by George Eliot
CHAPTER XLVI.
Why, there are maidens of heroic touch, And yet they seem like things of gossamer You'd pinch the life out of, as out of moths. Oh, it is not loud tones and mouthingness, 'Tis not the arms akimbo and large strides, That make a woman's force. The tiniest birds, With softest downy breasts, have passions in them, And are brave with love.
Esther was so placed in the Court, under Mrs. Transome's wing, as to seeand hear everything without effort: Harold had received them at thehotel, and had observed that Esther looked ill, and was unusuallyabstracted in her manner; but this seemed to be sufficiently accountedfor by her sympathetic anxiety about the result of a trial in which theprisoner at the bar was a friend, and in which both her father andhimself were important witnesses, Mrs. Transome had no reluctance tokeep a small secret from her son, and no betrayal was made of thatprevious "engagement" of Esther's with her father. Harold wasparticularly delicate and unobtrusive in his attentions to-day: he hadthe consciousness that he was going to behave in a way that wouldgratify Esther and win her admiration, and we are all of us made moregraceful by the inward presence of what we believe to be a generouspurpose; our actions move to a hidden music--"a melody that's sweetlyplayed in tune."
If Esther had been less absorbed by supreme feelings, she would havebeen aware that she was an object of special notice. In the baresquareness of a public hall, where there was not one jutting angle tohang a guess or a thought upon, not an image or a bit of color to stirthe fancy, and where the only objects of speculation, of admiration, orof any interest whatever were human beings, that occupied positionsindicating some importance, the notice bestowed on Esther would not havebeen surprising, even if it had been merely a tribute to her youthfulcharm, which was well championed by Mrs. Transome's elderly majesty. Butit was due also to whisperings that she was an hereditary claimant ofthe Transome estates, whom Harold Transome was about to marry. Haroldhimself had of late not cared to conceal either the fact or theprobability: they both tended rather to his honor than his dishonor. Andto-day, when there was a good proportion of Trebians present, thewhisperings spread rapidly.
The Court was still more crowded than on the previous day, when our pooracquaintance Dredge and his two collier companions were sentenced to ayear's imprisonment with hard labor, and the more enlightened prisoner,who stole the Debarry's plate, to transportation for life. Poor Dredgehad cried, had wished he'd "never heared of 'lection," and in spite ofsermons from the jail chaplain, fell back on the explanation that thiswas a world in which Spratt and Old Nick were sure to get the best ofit; so that in Dredge's case, at least, most observers must have had themelancholy conviction that there had been no enhancement of publicspirit and faith in progress from that wave of political agitation whichhad reached the Sproxton Pits.
But curiosity was necessarily at a higher pitch to-day, when thecharacter of the prisoner and the circumstances of his offence were of ahighly unusual kind. Soon as Felix appeared at the bar, a murmur roseand spread into a loud buzz, which continued until there had beenrepeated authoritative calls for silence in the Court. Rathersingularly, it was now for the first time that Esther had a feeling ofpride in him on the ground simply of his appearance. At this moment,when he was the centre of a multitudinous gaze, which seemed to act onher own vision like a broad unmitigated daylight, she felt that therewas something pre-eminent in him, notwithstanding the vicinity ofnumerous gentlemen. No apple-woman would have admired him; not only tofeminine minds like Mrs. Tiliot's, but to many minds in coat andwaistcoat, there was something dangerous and perhaps unprincipled in hisbare throat and great Gothic head; and his somewhat massive person woulddoubtless have come out very oddly from the hands of a fashionabletailor of that time. But as Esther saw his large gray eyes looking roundcalmly and undefiantly, first at the audience generally, and then with amore observant expression at the lawyers and other persons immediatelyaround him, she felt that he bore the outward stamp of a distinguishednature. Forgive her if she needed this satisfaction all of us, whethermen or women, are liable to this weakness of liking to have ourpreference justified before others as well as ourselves. Esther saidinwardly, with a certain triumph, that Felix Holt looked as worthy tobe chosen in the midst of this large assembly, as he had ever looked intheir _tete-a-tete_ under the sombre light of the little parlor inMalthouse Yard.
Esther had felt some relief in hearing from her father that Felix hadinsisted on doing without his mother's presence; and since to Mrs.Holt's imagination, notwithstanding her general desire to have hercharacter enquired into, there was no greatly consolatory differencebetween being a witness and a criminal, and an appearance of any kind"before the judge" could hardly be made to suggest anything definitethat would overcome the dim sense of unalleviated disgrace, she had beenless inclined than usual to complain of her son's decision. Esther hadshuddered beforehand at the inevitable farce there would be in Mrs.Holt's testimony. But surely Felix would lose something for want of awitness who could testify to his behavior in the morning before hebecame involved in the tumult?
