I defy you to ignore it my Lord. I can only suggest Mr. Chappenbrass continue the judge that you should obtain the consent of the gentleman on the other side to a postponement of my charge. Then spoke out the foreman of the jury. Was it proposed that they should be locked up till somebody should come from Prague and that then the trial should be recommended. The system said the foreman under which middle sex juries were chosen for service in the city was known to be most horribly cruel. But cruelty to jury men such as this had never even been heard of. Then most irregular word was spoken. One of the jury men declared that he was quite willing to believe the telegram. Everyone believes it said Mr. Chappenbrass. Then the Chief Justice scolded the juryman and Sir Gregory Grogham scolded Mr. Chappenbrass. It seemed as though all the rules of the court were to be set at defiance. Will my learned friend say that he doesn't believe it as Mr. Chappenbrass. I neither believe nor disbelieve it but it cannot affect the evidence said Sir Gregory then send the case to the jury said Mr. Chappenbrass. It seemed that everybody was talking and Mr. Wickerby the attorney tried to explain it all to the prisoner over the bar of the dock not in the lowest possible tone. The Chief Justice became angry and the guardian of silence of the court bestowed himself energetically. My Lord said Mr. Chappenbrass I maintain that it is proper that the prisoner should be informed of the purport of these telegrams. Mercy demands it and justice as well. Vinus Finn however did not understand as he had known nothing about the latchkey of the house in North Umberland Street. Something however must be done. The Chief Justice was of opinion that although the preparation of a latchkey and Prague could not really affect the evidence against the prisoner, although the facts against the prisoner would not be altered, let the manufacturer of that special key be ever so clearly proved. Nevertheless, the jury were entitled to have before them the facts now tendered in evidence before they could be called upon to give a verdict and that therefore they should submit themselves in the service of their country to the very serious additional inconvenience which they would be called upon to endure. Sundry of the jury altogether disagreed with this and became loud in their anger. They had already been locked up for a week and we are quite prepared to give a verdict said one the judge against golden him very severely and as the Attorney General did at last ascent and as the unfortunate German had no power in the matter. So it was at last arranged. The trial should be postponed till time should be given from a damn gasler in the blacksmith to reach London from Prague. If the matter was interesting to the public before it became doubly interesting now. It was of course known to everybody that madame gasler had undertaken a journey to Bohemia and as many supposed a roving tour through all the wilder parts of unknown Europe, Poland, Hungary and the principalities for instance, with the object of looking for evidence to save the life of Phineas Finn and grandly romantic tales were told of her wit, her wealth and her beauty. The story was published of the Duke of Omnium's will only not exactly the true story. The late Duke had left her everything at his disposal and it was hinted that they had been privately married just before the Duke's death. Of course, madame gasler became very popular and the blacksmith from Prague who had made the keys was expected with an enthusiasm which almost led to preparation for a public reception. And yet let the blacksmith come from Prague be ever so minute in his evidence as to the key. Let it be made as clear as running water that Milius had caused to be constructed for him in Prague, a key that would open the door of the house in Northumberland Street. The facts as proved at the trial would not be at all changed. The lawyers were much avaranced with their opinions on the matter, some thinking that the judge had been altogether wrong in delaying his charge. According to them, he should not have allowed Mr. Chaffin-Bress to have read the telegram in court. The charge should have been given and the sentence of the court should have been pronounced if a verdict of guilty were given. The home secretary should then have granted a respite to the coming of the blacksmith and have extended this respite to a pardon if advised that the circumstances of the latchkey rendered doubtful the propriety of the verdict. Others, however, maintained that in this way a grievous penalty would be inflicted on a man who by general consent was now held to be innocent. Not only would he buy such an arrangement of circumstances have been left for some prolonged period under the agony of a condemnation, but by the necessity of the case he would lose his seat for tanker though. It would be imperative upon the house to declare vacant by its own action a seat held by a man condemned to death for murder and no pardon from the queen or from the home secretary would absolve the house from that duty. The house as a house of parliament could only recognize the verdict of the jury as to the man's guilt. The queen, of course, might pardon whom she pleased but no pardon from the queen would remove the guilt implied by the sentence. Many went much further than this and were prepared to prove that were he once condemned he could not afterwards sit in the house even if reelected. Now there was unquestionably an intense desire since the arrival of these telegrams that Phineas Finn should retain his seat. It may be a question whether he would not have been the most popular man in the house could he have sat there on the day after the telegrams arrived. The attorney general had declared and many others had declared with him that this information about the latchkey did not in the least effect the evidence is given against Mr. Finn. Could it have been possible to convict the other man merely because he had surreptitiously caused the dorky of the house in which he lived to be made for him? And how would this new information have been received had Lord Faun sworn unreservedly that the man he had seen running out of the muse had been Phineas Finn. It was acknowledged that the latchkey could not be accepted as sufficient evidence against Milius. But nevertheless the information conveyed by the telegrams all together changed the opinion of the public as to the guilt or innocence of Phineas Finn. His life now might have been insured as against the gallows at a very low rate. It was felt that no jury could convict him and he was much more pitied in being subjected to a prolonged incarceration than even those 12 unfortunate men who had felt sure that the Wednesday would have been the last day of their unmerited martyrdom. Phineas in his prison was materially circumstanced precisely as he had been before the trial. He was supplied with a profusion of luxuries. Could they have comforted him and was allowed to receive visitors? But he would see no one but his sisters except that he had one interview with Mr. Lowe. Even Mr. Lowe found it difficult to make him comprehend the exact condition of the affair and could not induce him to be comforted when he did understand it. What had he to do? How could his innocence or guilt be concerned with the manufacture of a paltry key by such a one as Milius? How would it have been with him and with his name forever if this fact had not been discovered? I was to be hung or saved from hanging according to the chances of such a thing as this. I do not care for my life in a country where such injustice can be done. His friend endeavored to assure him that even had nothing been heard of the key the jury would have acquitted him. But Phineas would not believe him. It had seemed to him that as he had listened to the whole proceeding that the court had been against him. The attorney and solicitor general had appeared to resolve upon hanging him. Many would bend at any rate his intimate acquaintances with whom he had sat on the same bench who ought to have known him. And the judge had taken the part of Lord Faun who had seemed to Phineas to be bent on swearing away his life. He had borne himself very gallantly during that week having in all his intercourse with his attorney spoken without a quaver in his voice and without a flaw in the perspicuity of his intelligence. But now when Mr. Lowe came to him explaining to him that it was impossible that a verdict should be found against him, he was quite broken down. There is nothing left of me, he said at the end of the interview. I feel that I had better take to my bed and die. Even when I think of all the friends have done for me it fails to cheer me. In this matter I should not have had to depend on friends. Had not she gone for me to that place everyone would have believed me to be a murderer. And yet in his solitude he thought very much of the marvelous love shown to him by his friends. Word had been spoken which had been very sweet to him in all his misery. Words such as neither men nor women can say to each other an ordinary intercourse of life. Much as they may wish that their purport should be understood, Lord Chiltern, Lord Cantrip and Mr. Monk had alluded to him as a man especially singled out by them for their friendship. Lady Cantrip, then whom no woman in London was more discreet, had been equally enthusiastic. Then how gracious, how tender, how inexpressibly sweet had been the words of her who had been Violet Effingham. And now the news had reached him of Madame Gaisler's journey to the continent. It is a wonderful thing for her to do, Mr. Lohud said. Yes indeed, remembering all that had passed between them he acknowledged to himself that it was very wonderful. Were it not that his back was now broken, that he was prostrate and must remain so, a man utterly crushed by what he had endured, it might have been possible that she should do more for him, even than she had yet done. End of Chapter 64 Chapter 65 of Phineas Redux. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Diana Bertolini. Phineas Redux by Antony Trollop Chapter 65. I Hate Her Lady Laura Kennedy had been allowed to take no active part in the manifestations of friendship which at this time were made on behalf of Phineas Finn. She had indeed gone to him in his prison and made daily efforts to minister to his comfort, but she could not go into the courts and speak for him. And now this other woman, whom she hated, would have the glory of his deliverance. She already began to see a fate before her, which would make even her past misery as nothing to that which was to come. She was a widow, not yet two months a widow, and though she did not and could not mourn the death of a husband, as do other widows, though she could not sorrow in her heart for a man whom she had never loved, and from whom she had been separated during half of her married life. Yet the fact of her widowhood and the circumstances of her weeds were heavy on her. That she loved this man, Phineas Finn, with a passionate devotion to which the other woman could know nothing, she was quite sure. Love him, had she not been true to him and his interests from the very first day in which he had come among them in London, with almost more than a woman's truth? She knew and recalled to her memory over and over again her own one great sin, the fault of her life. When she was, as regarded her own means, a poor woman, she had refused to be this poor man's wife, and had given her hand to a rich suitor. But she had done this with a conviction that she could so best serve the interests of the man in regard to whom she had promised herself, that her feeling should henceforth be one of simple and purest friendship. She had made a great effort to carry out that intention. But the effort had been futile. She had striven to do her duty to a husband whom she had disliked. But even in that she had failed. At one time she had been persistent in her intercourse with Phineas Finn, and at another had resolved that she would not see him. She had been madly angry with him when he came to her with the story of his love for another woman, and had madly shown her anger. But yet she had striven to get for him the wife he wanted. Though in doing so she would have abandoned one of the dearest purposes of her life. She had moved heaven and earth for