who's sure of life's game,
when fate interferes?
for praise or for blame,
who's sure of life's game?
a sentence--a name,
turns joy into tears,
who's sure of life's game,
when fate interferes?
this strange case--particulars of which in some mysterious way got into the daily papers--excited much curiosity in london, and when the preliminary inquiry into the affair took place, the court was crowded to suffocation. the public, of course, learned all about the matter from the newspapers, but how the reporters managed to learn so much was most extraordinary, as they gave an account of mrs. belswin's previous life--of her presence, under a false name, in the house of her late husband--of the murder of that husband--and of the wonderful amount of money realised by the sale of the pole star shares for the daughter of the murdered man, and the woman accused of the crime. all this, more or less garbled and exaggerated, appeared in the leading morning papers, and the "pethram paradox"--so it was called--took a prominent place among the sensations of the day. maxwell, deeply angered at this publicity, which would make the public judge mrs. belswin guilty, before she had a chance of defending herself, made several attempts to find dombrain, whom he suspected of being the author of this malignant gossip in order to damage the chance of the unfortunate woman during her trial, but mr. dombrain, suspecting that he would be looked for, made himself scarce, and until the day of the preliminary inquiry, nothing was seen or heard of him by those on the side of mrs. belswin.
kaituna, noble-hearted girl as she was, persistently refused to believe her mother guilty; and, through maxwell engaged the most prominent legal talent of the day for her defence; but although she sought an interview with mrs. belswin in jail, the unhappy woman persistently refused to see her until she was publicly proved innocent of the terrible crime laid to her charge. at this trying time archie maxwell proved himself worthy of the high opinion entertained of him by kaituna, and acting as mrs. belswin's friend did everything in his power to assist her during the coming ordeal. signor ferrari too, mad with impulsive italian wrath at the accusation made by mr. dombrain, offered himself as a witness; but on discovering that his evidence would be detrimental to mrs. belswin's defence, the lawyer declined to take advantage of his offer. as for belk, whom maxwell thought would be one of the first to come forward and help the unhappy woman he professed to love, he kept persistently out of the way, and neither by word nor deed showed that he took the least interest in her fate. when the day of the preliminary inquiry therefore came, mrs. belswin was left with only three friends who believed in her innocence--kaituna, maxwell, and ferrari, who were all present in court when she was placed in the prisoner's dock.
she looked terribly pale and haggard, for mrs. belswin, having one of those natures which are only strong through impulse, was quite unable to bear up against the calamity which had befallen her. all her fierceness, her iron nerve, her reckless daring, which had successfully coped with so many perils, had now deserted her; for this blow, so long dreaded, having descended, she seemed unable to fight against it, and stood silently in the dock, a pale weeping woman, quite unlike the borgia-like creature of other days. the follower of mahomet will fight bravely as long as fortune goes with him; but when the tide turns and he believes that it is the will of allah that evil should befall him, he says kismet, and bows to the decree of heaven. mrs. belswin behaved in exactly the same way--she had fought bravely against overwhelming odds to keep her daughter and her secret, but now that the worst had come she thought it useless to struggle against destiny, so resigned herself to the inevitable.
the counsel for the prosecution stated that this was one of the most painful cases that had ever come under his notice. it would be remembered that some months previously the public had been horrified to hear of the murder of sir rupert pethram, of thornstream, berkshire; who had been shot while standing at the window of his study. in spite of the utmost vigilance of the police the person who had committed this dastardly crime could not be discovered; but now, by the evidence of mr. alfred dombrain, the prisoner was accused of being the guilty person. the chain of circumstances which culminated in the committal of this crime were so extraordinary that he would take leave to inform the court of the whole affair, and the motive for the murder would be clearly proved against the prisoner. it appears that many years ago the deceased baronet--who at that time had not succeeded to the title--had married in new zealand, where he was then living, the prisoner, jezebel manners, who was a half-caste, the daughter of a maori mother and a european father, a woman of violent and rash temper. one child was born of the marriage, which turned out to be very unhappy; and eventually mrs. pethram eloped with an american, called silas oates. the late baronet obtained a decree absolute against her, and remained in new zealand, where he looked after the welfare of his motherless child, while his divorced wife went to san francisco with the co-respondent oates. the divorced woman and her lover were together for some time; but he ultimately left her, evidently being quite unable to bear with her outrageous temper. the prisoner then went on the stage, and sang successfully in opera for many years under the name of madame tagni. finally, about eight months previously, she came to england, and found that her husband, by the death of his brother, had succeeded to the title, and was living at thornstream, in berkshire, with his daughter kaituna.