"He is really a fine young fellow," said Harold, coming to speak toEsther after a colloquy with the prisoner's solicitor. "I hope he willnot make a blunder in defending himself."
"He is not likely to make a blunder," said Esther. She had recovered hercolor a little, and was brighter than she had been all the morningbefore.
Felix had seemed to include her in his general glance, but had avoidedlooking at her particularly. She understood how delicate feeling for herwould prevent this, and that she might safely look at him, and towardher father, whom she could see in the same direction. Turning to Harold,to make an observation, she saw that he was looking toward the samepoint, but with an expression on his face that surprised her.
"Dear me," she said, prompted to speak without any reflection "--howangry you look! I never saw you look so angry before. It is not myfather you are looking at?"
"Oh, no! I am angry at something I'm looking away from," said Harold,making an effort to drive back the troublesome demon who would stare outat window. "It's that Jermyn," he added, glancing at his mother as wellas Esther. "He will thrust himself under my eyes everywhere since Irefused him an interview and returned his letter. I'm determined neverto speak to him directly again, if I can help it."
Mrs. Transome heard with a changeless face. She had for some time beenwatching, and had taken on her marble look of immobility. She said aninward bitter "Of course!" to everything that was unpleasant.
After this Esther soon became impatient of all speech; her attention wasrivetted on the proceedings of the Court, and on the mode in which Felixbore himself. In the case for the prosecution there was nothing morethan a reproduction, with irrelevancies added by witnesses, of the factsalready known to us. Spratt had retained consciousness enough, in themidst of his terror, to swear that, when he was tied to the finger-post,Felix was presiding over the actions of the mob. The landlady of theSeven Stars, who was indebted to Felix for rescue from pursuit by somedrunken rioters, gave evidence that went to prove his assumption ofleadership prior to the assault on Spratt,--remembering only that he hadcalled away her pursuers to "better sport." Various respectablewitnesses swore to Felix's "encouragement" of the rioters who weredragging Spratt in King Street; to his fatal assault on Tucker; and tohis attitude in front of the drawing-room window at the Manor.
Three other witnesses gave evidence of expressions used by the prisoner,tending to show the character of the acts with which he was charged. Twowere Treby tradesmen, the third was a clerk from Duffield. The clerk hadheard Felix speak at Duffield; the Treby men had frequently heard himdeclare himself on public matters; and they all quoted expressions whichtended to show that he had a virulent feeling against the respectableshopkeeping class, and that nothing was likely to be more congenial tohim than the gutting of retailer's shops. No one else knew--thewitnesses themselves did not know fully--how far their strong perceptionand memory on these points was due to a fourth mind, n
amely, that of Mr.John Johnson, the attorney, who was nearly related to one of the Trebywitnesses, and a familiar acquaintance of the Duffield clerk. Man cannotbe defined as an evidence-giving animal; and in the difficulty ofgetting up evidence on any subject, there is room for much unrecognizedaction of diligent persons who have the extra stimulus of some privatemotive. Mr. Johnson was present in Court to-day, but in a modest,retired situation. He had come down to give information to Mr. Jermyn,and to gather information in other quarters, which was well illuminatedby the appearance of Esther in company with the Transomes.
When the case for the prosecution closed, all strangers thought that itlooked very black for the prisoner. In two instances only Felix hadchosen to put a cross-examining question. The first was to ask Spratt ifhe did not believe that his having been tied to the post had saved himfrom a probably mortal injury? The second was to ask the tradesman whoswore to his having heard Felix tell the rioters to leave Tucker aloneand come along with him, whether he had not, shortly before, heard criesamong the mob summoning to an attack on the wine-vaults and brewery.
Esther had hitherto listened closely but calmly. She knew that therewould be this strong adverse testimony; and all her hopes and fears werebent on what was to come beyond it. It was when the prisoner was askedwhat he had to adduce in reply that she felt herself in the grasp ofthat tremor which does not disable the mind, but rather gives keenerconsciousness of a mind having a penalty of body attached to it.
There was a silence as of night when Felix Holt began to speak. Hisvoice was firm and clear: he spoke with simple gravity, and evidentlywithout any enjoyment of the occasion. Esther had never seen his facelook so weary.