him. Her heaven and earth, when there was danger that he would lose his seat in Parliament. She had encountered the jealousy of her husband with scorn, and had then deserted him because he was jealous. And all this she did with the consciousness of her own virtue, which was almost as sublime as it was ill-founded. She had been wrong. She confessed so much to herself with bitter tears. She had marred the happiness of three persons by the mistake she had made in early life. But it had not yet occurred to her that she had sinned. To her thinking the jealousy of her husband had been preposterous and abominable because she had known, or felt that he should have known, that she would never disgrace him by that which the world calls falsehood in a wife. She had married him without loving him. But it seemed to her that he was in fault for that. They had become wretched, but she had never pitied his wretchedness. She had left him and thought he would be ill-used because he had ventured to reclaim his wife. Through it all she had been true in her regard to the one man she had ever loved. And, though she had admitted her own folly and knew her own shipwreck, yet she had always drawn some woman's consolation from the conviction of her own constancy. He had vanished from her sight for a while with a young wife, never from her mind. And then he had returned a widower. Through silence, absence, and distance, she had been true to him. On his return to his old ways she had at once welcomed him and strove to aid him. Everything that was hers should be his, if only he would open his hands to take it. And she would tell it him all, let him know every corner of her heart. She was a married woman and could not be his wife. She was a woman of virtue and would not be his mistress. But she would be to him a friend so tender that no mistress should ever have been fonder. She did tell him everything as they stood together on the ramparts of the old Saxon castle. Then he had kissed her and pressed her to his heart. Not because he loved her, but because he was generous. She had partly understood it all, but yet had not understood it thoroughly. He did not assure her of his love. But then she was a wife and would have admitted no love that was sinful. When she returned to Dresden that night, she stood gazing at herself in the glass and saw that there was nothing there to attract the love of such a man as Phineas Finn. Of one who was himself glorious with manly beauty. But yet for her sadness there was some cure, some possibility of consolation in the fact that she was a wife. Why speak of love at all when marriage was so far out of the question? But now she was a widow and as free as he was. A widow endowed with ample well, and she was the woman to whom he had sworn his love when they had stood together both young by the falls of the linter. How often might they stand there again if only his constancy would equal her? She had seen him once since fate had made her a widow. But then she had been but a few days a widow and his life had at the moment been in strange jeopardy. There had certainly been no time then for other love than that which the circumstances of the sorrow of the hour demanded from their mutual friendship. From that day, from the first moment in which she had heard of his arrest, every thought, every effort of her mind had been devoted to his affairs. So great was his peril and so strange that it almost wiped out from her mind the remembrance of her own condition. Should they hang him, undoubtedly she would die. Such determination to all her aspirations for him whom she had selected as her god upon earth would utterly crush her. She had borne much, but she could never bear that. Should he escape, but escape ingloriously? Ah, then he should know what the devotion of a woman could do for a man. But if he should leave his prison with flying colors and come forth a hero to the world, how would it be with her then? She could foresee and understand of what nature would be the ovation with which he would be greeted. She had already heard what the Duchess was doing and saying. She knew how eager on his behalf were Lord and Lady Cantrip. She discussed the matter daily with her sister-in-law and knew what her brother thought. If the acquittal were perfect, there would certainly be an ovation, in which was it not certain to her that she would be forgotten? And she heard much too of Madame Gersler. And now there came the news. Madame Gersler had gone to Prague, to Krakow. And where not spending her wealth employing her wits bearing fatigue openly before the world on this man's behalf. And had done so successfully. She had found this evidence of the key. And now because the tracings of the key had been discovered by a woman, people were ready to believe that he was innocent. As to who's innocent, she, Laura Kennedy, would have been willing to believe it from the beginning of the affair. Why had it not been her lot to go to Prague? Would she not have drunk up easel or allowed a crocodile against any she laertes that would have fought to rival and to parallel her great love? Would not she have piled up a new osas had the opportunity been given her? Woman-like she had gone to him in her trouble and burst through his prison door. But of what avail had been that? This strange female, this Moabitish woman had gone to Prague and found a key. And everybody said that the thing was done. How she hated the strange woman and remembered all of the evil things that had been said of the intruder. She told herself over and over again that had it been anyone else other than this half foreigner, this German Jewess, this intriguing foreigner. Did not all the world know that the woman for the last two years had been the mistress of that old doting duke who was now dead? Had one ever heard who was her father or who was her mother? Had it not always been declared of her that she was a pushing, dangerous, scheming creature? And then she was old enough to be his mother. Though by some Median tricks known to such women, she was able to postpone the actions of them to the eyes of the world, in all of which charges poor Lady Laura wronged her rival foully in that matter of age especially. For as it happened Madame Gersler was by some months the younger of the two. But Lady Laura was a blonde, and trouble had told upon her outwardly, as it is won't to do upon those who are fair-skinned, and at the same time high-hearted. But Madame Gersler was a brunette swarthy, Lady Laura would have called her eyes in glossy hair and thin cheeks, and now being somewhat over thirty, she was at her best. Lady Laura hated her, as a fair woman who has lost her beauty can hate the dark woman who keeps it. What made her think of the key, said Lady Chiltern? I don't believe she did think of it. It was an accident. Then why did she go? Oh, Violet, do not talk to me about that woman any more. I shall be mad. She has done him good service. Very sweet. Let him have the service. I know they would have acquitted him if she had never stirred from London. Oswald says so, but no matter. Let her have the triumph. Only do not talk to me about her. You know what I have thought about her ever since she first came up in London. Nothing ever surprised me so much is that you should take her by the hand. I do not know that I took her especially by the hand. You had her down at Harrington. Yes, I do like her, and I know nothing against her. I think you are prejudiced against her, Laura. Very well. Of course, you think and can say what you please. I hate her, and that is sufficient. Then after a pause, she added. Of course, he won't marry her. I know that well enough. It is nothing to me whom he marries only after all that it has passed. It seems so hard upon me that his wife should be the only one I could not visit. Dear Laura, you should control your thoughts about this young man. Of course I should, but I don't. You mean that I am disgracing myself? No. Yes, you do. Oswald is more candid and tells me so openly. And yet what have I done? The world has been so hard upon me and I have suffered. Do I desire anything except that he shall be happy and respectable? Do I hope for anything? I will put my life at Dresden where my disgrace can hurt no one. Her sister-in-law, with all imaginable tenderness, said what she could to console the miserable woman. But there was no consolation possible. They both knew that Phineas Finn would never renew the offer which he had once made. End of chapter 65, recording by Diana Bertolini. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollop, chapter 66, The Foreign Lunge-In. In the meantime, Madame Gaisler having accomplished the journey from Prague in considerably less than a week reached London with the blacksmith, the trial had been adjourned on Wednesday, the 24th of June, and it had been suggested that the jury should again be put in the box on that day a week. All manner of inconvenience was to be endured by various members of the legal profession, and sundry irregularities were of necessity sanctioned on this great occasion. The sitting of the court should have been concluded and everybody concerned should have been put in the box. The member of the House of Commons was in custody and it had already been suggested that some action should be taken by the House as to his speedy deliverance. Unless the jury could find him guilty, let him be at once restored to his duties and his privileges. The case was involved in difficulties, but in the meantime the jury, who had been put in another in the hope that white bait with lamb and salad might in some degree console them from their loss of liberty were informed that they would be once again put into their box on Wednesday. On the Monday the whole affair, respecting the keys, was unraveled in the presence of the Attorney General and with the personal assistance of our old friend Major McIntosh. Without a doubt the man would have been put in the box of the House in North Emberlin Street. A key was made in London from the model now brought which did open the door. The Attorney General seemed to think it would be his duty to ask the judge to call upon the jury to acquit Phineas Finn and that then the matter must rest forever unless further evidence could be obtained against Yosef Milius. There was no tittle of evidence to show that he had ever had the great coat on his shoulders or that he had been out of the house on the night. Lord Fawn to his infinite disgust was taken to the prison in which Milius was detained and was confronted with the man but he could say nothing. Milius at his own suggestion put on the coat and stalked about the room in it but Lord Fawn would not say a word. The person whom he now saw might have been the man in the street and might have been the man or any other man might have been the man. Lord Fawn was very dignified, very reserved, and very unhappy. To his thinking he was the great martyr of this trial. Phineas Finn was becoming a hero. Against the twelve jurymen the finger of scorn would never be pointed but his sufferings must endure for his life might probably embitter his life to the very end. Looking into his own future from his present point of view he did not think and yet with what persistency of conscious had he struggled to be true and honest. On the present condition he would say nothing. He had seen a man in a gray coat and for the future would confide himself to that. You did not see me my lord said Mr. Milius with touching simplicity. So the manor stood on Monday afternoon and the jury had already been told that they might be released on the following Tuesday. Might at any rate hear the sound when another discovery was made more wonderful than that of the key. And this was made without any journey to Prague and might no doubt have been made on any day since the murder had been committed. And it was a discovery for not having made which the police force generally was subjected to heavy censure. A beautiful little boy was seen playing in one of those gardens through which the passage runs with a short loaded bludgeon in his hand. He came into the house with the maid who was with him having asked the little lord no question on the subject. But luckily it attracted attention and his little lordship took two gardeners and a coachman and all the nurses to the very spot at which he found it. Before an hour was over he was