the prisoner, anxious to see her child again concocted a scheme by which to enter the house as a companion to miss pethram. sir rupert had gone out to new zealand on business, and, according to his instructions, mr. dombrain advertised for a companion for miss pethram during his absence. the prisoner applied, and was engaged for the situation by mr. dombrain, who was quite in ignorance of her antecedents, and her connection with the late baronet. she took possession of the situation, and while sir rupert was absent everything went well. on his arrival, however, he had an interview with the so-called mrs. belswin, and, recognising his guilty wife, ordered her out of the house. this interview took place at night, about nine o'clock, in the study at thornstream; and mrs. belswin left the house by the window, vowing vengeance for the course adopted by her husband. instead, therefore, of going away she lurked outside on the terrace, and when her husband came to the window she shot him with a pistol she had in her possession. having committed this terrible crime, she had coolly stepped across the body of the man she had murdered, and re-entering the house went to her bedroom. all the household being ignorant alike of her interview with the late baronet and her antecedents, she was never for a moment suspected, except by mr. dombrain. that gentleman, hearing the noise of mrs. belswin coming upstairs, looked out of the door of his bedroom and saw her pass him. next morning, when the crime was known, he would have denounced her; but owing to the darkness of the night was unable to be certain of the identity of the woman who crept upstairs. the other day, however, he taxed mrs. belswin with the crime; and although she denied it, yet from her agitated manner he felt certain she was the criminal, upon which he at once gave information to the police. mrs. belswin was arrested on a warrant, and now stood charged with the murder of her late husband, sir rupert pethram. the first and only witness he would call would be mr. alfred dombrain, upon whose accusation the prisoner had been arrested.
this skilfully worded speech made things look very black against mrs. belswin; and when dombrain stepped into the witness-box to substantiate the terrible statements made by the counsel for the prosecution, there were many who looked upon the prisoner's committal for trial as a foregone conclusion.
mr. dombrain, having been duly sworn, stated that he had acted as the legal adviser of the late baronet, and in pursuance of his instructions had engaged the prisoner as a companion for miss pethram. he was wholly ignorant of her former life, and that she was the divorced wife of the late sir rupert, but as she seemed a suitable person for a chaperon, he had engaged her at once, upon which she went down to thornstream in order to take up her duties. upon the arrival of sir rupert in england he had gone down to thornstream in connection with some legal business the late baronet wished to see him about mrs. belswin was not at thornstream on his arrival, as she had gone to london a few days previous about some private matter; but she arrived at thornstream on the same afternoon as he did. she did not appear at dinner, but on leaving the study after an interview with sir rupert he had seen the prisoner enter. as she did not re-appear in the drawing-room, where he was sitting with miss pethram, he retired to bed, and he believed miss pethram also retired to bed, having a bad headache. towards eleven o'clock he thought he heard the sound of a shot, but was not certain, although he sprang out of bed and went to the door of his room. it was near the staircase, and as he leaned over the banisters in the darkness, he heard the study door shut with a slight noise, after which mrs. belswin came hastily upstairs, and went into her own room. next morning, when the crime was discovered, she said she had not been out of her room at that hour. he was not quite sure if it was mrs. belswin, as the staircase was dark. a week ago she came to his office on business, and he accused her of having committed the murder, which accusation she at first denied, but afterwards half confessed to her guilt. he at once gave information to the police, and she was arrested.
in cross-examination mr. dombrain said he had found out all about the prisoner's relations with the deceased from some papers in his possession, and knew mrs. belswin was the divorced wife from the description given of her in the handwriting of the deceased.
counsel for the accused.--i see that at the inquiry into the death of sir rupert you said you had not heard a pistol-shot.
mr. dombrain.--i was not certain and sooner than declare i heard, i thought it best to reply in the negative.