"My Lord, I am not going to occupy the time of the Court withunnecessary words. I believe the witnesses for the prosecution havespoken the truth as far as a superficial observation would enable themto do it; and I see nothing that can weigh with the jury in my favor,unless they believe my statement of my own motives, and the testimonythat certain witnesses will give to my character and purposes as beinginconsistent with my willingly abetting disorder. I will tell the Courtin as few words as I can, how I got entangled in the mob, how I came toattack the constable, and how I was led to take a course which seemsrather mad to myself, now I look back upon it."
Felix then gave a concise narrative of his motives and conduct on theday of the riot, from the moment when he was startled into quitting hiswork by the earlier uproar of the morning. He omitted, of course, hisvisit to Malthouse Yard, and merely said that he went out to walk againafter returning to quiet his mother's mind. He got warmed by the storyof his experience, which moved him more strongly than ever, now herecalled it in vibrating words before a large audience of hisfellow-men. The sublime delight of truthful speech to one who has thegreat gift of uttering it, will make itself felt even through the pangsof sorrow.
"That is all I have to say for myself, my Lord. I pleaded 'Not guilty'to the charge of manslaughter, because I know that word may carry ameaning which would not fairly apply to my act. When I threw Tuckerdown, I did not see the possibility that he would die from a sort ofattack which ordinarily occurs in fighting without any fatal effect. Asto my assaulting a constable, it was a quick choice between two evils: Ishould else have been disabled. And he attacked me under a mistake aboutmy intentions. I'm not prepared to say I never would assault a constablewhere I had more chance of deliberation. I certainly should assault himif I saw him doing anything that made my blood boil: I reverence thelaw, but not where it is a pretext for wrong, which it should be thevery object of law to hinder. I consider that I should be making anunworthy defence, if I let the Court infer from what I say myself, orfrom what is said by my witnesses, that because I am a man who hatesdrunken, motiveless disorder, or any wanton harm, therefore I am a manwho would never fight against authority: I hold it blasphemy to say thata man ought not to fight against authority: there is no great religionand no great freedom that has not done it, in the beginning. It would beimpertinent for me to speak of this now, if I did not need to say in myown defence, that I should hold myself the worst sort of traitor if Iput my hand to either fighting or disorder--which must mean to injuresomebody--if I were not urged to it by what I hold to be sacredfeelings, making a sacred duty either to my own manhood or to myfellow-man. And certainly," Felix ended, with a strong ring of scorn inhis voice, "I never held it a sacred duty to try and get a Radicalcandidate returned for North Loamshire, by willingly heading a drunkenhowling mob, whose public action must consist in breaking windows,destroying hard-got produce, and endangering the lives of men and women.I have no more to say, my Lord."
"I foresaw he would make a blunder," said Harold, in a low voice toEsther. Then, seeing her shrink a little, he feared she might suspecthim of being merely stung by the allusion to himself. "I don't mean whathe said about the Radical candidate," he added, hastily, in correction."I don't mean the last sentence. I mean that whole peroration of his,which he ought to have left unsaid. It has done him harm with thejury--they won't understand it, or rather will misunderstand it. AndI'll answer for it, it has soured the judge. It remains to be seen whatwe witnesses can say for him, to nullify the effect of what he has saidfor himself. I hope the attorney has done his best in collecting theevidence: I understand the expense of the witnesses is undertaken bysome Liberals at Glasgow and in Lancashire, friends of Holt's. But Isuppose your father has told you."
The first witness called to the defence was Mr. Lyon. The gist of hisstatements was, that from the beginning of September last till the dayof the election he was in very frequent intercourse with the prisoner;that he had become intimately acquainted with his character and views oflife, and his conduct with respect to the election, and that these weretotally inconsistent with any other supposition than his being involvedin the riot, and his fatal encounter with the constable, were due to thecalamitous failure of a bold but good purpose. He stated further that hehad been present when an interview had occurred in his own house betweenthe prisoner and Mr. Harold Transome, who was then canvassing for therepresentation of North Loamshire. That the object of the prisoner inseeking this interview had been to inform Mr. Transome of treating givenin his name to the workmen in the pits and on the canal at Sproxton, andto remonstrate against its continuance; the prisoner fearing thatdisturbance and mischief might result from what he believed to be theend toward which this treating was directed--namely, the presence ofthese men on the occasions of the nomination and polling. Several timesafter this interview, Mr. Lyon said, he had heard Felix Holt recur tothe subject therein discussed with expressions of grief and anxiety. Hehimself was in the habit of visiting Sproxton in his ministerialcapacity: he knew fully what the prisoner had done there in order tofound a night school, and was certain that the prisoner's interest inthe workingmen of that district turned entirely on the possibility ofconverting them somewhat to habits of soberness and to a due care forthe instruction of their children. Finally, he stated that the prisoner,in compliance with his request, had been present at Duffield on the dayof the nomination, and had on his return expressed himself with strongindignation concerning the employment of the Sproxton men on thatoccasion, and what he called the wickedness of hiring blind violence.
