Indeed, the truth is, that there is no case against
her at all. There would be no motive to induce
her to be guilty of such an act. She would have
sustained loss instead of gain by her mistress's
death. She had no poison in her possession, and
everything has gone to prove her intense affection
for her mistress, and devotion to her service.
Any theory serving to connect her, then, with the
poisoning of the deceased may be dismissed at
once.

"With regard to the second person to whom
it was possible for suspicion to attach in this
case, and on whom it has fallen very heavily,—
her it will be less easy to clear, though that also
shall be done, as I firmly believe, to the
satisfaction of all here present.

"And first, with regard to the evidence against
the accused, there is not one single fact that has
been adduced here this day of which I am
prepared for one moment to dispute the accuracy.
It is all true. The inferences that have been
deduced from these facts alone are false. But I
will go further than this, and admit that the
circumstantial evidence in this case is damnatory
in the extreme, and points with fearful force, at
first sight, to the guilt of the accused. And this
evidence is, as I have said, true. I am not going
to dispute one point of it from beginning to end,
and yet I believe that I shall be able to prove
beyond a doubt that it is all compatible with the
entire innocence of the accused. It is true, then,
as the evidence has shown, that differences
between her and the deceased lady did arise from
time to time during their intercourse, and that
the accused was subjected to such provocation
as might very well have been supposed to lead to
considerable ill feeling on her part towards the
deceased. It is not for me to dwell upon the
faults of the dead, unless with a view to the
preservation of the living; but the fact of such
provocation having existed, is beyond a doubt. It is
true also that, besides the motive of revenge
which such provocation might well have awakened
in some natures, there appears at first sight to
have been another reason why the accused should
desire the death of the late Miss Carrington—
the pecuniary gain, namely, which might possibly
arise from her leaving this world so suddenly,
that, having no warning to prepare her affairs,
she would probably die intestate, a circumstance
which would be indirectly highly profitable to
the accused. It is true that there is thus abundant
motive proved for such an act as that which
she is charged with committing. Moreover, it
is true that the accused went out of the way—
and this on the evening of the day on which there
had been a serious disagreement between her and
deceased—went out of her way to gain an
opportunity of conveying to the deceased food and
drink in which poison might easily have been
concealed, that there was even delay sufficient in
the conveyance of such meat and drink to her for
whom it was prepared to have allowed of its
being qualified in the deadly manner which has
been suggested. It is true that after swallowing
that food and drink to which the accused had
had such free access, the death took place, the
circumstances of which this trial is now investigating;
and that a certain quantity of the very
poison by which the deceased died was found in
the possession of the accused. It is true that
this poison was concealed out of sight, and that
to all appearance an attempt was made by the
accused to place the bottle which had held the
poison where no human eye was likely to light on
it. All this is true, and yet, overwhelming as
such an amount and such a force of evidence
seems, I shall yet be able to prove to you—yes,
prove beyond the shadow of a doubt—that these
things do truly and undoubtedly, in this case,
co-exist with the most complete innocence, on
the part of the accused, in thought, and word,
and deed." Here, once more, there was a short
silence, of which every one present seemed to
take advantage to draw a long breath. The
advocate for the defence appeared to gain additional
strength now with every word that he uttered,
and the hesitation which had marked the
commencement of his address was rapidly disappearing.
Presently he went on.

"Now as to motive and the ill feeling towards
deceased attributed to the accused. We have
already seen, by the testimony of the servant,
Charlotte Grimes, who lived with her, that she
was long-suffering and hard to be provoked, and
this I shall be able to corroborate with other
evidence, proving that she was never given to
quarrelling or ill feeling, and was of an
exceptionably kind and affectionate disposition. It
must be admitted that the accused was at times
provoked beyond all measure, and to such a
degree, that we should justly accuse any person
of want of heart and feeling who could always
remain calm and unirritated under such extreme
provocation. I trust that I shall be able to prove
to the jury that such irritation as may have been
called up by the circumstances under which the
accused was placed, was of a very momentary
kind, and wholly inconsistent with the deep
malignant feeling which the commission of such a
crime as that under the consideration of the jury
would imply. It is undoubtedly unfortunate
that in the accounts of such disagreements as I
have spoken of we have heard only the evidence
of one powerfully biased in favour of the
deceased. Nor can we hear other, the only other
person who was ever present on such occasions
being precluded from giving evidence as a
witness. This is unfortunate, for, clear from all
suspicion in this case as Jane Cantanker
certainly is, it must yet be owned that as a witness
she has shown herself to be under the inlluence
of very bitter feeling towards the accused.

"And now as to the conveying of that meat
and drink to the deceased lady — is there no view
of that act possible but a suspicious one? Might
it not happen that the accused, conscious that
an unpleasant scene had taken place that day,
and that words had passed between herself and
deceased, might wish to explain what she had