standing at his father's knee detailing the fact with great open eyes to two policemen having by this time become immensely proud of his adventure. This occurred late on the Monday afternoon when the noble family were at dinner and the family was considerably disturbed and at the same time very much interested by the occurrence. But on the Tuesday morning there was the additional fact established that a bludgeon loaded with lead had been found among the thick grass and undergrowth of shrubs in a spot to which it might easily have been thrown by anyone attempting to pitch it over the wall. The news flew about the town like wildfire and it was now considered certain that the real murderer would be discovered. But the renewal was postponed until the Wednesday as it was necessary that the entire day should be devoted to the bludgeon. The instrument was submitted to the eyes and hands of persons experienced in such matters and it was declared on all sides that the thing was not of English manufacture. It was about a foot long with a leather and thong to the handle with something of a spring in the shaft and with the oval loaded knot at the end cased with leather and thongs very minutely and skillfully cut. They who understood modern work and leather gave it as their opinion that the weapon had been made in Paris. It was considered that Milius had brought it with him and concealed it in preparation for this occasion. If the police could succeed in tracing the bludgeon into his hands or improving that he had purchased any such instrument then so it was thought there would be evidence to justify a police magistrate in sending Mr. Milius to occupy the place so lately and so long held by poor Phineus Finn. But till that had been done there could be nothing to connect the preacher with the murder. All who had heard the circumstances of the case were convinced that Mr. Bontein had been murdered by the weapon lately discovered and not by that which Phineus had carried in his pocket but no one could deduce proof that this was so. The second bludgeon would no doubt help to remove the difficulty in regard to Phineus but would not give atonement to the shade of Mr. Bontein. Milius was confronted with the weapon by the presence of Major McIntosh and was told its story. How it was found in the nobleman's garden by the little boy at the first moment with instant readiness he took the thing in his hand and looked at it with feigned curiosity. He must have studied the conduct so as to have it ready for such an occasion thinking that it might some day occur but with all his presence of mind he could not keep the tell-tale blood for mounting. You don't know anything about it Mr. Milius and closely into his face? Of course you need not incriminate yourself. What should I know about it? No, I don't know nothing about the stick. I never had such a stick or as I believe saw one before. He did it very well but he could not keep the blood from rising to his cheeks. The policemen were sure that he was the murderer but what could they do? You saved his life certainly said the dutrus to her friend on the Sunday afternoon. That had been before the bludgeon was found. I do not believe that they could have touched a hair on his head said Madam Gaisler. Would they not? Everybody felt sure that he would be hung. Would it not have been awful? I do not see how you are to help becoming man and wife now for all the world are talking about you. Madam Gaisler smiled and said that she was quite indifferent to the world's talk. On the Tuesday after the bludgeon was found the two ladies met again. Now it was known that it was the clergyman said the duchess. I never doubted it. He must have been a brave man for a foreigner to have attacked Mr. Bontein all alone in the street when anyone might have seen him. I don't feel to hate him so very much after all. As for that little wife of his she has got no more than she deserved. Mr. Finn will surely be acquitted now. Of course he'll be acquitted nobody doubts about it. That is all settled and it is a shame that he should be kept in prison even over today. I should think they'll make him appear and give him a pension to appoint him secretary to something. I do wish Plantagenet hadn't been in such a hurry about the nasty board of trade and then he might have gone there. He couldn't very well be privy seal unless they do make him appear. You wouldn't mind would you my dear? I think you'll find that they will console Mr. Finn with something less gorgeous than that. You have succeeded in seeing him of course. Plantagenet wouldn't let me but I know who did some lady. Oh yes a lady half the men about the clubs I believe. Who was she? You won't be all natured. I'll endeavor at any rate to keep my temper duchess. It was Lady Laura. I suppose so. They say she is frantic about him my dear. I never believe those things. Women do not get frantic about men in these days. They have been very old friends and have known each other over many years. Her brother Lord Shiltern was his particular friend. I do not wonder that she should have seen him. Of course you know that she is a widow. Oh yes, Mr. Kennedy had died long before I left England. And she is very rich. She has got all lowlinter for her and her own fortune back again. I will bet you anything you like that she offers to share it with him. It may be so said Madame Gaisler while the slightest blush in the world suffused her cheek. And I'll make you another bet and give you any odds. What is that? That he refuses her. It is quite a common thing nowadays for ladies to make the offer and for gentlemen to refuse. Indeed it was felt to be so inconvenient while it was thought that gentlemen had not the alternative that some men became afraid of going into society. It is better to understand now. Such things have been done. I do not doubt, said Madame Gaisler who had contrived to avert her face without making the motion apparent to her friend. When this is all over we'll get him down to matching and manage better than that. This is the last session as nobody has done anything since the arrest. While Mr. Finn has been in prison legislation has come to a standstill all together. Even Plantagenet doesn't work above 12 hours a day and I'm told that poor Lord Faun hasn't been near his office for the last fortnight. When the excitement is over they'll never be able to get back to their business before the house. There'll be a few dinners of course just as a compliment to the great man you won't come in for so much of the glory as you would have done if they hadn't found the stick. Little Lord Frederick must have his share you know. It's the most singular case I ever knew said Sir Simon Slope that night to one of his friends. We certainly should have hanged him but for the two accidents and yet neither of them brings us a bit near to hanging anyone else. What a pity. It shows the danger of circumstantial evidence of any murder. I'm very glad you know that the key and the stick did turn up. I never thought much about the coat. End of chapter 66. Chapter 67 of Phineas Redux This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope Chapter 67 The Verdict On the Wednesday morning Phineas was again brought into court and again placed in the dock. There was a general feeling that he should not again have been so disgraced but he was still a prisoner under a charge of murder and it was explained to him that the circumstances of the case and the stringency of the law did not admit of his being seated elsewhere during his trial. He treated the apology with courteous scorn. He should not have chosen, he said, to have made any change till after the trial was over, even had any change been permitted. When he was brought up the steps into the dock after the judges had taken their seats there was almost a shout of applause. The crier was very angry and gave it to be understood that everybody would be arrested unless everybody was silent. But the Chief Justice said not a word. Nor did those great men the attorney and Solicitor General express any displeasure. The bench was again crowded with members of parliament from both houses and on this occasion Mr. Gresham himself had accompanied Lord Cantrip. The two dukes were there and men no bigger than Lawrence Fitzgibbon were forced to subject themselves to the benevolence of the under-sheriff. Phineas Finn himself was pale and haggard. It was observed that he leaned forward on the rail of the dock all the day not standing upright as he had done before and they who watched him closely said that he never once raised his eyes on this day to meet those of the men opposite to him on the bench although heretofore throughout the trial he had stood with his face raised so as to look directly at those who were there seated. On this occasion he kept his eyes fixed upon the speaker but the whole bearing of the man, his gestures, his gate and his countenance were changed. During the first long week of this trial his uprightness, the manly beauty of his countenance and the general courage and tranquility of his deportment had been conspicuous. Whatever had been his fatigue he had managed not to show the outward signs of weariness. Whatever had been his fears no mark of fear had disfigured his countenance. He had never once condescended to the exhibition of any outward show of effrontery. Through six weary days he had stood there supported by a manhood sufficient for the terrible emergency but now it seemed that at any rate the outward grace of his demeanor had deserted him. But it was known that he had been ill during the last few days and it had been whispered through the court that he had not slept at nights. Since the adjournment of the court there had been bulletins as to his health and everybody knew that the confinement was beginning to tell upon him. On the present occasion the proceedings of the day were opened by the Attorney General who began by apologizing to the jury. Apologies to the jury had been very frequent during the trial and each apology had called forth fresh grumbling. On this occasion the foreman expressed a hope that the legislature would consider the condition of things which made it possible the 12 gentlemen all concerned extensively in business should be confined for 14 days because a mistake had been made in the evidence as to a murder. Then the Chief Justice bowing down his head and looking at them over the rim of his spectacles with an expression of wisdom that almost convinced them told them that he was aware of no mistake in the evidence. It might become their duty on the evidence which they had heard and the further evidence which they would hear to acquit the prisoner at the bar. But not on that account would there have been any mistake or erroneous procedure in the court other than such error on the part of the prosecution in regard to the alleged guilt of the prisoner as it was the general and special duty of jurors to remedy. Then he endeavored to reconcile them to their sacrifice by describing the importance and glorious British nature of their position. My lord said one of the jurors if you was a salesman and hadn't got no partner only a very young you'd know what it was to be kept out of your business for a fortnight. Then that salesman wagged his head and put his handkerchief up to his eyes and there was pity also for him in the court. After that the attorney general went on. His learned friend on the other side and he nodded to Mr. Chaffin-Bress had got some further evidence to submit to them on behalf of the prisoner who was still on his trial before them. He now addressed them with the view of explaining to them that if that evidence should be such as he believed it would become his duty on behalf of the crown to join with his learned friend in requesting the court to direct the jury to acquit the prisoner. Not the less on that account would be the duty of the jury to form their own opinion as to the credibility of the fresh evidence which would be brought before them. There won't be much doubt about the credibility said Mr. Chaffin-Bress rousing in his place. I am not a bit afraid about the credibility gentlemen and I don't think that you need to be afraid either. You must understand gentlemen that I am now going on calling evidence for the defense. My last witness was the right honourable Mr. Monk who spoke as to character. Next will be a Bohemian