The quaint appearance and manner of the little Dissenting minister couldnot fail to stimulate the peculiar wit of the bar. He was subjected toa troublesome cross-examination, which he bore with wide-eyedshort-sighted quietude and absorption in the duty of truthful response.On being asked rather sneeringly, if the prisoner was not one of hisflock? he answered, in that deeper tone which made one of the mosteffective transitions of his varying voice--
"Nay--would to God he were! I should then feel that the great virtuesand the pure life I have beheld in him were a witness to the efficacy ofthe faith I believe in and the discipline of the Church whereunto Ibelong."
Perhaps it required a larger power of comparison than was possessed byany of that audience to appreciate the moral elevation of an Independentminister who
could utter those words. Nevertheless there was a murmurwhich was clearly one of sympathy.
The next witness, and the one on whom the interest of the spectators waschiefly concentrated, was Harold Transome. There was a decidedpredominance of Tory feeling in the Court, and the human disposition toenjoy the infliction of a little punishment on an opposite party, was inthis instance, of a Tory complexion. Harold was keenly alive to this,and to everything else that might prove disagreeable to him in hishaving to appear in the witness-box. But he was not likely to lose hisself-possession, or to fail in adjusting himself gracefully, underconditions which most men would find it difficult to carry withoutawkwardness. He had generosity and candor enough to bear Felix Holt'sproud rejection of his advances without any petty resentment; he had allthe susceptibilities of a gentleman; and these moral qualities gave theright direction to his acumen, in judging of the behavior that wouldbest secure his dignity. Everything requiring self-command was easier tohim because of Esther's presence; for her admiration was just then theobject which this well-tanned man of the world had it most at heart tosecure.
When he entered the witness-box he was much admired by the ladiesamongst the audience, many of whom sighed a little at the thought of hiswrong course in politics. He certainly looked like a handsome portraitby Sir Thomas Lawrence, in which that remarkable artist had happilyomitted the usual excess of honeyed blandness mixed with alertintelligence, which is hardly compatible with the state of man out ofparadise. He stood not far off Felix; and the two Radicals certainlymade a striking contrast. Felix might have come from the hands of asculptor in the later Roman period, when the plastic impulse was stirredby the grandeur of barbaric forms--when rolled collars were not yetconceived, and satin stocks were not.
Harold Transome declared he had had only one interview with theprisoner: it was the interview referred to by the previous witness, inwhose presence and in whose house it was begun. The interview, however,was continued beyond the observation of Mr. Lyon. The prisoner andhimself quitted the Dissenting minister's house in Malthouse Yardtogether, and proceeded to the office of Mr. Jermyn, who was thenconducting electioneering business on his behalf. His object was tocomply with Holt's remonstrance by enquiring into the allegedproceedings at Sproxton, and, if possible, to put a stop to them. Holt'slanguage, both in the Malthouse Yard and in the attorney's office, wasstrong: he was evidently indignant, and his indignation turned on thedanger of employing ignorant men excited by drink on an occasion ofpopular concourse. He believed that Holt's sole motive was theprevention of disorder, and what he considered the demoralization of theworkmen by treating. The event had certainly justified hisremonstrances. He had not had any subsequent opportunities of observingthe prisoner; but if any reliance was to be placed on a rationalconclusion, it must, he thought, be plain that the anxiety thusmanifested by Holt was a guarantee of the statement he had made as tohis motives on the day of the riot. His entire impression from Holt'smanner in that single interview was that he was a moral and politicalenthusiast, who, if he sought to coerce others, would seek to coercethem into a difficult, and perhaps impracticable, scrupulosity.
Harold spoke with as noticeable directness and emphasis, as if what hesaid could have no reaction on himself. He had of course not enteredunnecessarily into what occurred in Jermyn's office. But now he wassubjected to a cross-examination on this subject, which gave rise tosome subdued shrugs, smiles, and winks, among county gentlemen.
The questions were directed so as to bring out, if possible, someindication that Felix Holt was moved to his remonstrance by personalresentment against the political agents concerned in setting on foot thetreating at Sproxton, but such questioning is a sort of target-shootingthat sometimes hits about widely. The cross-examining counsel had closeconnections among the Tories of Loamshire, and enjoyed his businessto-day. Under the fire of various questions about Jermyn and the agentemployed by him at Sproxton, Harold got warm, and in one of his repliessaid, with rapid sharpness--
"Mr. Jermyn was my agent then, not now: I have no longer any but hostilerelations with him."