counsel.--is it not true, mr. dombrain, that you have a grudge against the prisoner?
dombrain.--no, it is not true.
counsel.--the prisoner declares that she knew you in new zealand.
dombrain.--it is a lie. i never was in new zealand.
counsel.--not under the name of damberton?
dombrain.--no.
counsel.--i understand your name has been struck off the rolls.
dombrain.--i don't see what that has to do with the case.
counsel.--ah, you are rather dense; i will explain. your real name is alfred damberton. you were imprisoned in new zealand for embezzlement, and on your release you came to england. is this not true?
dombrain (violently).--no sir! it is false! who accuses me? the prisoner!--and why? because i have brought her to justice. through her lies i have been struck off the rolls, but i can prove myself innocent, and will do so shortly!
counsel.--i wish you every success, mr. dombrain, but i am afraid you will find it difficult!
when dombrain left the witness-box, the counsel for the prosecution said he had no more witnesses to call at present, upon which the counsel for the defence made a short speech, and said that as his learned brother had set the example of brevity, he would do the same thing, and only call one witness in defence of the prisoner. the name of that witness was samson belk.
mrs. belswin looked surprised when she heard this name, not for a moment thinking that belk's evidence could do her any good; and kaituna also appeared to be astonished, as she knew how belk had kept out of the way since her mother's arrest. maxwell's face, however, wore a contented smile, and this smile was reflected in the countenance of the defending counsel, so, without doubt, these two men knew that belk's evidence was valuable, and were prepared to abide by the result.
samson belk, stepping into the witness-box, made oath according to law, and gave the following remarkable evidence in favour of the prisoner:--
he had been steward to the deceased baronet, and on the night of the murder had come up to the hall to ask his master a question about the discharge of farm hands. if was nearly eleven o'clock when he arrived at the door of the hall, and he hesitated whether to disturb sir rupert at that hour. however, seeing the light streaming out of the window of sir rupert's study, he advanced along in that direction, but on hearing angry voices he had hidden himself behind a bush on the terrace, in order to see what was the matter. the voices were those of sir rupert and another man, whose tones he did not recognise. the other man was imploring sir rupert to keep some secret, but the baronet refused, and said all the world would know the truth on the morrow. the man began to threaten, and sir rupert thrust him out of the window on to the terrace, telling him he would ruin him by revealing everything. so strong had been the baronet's push that the man fell down upon the side of the terrace near the balustrade, and sir rupert, with outstretched hand, stood pointing at him. the light of the lamp within shone on the man crouching at the baronet's feet, and i saw him take out something--i did not know what--and point it at sir rupert, who stood in the window. there was no sound, and yet the baronet fell, and the man, with a cry of triumph, rushed away into the darkness. witness ran forward to see what was the matter with his master, and found him dead. he (the witness) had had a quarrel with sir rupert on that day, and being afraid lest, if he gave the alarm, he should be accused of the murder, and could not defend himself, he went away, and said nothing about it. the crime was discovered next morning, but no suspicion was fixed upon him, as no one had known of his presence on the terrace that night.
counsel for the prosecution.--but could you not denounce the man who committed the crime?
belk.--i did not know who he was--i never saw him before or since the light fell on him through the window, until----
counsel for the prosecution.--until when?
belk.--until i saw him to-day.
there was a great sensation in court, and every one looked at one another in astonishment, while a gleam of triumph flashed from the eyes of the prisoner.
counsel for the prosecution.--if you saw him to-day, as you say, do you know his name?
belk.--yes.
counsel for the prosecution.--and the name of this man who killed sir rupert?
belk.--the man who accuses the prisoner of the murder--the man you call dombrain.
if there was excitement before, there was ten times more excitement now, and the crier found great difficulty in reducing all present to silence. there was a sudden pause in the noise, and the prisoner, raising her eyes to heaven, said in a solemn voice--
"it is true! i am innocent of this crime. he has fallen himself into the pit he digged for another."
yes, she was innocent, and the man who accused her guilty; but when they looked for dombrain, in order to arrest him, he had disappeared--vanished into the depths of mighty london, when he heard his name coupled with that of murder.