blacksmith named Proska, Peter Proska who naturally can't speak a word of English and unfortunately can't speak a word of German either. But we've got an interpreter and I dare say we shall find out without much delay what Peter Proska has to tell us. Then Peter Proska was handed up to the rostrum for the witness and the man learned in Czech and also in English was placed close to him and sworn to give a true interpretation. Milius, the unfortunate one was also in court brought in between the two policemen and the Bohemian blacksmith swore that he had made a certain key on the instructions of the man he now saw. The reader need not be further troubled with all the details of the evidence about the key. It was clearly proved that in a village near to Prague a key had been made such as would open Mr. Meager's door in North Umberland street and it was also proved that it was made from a mold supplied by Milius. This was done by the joint evidence of Mr. Meager and the blacksmith. And if I lose my key, said the reverend gentlemen, why should I not have another made? Did I ever deny it? This, I think, is very strange. But Mr. Milius was very quickly walked back out of the court between the two policemen as his presence would not be required in regard to the further evidence regarding the bludgeon. Mr. Chaffin Brass, having finished his business with the key at once began with the bludgeon. The bludgeon was produced and was handed up to the bench and inspected by the chief justice. The instrument excited great interest. Men rose on tiptoe to look at it even from a distance and the prime minister was envied because for a moment it was placed in his hands. As the large-eyed little boy who had found it was not six years old, there was a difficulty in perfecting the threat of evidence. It was not held to be proper to administer an oath to an infant. But in a roundabout way it was proved that the identical bludgeon had been picked up in the garden. There was an elaborate surveyor's plan produced of the passage, the garden, and the wall, with the steps on which it was supposed that the blow had been struck and the spot was indicated on which the child had said that he found the weapon. Then certain workers and leather were questioned who agreed in asserting that no such instrument as that handed to them had ever been made in England. After that two scientific chemists told a jury that they had already examined the knob of the instrument with reference to the discovery of human blood. But in vain they were however of opinion that the man might very readily have been killed by the instrument without any effusion of blood at the moment of the blows. This seemed to the jury to be the less necessary as three or four surgeons who had examined the murdered man's head had already told them that in all probability there had been no such effusion. When the judges went out to launch at two o'clock the jury were trembling as to their fate for another night. The fresh evidence however had been completed and on the return of the court Mr. Chaffenbrass said that he should only speak a very few words. For a few words he must ask indulgent though he knew them to be a regular but it was the specialty of this trial that everything in it was a regular and he did not think that his learned friend, the Attorney General would dispute the privilege. The Attorney General said nothing and Mr. Chaffenbrass went on with his little speech with which he took up the greatest part of an hour. It was thought to have been unnecessary as nearly all that he said was said again and was sure to have been said so by the judge. It was not his business the business of him Mr. Chaffenbrass to accuse another man of the murder of Mr. Bontein. It was not for him to tell the jury whether there was or was not evidence on which any other man should be sent to trial but it was his bounded duty in defense of his client to explain to them that a collection of facts tending to discriminate another man which when taken together made a fair probability that another man had committed the crime rendered it quite out of the question that they should declare his client to be guilty. He did not believe that there was a single person in the court who was not now convinced of the innocence of his client but it was not permitted to him to trust himself solely to that belief. It was his duty to show them that of necessity they must be the judge's client. When Mr. Chaffenbrass sat down the attorney general waved any right he might have a further reply. It was half past three when the judge began his charge. He would, he said, do his best to enable the jury to complete their tedious duty so as to return to their families on that night. Indeed he would certainly finish his charge before he rose from the seat let the hour be what it might and though time might be occupied by him the consequences of this very singular trial it might not be improbable that the jury would be able to find their verdict without any great delay among themselves. There won't be any delay at all, my lord, to the suffering and very irrational salesman. The poor man was again rebuked mildly and the Chief Justice continued his charge. As it occupied four hours in the delivery of which by far the greater part was taken up in recapitulating and sifting evidence with which the careful reader, if such there be been made too intimately acquainted the account of it here shall be very short. The nature of circumstantial evidence was explained and the truth of much that had been said in regard to such evidence by Mr. Chaffin Brass admitted but nevertheless it would be impossible so said his lordship to administer justice if guilt could never be held to have been proved by circumstantial evidence alone. In this case it might not improbably seem to them that the gentleman who had so long stood before them as a prisoner at the bar had been the victim of a most singularly untoward chain of circumstances from which he would have to be liberated should he be at last liberated by another chain of circumstances as singular. But it was his duty to inform them now after they had heard what he might call the double evidence that he could not have given it to them as his opinion that the charge had been brought home against the prisoner even had those circumstances of the Bohemian key and the foreign bludgeon never been brought to light. He did not mean to say that the evidence had not justified the trial. He thought that the trial had been fully justified. Nevertheless had nothing arisen to point to the possibility of guilt in another man he should not the less have found himself bound in duty to explain to them that the threat of evidence against Mr. Finn had been incomplete or he would rather say the weight of it had been to his judgment insufficient. He was the more intent on saying so much as he was desirous of making it understood that even had the bludgeon still remained buried beneath the leaves had the manufacture of that key never been discovered the great evil would not he thought have fallen upon them of punishing the innocent instead of the guilty that most awful evil taking innocent blood in their just attempt to punish a murder by death as far as he knew to the best of his belief that calamity had never fallen upon the country in his time the administration of the law was so careful of life that the opposite evil was fortunately more common he said so much because he would not wish that this case should be quoted here after showing the possible danger of circumstantial evidence it had been a case in which the evidence given as the character alone had been sufficient to make him feel that the circumstances which seem to affect the prisoner injuriously could not be taken as establishing his guilt but now another in imposing circumstance had been brought to light and he was sure that the jury would have no difficulty with their verdict a most frightful murder had no doubt been committed in the dead of night a gentleman coming home from his club had been killed probably by the hand of one who had himself moved in the company of gentlemen a plot had been made had probably been thought of for days and weeks before and had been executed with extreme necessity in order that an enemy might be removed there could he thought be but little doubt that Mr. Bontein had been killed by the instrument found in the garden and if so he certainly had not been killed by the prisoner who could not be supposed to have carried two bludgeons in his pocket and whose quarrel with the murdered man had been so recent as to have admitted of no preparation they had heard the story of Mr. Meager's gray coat and of the construction of the duplicate key for Mr. Meager's house door it was not for him to tell them on the president occasion whether these stories and the evidence by which they had been supported tended to a fixed guilt elsewhere it was beyond his province to advert to such probability or possibility but undoubtedly the circumstances might be taken by them as an assistance if assistance were needed in coming to a conclusion on the charge against the prisoner gentlemen he said at last I think you will find no difficulty in acquitting the prisoner of the murder that laid to his charge where upon the gentlemen put their heads together and the foreman without half a minutes delay declared that they were unanimous and that they found the prisoner not guilty and we are of opinion said the foreman that Mr. Finn should not have been put upon his trial on such evidence as has been brought before us the necessity of liberating poor Phineas from the horrors of his position was too urgent to allow much attention being given at the moment to this protest Mr. Finn said the judge oppressing the poor broken wretch you have been acquitted of the odious and abominable charge brought against you with the concurrence I am sure not only of those who have heard this trial but of all your countrymen and countrywomen I need not say that you will leave that dock with no stain on your character it has I hope been some consolation to you in your misfortune to hear the terms in which you have been spoken of by such friends as they who came here to give their testimony on your behalf it is and it has been a great sorrow to me to see such a one as you subjected to so unmarried and ignominy but a man educated in the laws of his country as you have been and understanding its constitution fundamentally as you do will probably have acknowledged that great as has been the misfortune to you personally nothing more than a proper attempt has been made to execute justice trust that you may speedily find yourself able to resume your place among the legislators of this country thus Phineas Finn was acquitted and the judges, collecting up their robes trooped off from the bench following the long line of their assessors who had remained even to that hour to hear the last word of the trial Mr. Chaffenbrass collected his papers with the assistance of Mr. Wickerby totally disregardful of his junior council and the attorney and solicitor general congratulated each other on the successful termination of a very disagreeable piece of business and Phineas was discharged according to the ordinary meaning of the words he was now to go about his business as he pleased the law having no further need of his person we can understand how in common cases the prisoner discharged on his acquittal who probably in nine cases out of ten is conscious of his own guilt may feel the sweetness of his freedom and enjoy his amenity from danger with a light heart he is received probably by his wife or young woman or perhaps having no wife or young woman to receive him he takes himself to his usual haunts the interest which has been felt in his career is over and he is no longer the hero of an hour but he is a free man and may drink his gin and water where he pleases perhaps a small admiring crowd may welcome as he passes out into the street he has become nobody before he reaches the corner but it could not be so with the discharged prisoner either as regarded himself and his own feelings or as regarded his friends when the moment came he had hardly as yet thought about the immediate future had not considered how he would live or where during the next few months the sensations of the moment had been so full sometimes of agony and at others of anticipated triumph that he had not attempted as yet to make for himself any schemes the Duchess of Omnium had suggested that he would be received back into society with an elaborate course of fashionable dinners but that view of his return to the world had certainly not occurred to him when he was led down from the dock he hardly knew whether he was being taken and when he found himself in a small room attached to the court clasped on one arm by Mr. Lo and on the other by Lord Shelton he did not know what they would propose to him nor had he considered what answer he would make to any proposition at last you are safe said Mr. Lo but think what he has suffered said Lord Shelton Finneas looked round to see if there was any other friend present certainly among all his friends he had thought most of her who had traveled half across Europe for evidence to save him he had seen Madame Gaestler last on the evening proceeding the night of the murder and had not even heard from her since but he had been told what she had done for him and now he had almost fancied that he would have found her waiting for him he smiled at first at the one man and then at the other and made an effort to carry himself with his ordinary tranquility it will be our right now I dare say he said I wonder whether I could have a glass of water he sat down while the water was brought to him and his two friends stood over him hardly knowing how to do more than support him by their presence then Lord Cantrip made his way into the room he had sat on the bench to the last whereas the other two had gone down to receive the prisoner when acquitted and with him came Sir Harry Coldfoot the home secretary my friend said the former the bitter day has passed over you and I hope that this bitterness will soon pass away also Finneas again attempted to smile as he held the hand of the man with whom he had formerly been associated in office I should not intrude Mr. Finns said Sir Harry did I not feel myself bound in a special manner to express my regret at the great trouble to which you have been subjected Finneas rose and bowed stiffly he had conceived that everyone connected with the administration of the law had believed him to be guilty and none in his present mood could be dear to him but they who from the beginning thrust it in his innocence I am requested by Mr. Gresham continued Sir Harry to express to you his entire sympathy and his joy that all this is at last over Finneas tried to make some little speech but utterly failed then Sir Harry left him and he burst out into tears who can be surprised said Lord Cantrip the marvel is that he should have been able to bear it so long it would have crushed me utterly long since said the other Lord then there was a question as to what he would do and Mr. Low proposed that he should be allowed to take Finneas to his own house for a few days his wife he said had known their friends so long and so intimately that she might perhaps be able to make herself more serviceable than any other lady and that their house Finneas could receive his sisters just as he would at his own his sisters had been lodging near the prison almost ever since the committal and it had been thought well to remove them to Mr. Low's house in order that they might meet their brother there I think I'll go to my own room in Marlborough street these were the first intelligible words he had uttered since he had been led out of the dock and to that resolution he adhered Lord Cantrip offered the retirements of a country house belonging to himself within an hour's journey of London and Lord Shelton declared that Harrington Hall which Finneas knew was all together at his service but Finneas decided in favor of Mrs. Bunce and to great Marlborough Street he was taken by Mr. Low I'll come to tomorrow with my wife said Lord Shelton as he was going not tomorrow Shelton but tell your wife how deeply I value her friendship Lord Cantrip also offered to come but was asked to wait a while I'm afraid I'm hardly fit for visitors yet all the strength seems to have been knocked out of me this last week Mr. Low accompanied him to his lodgings and then handed him over to Mrs. Bunce promising that his two sisters should come to him early on the following morning on that evening he would prefer to be quite alone he would not allow the barrister even to go upstairs with him and when he had entered his room almost rudely begged his weeping landlady to leave him oh Mr. Finneas let me do something for you said the poor woman you have not had a bit of anything all day let me get you just a cup of tea and a chop in truth he had died when the judges went out to their lunch dying as he had been wanted died since the trial had been commenced and wanted nothing she might bring him tea he said if she would leave him for an hour and then at last he was alone he stood up in the middle of the room stretching forth his hands and putting one first to his breast and then to his brow feeling himself as though doubting his own identity could it be that the last week had been real that everything had not been a dream had he in truth been suspected of a murder and tried for his life and then he thought of him who had been murdered with Mr. Bantine his enemy was he really gone the man who was the other day to have been Chancellor of the Exchequer the scornful arrogant loud boastful man he had hardly thought of Mr. Bantine before during these weeks of his own incarceration he had heard all the details of the murder with the fullness that had been at last complete the man who had oppressed him and whom he had at times almost envied was indeed gone and the world for a while had believed that he Finneas Finne had been the man's murderer and now what should be his own future life one thing seems certain to him he could never again go into the House of Commons and sit there an ordinary man of business with other ordinary men he had been so hacked and hewed about so exposed to the gates of the vulgar so mauled by the public that he could never more be anything but the wretched being who had been tried for the murder of his enemy he had been taken out of him and he was no longer a man fit for use he could never more enjoy that freedom from self-consciousness the inner tranquility of spirit which are essential to public utility then he remembered certain lines which had long been familiar to him and he repeated them allowed with some conceit that they were apposite to him the true God sigh for the cost and pain for the reed that grows never more again as a reed with the reeds in the river he sat drinking his tea still thinking of himself knowing how infinitely better it would be for him that he should indulge in no such thought till an idea struck him and he got up and drawing back the blinds from the open window looked out into the night it was the last day of June and the weather was very sultry but the night was dark and it was now near midnight on a sudden he took his hat and feeling with a smile for the latch-key which he always carried in his pocket thinking of the latch-key which had been made at Prague for the lock of a house in North Umberland Street new road he went down to the front door you'll be back soon Mr. Finn won't you now? said Mrs. Bunce who had heard him step and had remained up thinking it better this the first night of his return not to rest till he had gone to his bed why should I be back soon? he said turning upon her he remembered that she had been one of those who were true to him and he took her hand and was gracious to her I will be back soon Mrs. Bunce and you need fear nothing but recollect how little I have had of liberty lately I have not even had a walk for six weeks you cannot wonder that I should wish to roam about a little nevertheless she would have preferred that he should not have gone out all alone on that night he had taken off the black morning coat which he had worn during the trial and had put on that very gray garment by which it had been sought to identify him with the murderer so glad he crossed Regent Street into Hanover Square and from thence went a short way down Bond Street and by Bruton Street into Berkeley Square he took exactly the reverse of the route by which he had returned home from the club on the night of the murder every now and then he trembled as he passed some figure which might be that of a man who would recognize him but he walked fast and went on till he came to the spot at which the steps descend from the street into the passage, the very spot at which the murder had been committed he looked down it with an awful dread and stood there as though he were fascinated thinking of all the details which he had heard throughout the trial then he looked around him and listened whether there were any steps approaching through the passage hearing none and seeing no one he at last descended and his life passed through that way into Bolden Row here it was that the wretch of whom he had now heard so much had waited for his enemy the wretch for whom during the last six weeks he had been mistaken heavens that man who had known him should have believed him to have done such a deed as that he remembered well having shown the life preserver to Earl and Fitzgibbon at the door of the club and had been thought that after having so shown it he had used it for the purpose to which in his joke he had eluded were men so blind so ignorant of nature so little capable of discerning the truth as this then he went on till he came to the end of Clarge's street and took up the muse opposite to it the muse from which the man had been seen to hurry the place was altogether unknown to him he had never thought whether it had led when passing it on his way up from Piccadilly to the club now he entered the muse so as to test the evidence that had been given and found that it brought him by a turn close up to the spot at which he had been described as having been last seen by Earl and Fitzgibbon when there he went on and crossed the street and looking back saw the club was lighted up then it struck him for the first time that it was the night of the week on which the members were want to assemble should he pluck up courage and walk in among them he had not lost his right of entry there because he had been accused of murder he was the same now as heretofore if he could only fancy himself to be the same why not go in and have done with all this he would be the wonder of the club for 20 minutes and then it would all be over he stood close under the shade of the heavy building as he thought of this but he found that he could not do it he had known from the beginning that he could not do it how callous how hard how heartless must have he been had such a course been possible to him he again repeated the lines to himself the reed that grows never more again as a reed with the reeds in the river he felt sure that never again would he enter that room in which no doubt all those assembled were now talking about him as he returned home he tried to make out for himself some plan for his future life but interspersed with any idea that he could weave were the figures of two women Lady Laura Kennedy and Madame Max Geisler the former could be nothing to him but a friend and though no other friend would love him as she loved him yet she could not influence his life she was very wealthy but her wealth could be nothing to him she would heap it all upon him if he would take it he understood and knew that taking no pride to himself that it was so feeling no conceit in her love he was conscious of her devotion to him he was poor broken in spirit and almost without a future and yet could her devotion avail him nothing how might it be with that other woman were she after all that had passed between them to consent to be his wife and it might be that she would consent how would the world be with him then he would be known as Madame Max Geisler's husband and have to sit at the bottom of her table and be talked of as the man who had been tried for the murder of Mr. Bontein look at it in which way he might he thought that no life could any longer be possible to him in London End of Chapter 67 Phineas Finn had not been out of his lodgings till after daylight and then he only prowled about in the manner described in the last chapter his sisters had returned to Ireland he saw no one even in his own room but two or three of his most intimate friends among those Mr. Low and Lord Sheldon were the most frequently with him but Fitzgibbon, Barrington Earl and Mr. Monk had also been admitted people had called by the 100 till Mrs. Bunce was becoming almost tired of her lodger's popularity but they came only to inquire because it had been reported that Mr. Finn was not well after his imprisonment a Duchess of Omnium had written to him various notes asking when he would come to her and what she could do for him would he dine would he spend a quiet evening would he go to matching finally would he become her guest in the dutes next September for the partridge shooting they would have a few friends with them having Gaesler would be one of the number having had this by him for a week he had not as yet answered the invitation he had received two or three notes from Lady Laura who would frankly explain to him that if he were really ill she would of course go to him but that as matters stood she could not do so without displeasing her brother he had answered each note by an assurance that his first visit should be made in Portman Square to Madam Gaesler he had written a letter of thanks a letter which had in truth cost him some pains I know he said for how much I have to thank you but I do not know in what words to do it I ought to be with you telling you in person of my gratitude but I must own to you that for the present what has occurred has so unmanned me that I am unfit for the interview I should only weep in your presence like a schoolgirl and you would despise me it was a long letter containing many references to the circumstance of the trial and to his own condition of mind throughout his period her answer to him which was very short was as follows Park Lane Sunday my dear Mr. Finn I can well understand that for a while you should be too agitated by what has passed to see your friends remember however that you owe it to them as well as to yourself not to sink into seclusion send me a line when you think that you can come to me that I may be home my journey to Prague was nothing you forget that I am constantly going to Vienna connected with my own property there Prague lives but a few hours out of the route most sincerely yours MMG his friends who did see him urged him constantly to be stir himself and Mr. Monk pressed him very much to come down to the house walk in with me tonight and take your seat as though nothing had happened said Mr. Monk but so much has happened nothing has happened to alter your outward position as a man no doubt many will flock around you to congratulate you and your first half hour will be disagreeable but then the thing will have been done well what's your constituents to do so then Phineas for the first time expressed an opinion that he would design his seat that he would take the children hundreds and retire altogether from public life pray do nothing of the kind said Mr. Monk I do not think you quite understand how such an ordeal as this works upon a man how it may change a man and knock out of him what little strength there ever was there the fear that I'm broken past any patching up or mending of course it ought not to be so a man should be made of better stuff but one is only what one is we'll put off the discussion for another weeks at Mr. Monk there came a letter to me when I was in prison from one of the leading men in Tankerville saying that I ought to resign I know they all thought that I was guilty I do not care to sit for a place where I was so judged but I was fit any longer for a seat in Parliament he had never felt convinced that Mr. Monk had himself believed with confidence his innocence and he spoke with soreness and almost with anger a letter from one individual should never be allowed to create interference between a member and his constituents it should simply be answered to that effect and then ignored as to the belief of the townspeople in your innocence what is to guide you I believed you innocent with all my heart but there was always sufficient possibility for a guilt to prevent a rational man from committing himself to the expression of an absolute conviction the young member's brow became black as he heard this I can see that I offend you by saying so but if you will think of it I must be right you were on your trial and I as your friend was bound to await the result with much confidence because I knew you but with no conviction because both you and I are human and fallible if the electors at Tankerville or any great proportion of them express a belief that you are unfit to represent them because of what has occurred I shall be the last to recommend you to keep your seat but I shall be surprised indeed if they should do so if there were a general election tomorrow I should regard your seat as one of the safest in England both Mr. Lowe and Lord Chiltern were equally urgent with him to return to his usual mode of life using different arguments for their purpose Lord Chiltern told him plainly that he was weak and womanly or rather that he would be where he continued to dread the faces of his fellow creatures the master of the breakhounds himself was a man less gifted than Phineas and therefore hardly capable of understanding the exaggerated feelings of the man who had recently been tried for his life Lord Chiltern was affectionate tenderhearted and true but there was no vacillating fibers in his composition the balance which regulated his conduct was firmly set and went well the clock never stopped and one and but little looking after he was somewhat rough and the second will not scored he had ever been quite true to Phineas during the dark time he might not say what he pleased I am womanly to Phineas I begin to feel it but I can't alter my nature I never was so much surprised in my life said Lord Chiltern when I used to look at you in the dock by heaven I envied your pluck and your strength I was burning up the stock of coals Chiltern you'll come on right after a few weeks you've been knocked out of time that's the truth of it Mr. Lowe treated his patient with more indulgence but he was also surprised and hardly understood the nature of the derangement of the mechanism in the instrument which he was desirous of repairing I should go abroad for a few months if I were used in Mr. Lowe I should stick at the first day I got to Phineas I think I am better here by the by I shall travel I dare say all over the world as far as my money will last but for the present I am only fit to sit still Mr. Lowe had seen it more than once and had been very kind to him but she also failed to understand I always thought that he was such a manly fellow she said to her husband if you mean personal courage there is no doubt that he possesses it as completely now probably as ever oh yes he could go over to Flanders and let that Lord shoot at him and he could ride brutes of horses and not care about breaking his neck that's not what I mean but now it seems that he breaks down he has been very roughly used my dear so he has and tenderly used to nobody has had better friends I thought he would have been more manly the property of manliness in the man is a great possession but perhaps there is none that is less understood which is more generally accorded where it does not exist or more frequently disallowed where it prevails there are not many who ever make up their minds as to what constitutes manliness or even inquire within themselves upon the subject the woman's error, occasioned by her natural desire for a master, leads her to look for a certain outward magnificence of demeanor a pretended indifference to stings and little torments a would-be superiority to the bread-and-butter side of life an unreal assumption of personal grandeur but a robe of state such as this however well the garment may be warmed with practice can never be the rain-ment natural to a man and men dressing themselves in women's eyes have consented to walk about in buckram a composure of the eye which has been studied a reticence as to the little things of life a certain slowness of speech unless the occasion call for passion an indifference to small surroundings these joined of course with personal bravery are supposed to constitute manliness the personal bravery is required in the composition of manliness must be conceded though of all the ingredients needed it is the lowest in value but the first requirement of all must be described by a negative manliness is not compatible with affectation women's virtues all feminine attributes may be marred by affectation but the virtues and the vice may co-exist an affected man too may be honest may be generous may be pious but surely he cannot be manly the self-conscious assumption of any outward manner the striving to add even though it would be but a tenth of a cubit to the height is fatal and will at once banish the all but divine attribute before the man can be manly the gifts which make him so must be there collected by him slowly unconsciously as are his bones his flesh and his blood they cannot be put on like a garment for the nuns as many a little learning a man cannot become faithful to his friends unsuspicious before the world gentle with women loving with children considerate to his inferiors kindly with servants tenderhearted with all and at the same time be frank of open speech with springing eager energies simply because he desires it these things which are the attributes of manliness must come of training on a nature not ignoble but they are the very opposites the antipodes of the direct antagonism of that starring, posed, be whiskered and bewigged deportment that nil admirari self-remembering assumption of manliness that endeavor of two pence half-penny to look as high as three pence which when you prod it through has in it nothing deeper than deportment we see the two things daily side by side close to each other let a man put his hat down and you shall say where he has deposited it with affection or true nature the natural man will probably be manly the affected man cannot be so Mrs. Lowe was wrong when she accused our hero of being unmanly had this imagination been less alert in looking into the minds of men and in picturing to himself the thoughts of others in reference to the crime with which he had been charged he would not now have shrunk from contact with his fellow creatures as he did but he could not pretend to be other than he was during the period of his danger when men had thought that he would be hung and when he himself had believed that it would be so he had borne himself bravely without any conscious effort when he had confronted the whole court with that steady courage which had excited Lord Children's admiration and looked at the bench as though he at last had no cause to quail he had known nothing of what he was doing his features had answered the helm from his heart but had not been played upon by his intellect and it was so with him now the reaction had overcome him and he could not bring himself to pretend that it was not so the tears would come to his eyes and he would shiver and shake like one struck by palsy Mr. Monk came to him often and was all but forgiven for the apparent defection in his face I have made up my mind to one thing Phineas said to him at the end of the ten days and what is the one thing I will give up my seat I do not see a shadow of a reason for it nevertheless I will do it indeed I have already written to Mr. Rattler for the hundreds there may be and probably are men down at Tangerville who still think that I am guilty there is an offensiveness and murder which degrades a man uned by the accusation I suppose it would not do for you to move to the new writ Rattler will do it as a matter of course no doubt there will be expressions of great regret and my belief is that they will return you again if so they will have to do it without my presence Mr. Rattler did move for a new writ for the borough of Tangerville and within a fortnight of his restoration to Liberty Phineas Finn was no longer a member of parliament it cannot be alleged that there was any reason for what he did and yet the doing of it for the time rather increased and diminished his popularity both Mr. Gresham and Mr. Domney expressed their regret in the house and Mr. Monks had a few words respecting his friend which were very touching he ended by expressing a hope that they soon might see him there again and an opinion that he was a man purely fitted by the tone of his mind and the nature of an intellect for the duties of parliament then at last when all had been settled he went to Lord Brentford's house in Portman Square he had promised that that should be the first house he would visit and he was as good as his word one evening he crept out and walked slowly along Oxford Street and knocked timidly at the door as he did so he longed to be told that Lady Laura was not at home but Lady Laura was at home and as a matter of course in those days she never went into society and then not pass an evening away from her father's house since Mr. Kennedy's death he was shown up into the drawing room in which she sat and there he found her alone oh Phineas I'm so glad you have come I have done as I said you see I could not go to you when they told me that you were ill you will have understood all that yes I understand people are so hard and cold and stiff and cruel that one can never do what one feels oneself to be right so you have given up your seat yes I am no longer a member of parliament Berington says that they will certainly re-elect you you shall see you may be sure at any rate of this that I shall never ask them to do so things seem to be so different now from what they did then I don't care for the seat it all seems to be a bore in a trouble what doesn't matter who sits in parliament the fight goes on just the same the same falsehoods are acted the same mocked tourists are spoken the same wrong reasons are given the same personal motives are at work and yet all the believers in parliament used to be the most faithful one has time to think of things Lady Laura when one lies in Newgate it seems to me to be an eternity of time since they locked me up and as for that trial which they tell me lasted a week I look back at it till the beginning is so distant that I can hardly remember it but I have resolved that I will never talk of it again Lady Chiltern is probably out yes, she and Oswald are dining with the Bulldogs she as well yes, and most anxious to see you will you go to their place in September? he had almost made up his mind that if he were to go anywhere in September he would go to matching priory accepting the offer of the Duchess of Omnium but he did not dare to say so to Lady Laura because she would have known that Madame Gaestler also would be there and he had not as yet accepted the invitation and was still in doubt whether he would not escape by himself instead of attempting to return into the grooves of society I think not I am hardly as yet sufficiently mastered myself to know what I shall do they will be much disappointed and you, what will you do? I shall not go there I am told that I ought to visit Lowlinter and I suppose I shall Oswald has promised to go down with me before the end of the month but he will not remain above a day or two and your father? we shall leave him at Salisby I cannot look at all in the face yet it is possible that I should remain all alone in that great house the people all around would hate and despise me I think Violet will come down with me but of course she cannot remain there Oswald must go to Harrington because of the hunting it has become the business of his life and she must go with him you will return to Salisby? I cannot say they seem to think that I should live at Lowlinter I cannot live there alone he soon took leave of her and did so with no warmer expressions of regard on either side than had here been given then he crept back to his lodgings and she sat weeping alone in her father's house when he had come to her during her husband's lifetime of Dresden or even when she visited him at his prison it had been better than this End of Chapter 68 Chapter 69 of Phineas Redux This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Nicholas Clifford Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollop Chapter 69 The Duke's First Cousin Our pages have lately been taken up almost exclusively with the troubles of Phineas Finn and indeed have so far not unfairly represented the feelings and interests of people generally at the time not to have talked to Phineas Finn from the middle of May to the middle of July in that year would have exhibited great ignorance or a cynical disposition but other things went on also moons waxed and waned children were born marriages were contracted and the hopes and fears of the little world around did not come to an end because Phineas Finn was not to be hung among others who had interests of their own there was poor Adelaide Palliser whom we last saw under the affliction of Mr. Spooner's love but who before that had encountered the much deeper affliction of a quarrel with her own lover she had desired him to free her and he had gone indeed as to his going at that moment there had been no alternative as he considered himself to have been turned out of Lord Chiltern's house the red-headed lord in the fierceness of his defence of Miss Palliser had told the lover that under such and such circumstances he could not be allowed to remain at Harrington Hall Lord Chiltern had said something about his roof now when a host questions the propriety of a guest remaining under his roof the guest is obliged to go Gerard Mall had gone and having offended his sweetheart by a most impolite allusion to Boulogne had been forced to go as a rejected lover from that day to this he had done nothing not because he was contended with a lot of sign to him for every morning as he lay on his bed which he usually did till twelve he swore to himself that nothing should separate him from Adelaide Palliser but simply because to do nothing was customary with him what is a man to do? he not unnaturally asked his friend Captain Boodle at the club let her out on the grass for a couple of months said Captain Boodle and she'll come up clean as a whistle when they get these humours there's nothing like giving them a run Captain Boodle undoubtedly had the reputation of being very great in council on such matters but it must not be supposed that Gerard Mall was contended to take his advice implicitly he was unhappy, ill at ease half-conscious that he ought to do something full of regrets but very idle in the meantime Miss Palliser who had the finer nature of the two suffered grievously the Spooner affair was but a small addition to her misfortune she could get rid of Mr. Spooner of any number of Mr. Spooners but how should she get back to her the man she loved when young ladies quarrel with their lovers it is always presumed, especially in books that they do not wish to get them back it is to be understood that the loss to them is as nothing Miss Smith begs that Mr. Jones may be assured that he is not to consider her at all if he is pleased to separate she will be at any rate quite as well pleased probably a great deal better no doubt she had loved him with all her heart she will make no difference to her if he wishes to be off upon the whole Miss Smith thinks that she would prefer such an arrangement in spite of her heart Adelaide Palliser had said something of the kind as Gerard Mall had regarded her as a trouble and had lamented that prospect of Boulogne which marriage had presented to his eyes she had dismissed him with a few easily spoken words she had assured him that no such troubles need way upon him no doubt they had been engaged but as far as she was concerned the remembrance of that need not embarrass him and so she and Lord Chilton between them had sent him away but how was she to get him back again when she came to think it over she acknowledged to herself that it would be all the world to her to have him back to have him at all had been all the world to her there had been nothing peculiarly heroic about him nor had she ever regarded him as a hero she had known his faults and weaknesses and was probably aware that he was inferior to herself in character and intellect but nevertheless she had loved him to her he had been so not heroic sufficiently a man to win her heart he was a gentleman pleasant mannered pleasant to look at pleasant to talk to not educated in the high sense of the word but never making himself ridiculous by ignorance he was the very antipodes of a spooner and he was or rather had been her lover she did not wish to change she did not recognize the possibility of changing though she had told him that he might go if he pleased to her his going would be the loss of everything what would life be without a lover without the prospect of marriage and there could be no other lover there could be no further prospects should he take her at her word of all this Lord Chilton understood nothing but Lady Chilton understood it all to his thinking the young man had behaved so badly that it was incumbent on them all to send him away and so have done with him if the young man wanted a quarrel with any one there was he to be quarrelled with the thing was a trouble and the sooner they got to the end of it the better but Lady Chilton understood more than that she could not prevent the quarrel as it came or was coming but she knew that the quarrel of lovers is the renewal of love at any rate the woman always desires that it may be so and endeavors to reconcile the parted ones you'll see him in London Lady Chilton had said to her friend I do not want to see him said Adelaide proudly but he'll want to see you and then after a time you'll want to see him I don't believe in quarrels you know it is better that we should part Lady Chilton if marrying will cause him dismay I begin to feel that we are too poor to be married a great deal poorer people than you are married every day of course people can't be equally rich you'll do very well if you'll only be patient and not refuse to speak to him when he comes to you this was said at Harrington after Lady Chilton had returned from her first journey up to London that visit had been very short and Miss Palliser had been left alone at the hall we already know how Mr. Spooner took advantage of her solitude after that Miss Palliser was to accompany the children to London and she was there with them when Phineas Finn was acquitted by that time she had brought herself to acknowledge to her friend Lady Chilton that it would perhaps be desirable that Mr. Mall should return if he did not do so and that at once there must come an end to her life in England she must go away to Italy all together beyond the reach of Gerard Mall in such case all the world would have collapsed for her and she would have become the martyr of a shipwreck and yet the more that she confessed to herself that she loved the man so well that she could not part with him the more angry she was with him for having told her that when married they must live at Boulogne the House and Portman Square had been practically given up by Lord Brentford to his son but nevertheless the old Earl and Lady Laura had returned to it when they reached England from Dresden it was however large and now the two families if the Earl and his daughter can be called a family were lodging there together the Earl troubled them but little living mostly in his own rooms and Lady Laura never went out with them but there was something in the presence of the old man and the widow which prevented the House from being gay as it might have been there were no parties in Portman Square now and then a few old friends dined there but at the present moment Gerard Mall could not be admitted as an old friend when Adelaide had been a fortnight in London she had not as yet seen Gerard Mall or heard a word from him she had been to balls and concerts to dinner parties and the play but no one had as yet brought them together she did know that he was in town she was able to obtain so much information of him as that but he never came to Portman Square and it evidently concluded that the quarrel was to be a quarrel among other balls in London that July there had been one at the Duchess of Omniums this had been given after the acquittal of Phineus Finn though fixed before that great era nothing on earth should have made me have it while he was in prison the Duchess had said but Phineus was acquitted and cakes and ale again became permissible the ball had been given and it had been very grand Phineus had been asked but of course had not gone Madame Gersler who was a great heroine since her successful return from Prague had shown herself there for a few minutes lady children had gone and of course taken Adelaide we are first cousins the Duke said to Miss Palliser for the Duke did steal a moment from his work in which to walk through his wife's drawing room Adelaide smiled and nodded and looked pleased as she gave her hand to her great relative I hope we shall see more of each other than we have done said the Duke we have all been sadly divided haven't we and he said a word to his wife expressing his opinion that Adelaide Palliser was a nice girl and asking her to be civil to so near a relative the Duchess had heard all about Gerard Maul and the engagement she always did hear all about everything and on this evening she asked a question or two from lady children do you know, she said I have an appointment tomorrow with your husband I did not know but I won't interfere to prevent it now you are generous enough to tell me I wish you would because I don't know what to say to him he is to come about that horrid wood where the foxes won't get themselves born and bred as foxes ought to do how can I help it I'd send down a whole lying-in hospital for the foxes if I thought that would do any good Lord children thinks it's the shooting but where is the person to shoot if he may and shoot in his own woods not that the Duke cares about the shooting for himself he could not hit a pheasant sitting on a haystack and wouldn't know one if he saw it and he'd rather that there wasn't such a thing as a pheasant in the world he cares for nothing but far things but what is a man to do or rather what is a woman to do for he tells me that I must settle it Lord children says that Mr. Fathergill has the foxes destroyed I suppose Mr. Fathergill may do his e-pleases if the Duke gives him permission I hate Mr. Fathergill if that'll do any good said the Duchess and we wish we could get rid of him altogether but that you know is impossible when one has an old man on one's shoulders one can never get rid of him he is my incubus you see trumpet and wood is such a long way from a submatching that I can't say I want the shooting for myself and I'd never go to gather him if I can help it suppose we made out that the Duke wanted to let the shooting Lord children would take it at once but the Duke wouldn't really let it you know I'll lay awake at night and think about it and now tell me about Adelaide Palliser is she to be married? I hope so, sooner or later there's a quarrel or something isn't there she's the Duke's first cousin and we should be so sorry that things shouldn't go pleasantly with her and she's a very good looking girl too would she like to come down to matching? she has some idea of going to Italy and leaving her lover behind her oh dear, that will be very bad she'd much better come to matching and then I'd ask the man to come too Mr. Maud isn't he? Gerard Moll I.S. Moll if it's the kind of thing that ought to be I'd manage it in a week if you get a young man down into a country house and there has been anything at all between them I don't see how he is to escape isn't there some trouble about money? they wouldn't be very rich, Duchess what a blessing for them but then perhaps they'd be very poor they would be rather poor which is not a blessing isn't there some proverb about going safely in the middle I'm sure it's true about money only perhaps you ought to be put a little beyond the middle I don't know why Plantagenet shouldn't do something for her as to this conversation Lady Chilton said very little to Adelaide but she did mention the proposed visit to matching the Duchess said nothing to me replied Adelaide proudly no, I don't suppose she had time and then she is so very odd sometimes taking no notice of one and at others so very loving I hate that but with her it is neither impudence nor affectation she says exactly what she thinks at the time and she is always as good as her word there are worse women than the Duchess I am sure I wouldn't like going to matching said Adelaide Lady Chilton was right in saying that the Duchess of Omnium was always as good as her word on the next day after that interview with Lord Chilton about Mr. Father Gil and the Foxes as to which no present further allusion need be made here she went to work and did learn a good deal about Gerard Mall and Miss Palliser something she learned from Lord Chilton without any consciousness on his lordship's part something from Madame Gerstler and something from the Baldark people before she went to bed on the second night she knew all about the quarrel and all about the money Plantagenet she said the next morning what are you going to do about the Duke's legacy to marry Gerstler I can do nothing she must take the things of course she won't and the jewels must remain packed up I supposedly sold at last for legacy duty and when that's paid the balance will belong to her but what about the money of course it belongs to her couldn't you give it to that girl who was here last night give it to a girl yes to your cousin she's as poor as Job and can't get married because she hasn't got any money it's quite true and I must say that if the Duke had looked after his own relations instead of leaving money to people who don't want it and won't have it it would have been much better why shouldn't Adelaide Palace have it how on earth should I give Adelaide Palace what doesn't belong to me if you choose to make her a present you can but such a sum as that would I should say be out of the question the Duchess had achieved quite as much as she had anticipated she knew her husband well and was aware that she couldn't carry her point at once to her mind it was all nonsense his saying the money was not his if Madame Gersler would not take it it must be his and nobody could make a woman take money if she did not choose Adelaide Palace it was the Duke's first cousin and it was intolerable that the Duke's first cousin should be unable to marry because she would have nothing to live upon it became at least intolerable as soon as the Duchess had taken it into her head to like the first cousin no doubt there were other first cousins as badly off or perhaps worse as to whom the Duchess would care nothing whether they were rich or poor married or single but then they were first cousins who had not had the advantage of interesting the Duchess my dear said the Duchess to her friend Madame Gersler you know all about those malls what makes you ask but you do I know something about one of them said Madame Gersler now as it happened Mr. Mall Sr. had on that very day asked Madame Gersler to share her lot with his and the request had been almost indignantly refused the general theory that the wooing of widows should be quick had perhaps misled Mr. Mall perhaps he did not think that the wooing had been quick he had visited Park Lane with the object of making his little proposition once before and had then been stopped in his course by the consternation occasioned by the arrest of Phineas Finn he had waited till Phineas had been acquitted and had then resolved to try his luck he had heard of the lady's journey to Prague and was acquainted of course with those rumours which too freely connected the name of our hero with that of the lady but rumours are often false and a lady may go to Prague on a gentleman's behalf without intending to marry him all the women in London were at present more and less in love with the man who had been accused of murder and the fantasy of Madame Gersler might be only as the fantasy of others and then rumour also said that Phineas Finn intended to marry Lady Laura Kennedy at any rate a man cannot have his head broken for asking a lady to marry him unless he is very awkward in the doing of it so Mr. Mall had made his little proposition Mr. Mall, said Madame Smiling is not this rather sudden? Mr. Mall admitted that it was sudden but still persisted I think if you please Mr. Mall we will say no more about it said the lady with that wicked smile still on her face Mr. Mall declared that silence on the subject had become impossible to him then Mr. Mall, I shall have to leave you to speak to the chairs and tables said Madame Gersler no doubt she was used to the thing and knew how to conduct herself well he also had been refused before by ladies of wealth but had never been treated with so little consideration she had risen from her chair as though about to leave the room but was slow in her movement showing him that she thought it was well for him to leave it instead of her muttering some words half of apology and half of self-assertion he did leave the room and now she told the Duchess that she knew something of one of the malls that is the father? yes, the father he is one of your tribe I know we met him at your house just before the murder much admire your taste my dear because he's a hundred and fifty years old and what there is of him comes chiefly from the tailor he's as good as any other old man I dare say that I hope Mr. Finn will like his society but he has got a son so he tells me who is a charming young man he never told me that Duchess I dare say not one of that sort are always jealous of their sons but he has now I am going to tell you something and ask you to do something what was it the French minister said? if it is simply difficult it is done if it is impossible it shall be done the easiest thing in the world you saw Plantagenet's first cousin the other night Adelaide Palliser she is engaged to marry young Mr. Mall and they neither of them have a shilling in the world I want you to give them five and twenty thousand pounds wouldn't that be peculiar? not at the least at any rate it would be inconvenient no it wouldn't my dear it would be the most convenient thing in the world of course I don't mean out of your pocket there's the Duke's legacy it isn't mine and never will be but Plantagenet says it can never be anybody else's if I can get him to agree will you? of course there will be ever so many papers to be signed and the biggest of all robbers the Chancellor of the Exchequer will put his fingers into the pudding and pull out a plum and the lawyers will take more plums but that will be nothing to us the pudding will be very nice for them let ever so many plums be taken the lawyers and people will do it all and then it will be her fortune just as though her uncle had left it to her as it is now the money will never be of any use to anybody Madame Gersler said as the Duke consented she also would consent it was immaterial to her who had the money if by signing any receipt she could facilitate the return of the money to any one of the Duke's family she would willingly sign it but Miss Palliser must be made to understand that the money did not come to her as a present from Madame Gersler but it will be a present from Madame Gersler said the Duke Plantagenet, if you go and upset everything by saying that I shall think it most ill-natured bother about true somebody must have the money there's nothing illegal about it and the Duchess had her own way lawyers were consulted and documents were prepared the whole thing was arranged only Adelaide Palliser knew nothing about it nor did Gerard Mall and the quarrels of lovers had not yet become the renewal of love then the Duchess wrote the two following notes my dear Adelaide we shall hope to see you at matching on the 15th of August the Duke as head of the family expects implicit obedience you'll meet 15 young gentlemen at the Treasury and the Board of Trade but they won't incommode you as they are kept at work all day we hope Mr Finn will be with us and there isn't a lady in England who wouldn't give her eyes to meet him we shall stay ever so many weeks at matching so that you can do as you please as to the time of leaving us yours affectionately G O tell Lord Chilton that I have my hopes in trumpeting wood too hot for Mr Father Gill but I have to act with the greatest caution in the meantime I am sending down dozens of young foxes all labelled trumpeting wood so that he shall know them the other was a card rather than a note the Duke and Duchess of Omnium presented their compliments to Mr Gerard Mall and requested the honour of his company to dinner on a certain day named when Gerard Mall received this card at his club he was rather surprised as he had never made the acquaintance either of the Duke or the Duchess but the Duke was the first cousin of Adelaide Palacer and of course he accepted the invitation End of Chapter 69