The sense that he had shown a slight heat would have vexed Harold moreif he had not got some satisfaction out of the thought that Jermyn heardthose words. He recovered his good temper quickly, and when,subsequently, the question came--
"You acquiesced in the treating of the Sproxton men, as necessary to theefficient working of the reformed constituency?" Harold replied, withquiet fluency--"Yes; on my return to England, before I put up for NorthLoamshire, I got the best advice from practised agents, both Whig andTory. They all agreed as to electioneering measures."
The next witness was Michael Brincey, otherwise Mike Brindle, who gaveevidence of the sayings and doings of the prisoner among the Sproxtonmen. Mike declared that Felix went "uncommon again' drink, andpitch-and-toss, and quarrelling, and sich," and was "all for schoolingand bringing up the little chaps"; but on being cross-examined, headmitted that he "couldn't give much account"; that Felix did talkagain' idle folks, whether poor or rich, and that most like he meant therich, who had "a rights to be idle," which was what he, Mike, likedhimself sometimes, though for the most part he was "a hard-workingbutty." On being checked for this superfluous allegation of his owntheory and practice, Mike became timidly conscious that answering was agreat mystery beyond the reach of a butty's soul, and began to err fromdefect instead of excess. However, he reasserted that what Felix mostwanted was, "to get 'em to set up a school for the little chaps."
With the two succeeding witnesses, who swore to the fact that Felix hadtried to lead the mob along Hobb's Lane instead of toward the Manor, andto the violently threatening character of Tucker's attack on him, thecase for the defence was understood to close.
Meanwhile Esther had been looking on and listening with growing misery,in the sense that all had not been said which might have been said onbehalf of Felix. If it was the jury who were to be acted on, she arguedto herself, there might have been an impression made on their feelingswhich would determine their verdict. Was it not constantly said and seenthat juries pronounced Guilty or Not Guilty from sympathy for or againstthe accused? She was too inexperienced to check her own argument bythoroughly representing to herself the course of things: how the counselfor the prosecution would reply, and how the judge would sum up, withthe object of cooling down sympathy into deliberation. What she hadpainfully pressing on her inward vision was that the trial was coming toan end, and that the voice of right and truth had not been strongenough.
When a woman feels purely and nobly, that ardor of hers which breaksthrough formulas too rigorously urged on men by daily practical needs,makes one of her most precious influences: she is the added impulse thatshatters the stiffening crust of cautious experience. Her inspiredignorance gives a sublimity to actions so incongruously simple, thatotherwise they would make men smile. Some of that ardor which hasflashed out and illuminated all poetry and history was burning to-day inthe bosom of sweet Esther Lyon. In this, at least, her woman's lot wasperfect: that the man she loved was her hero; that her woman's passionand her reverence for rarest goodness rushed together in an undividedcurrent. And to-day they were making one danger, one terror, oneirresistible impulse for her heart. Her feelings were growing into anecessity for action, rather than a resolve to act. She could notsupport the thought that the trial would come to an end, that sentencewould be passed on Felix, and that all the while something had beenomitted which might have been said for him. There had been no witness totell what had been his behavior and state of mind just before the riot.She must do it. It was possible. There was time. But not too much time.All other agitation became merged in eagerness not to let the momentescape. The last witness was being called. Harold Transome had not beenable to get back to her on leaving the witness-box, but Mr. Lingon wasclose by her. With firm quickness she said to him--
"Pray tell the attorney that I have evidence to give for theprisoner--lose no time."
"Do you know what you are going to say, my dear?" sai
d Mr. Lingon,looking at her in astonishment.
"Yes--I entreat you, for God's sake," said Esther, in that low tone ofurgent beseeching which is equivalent to a cry; and with a look ofappeal more penetrating still, "I would rather die than not do it."
The old rector, always leaning to the good-natured view of things, feltchiefly that there seemed to be an additional chance for the poor fellowwho had got himself into trouble. He disputed no farther, but went tothe attorney.
Before Harold was aware of Esther's intention she was on her way to thewitness-box. When she appeared there, it was as if a vibration, quick aslight, had gone through the Court and had shaken Felix himself, who hadhitherto seemed impassive. A sort of a gleam seemed to shoot across hisface, and any one close to him would have seen that his hand, which layon the edge of the dock, trembled.
At the first moment Harold was startled and alarmed; the next, he feltdelight in Esther's beautiful aspect, and in the admiration of theCourt. There was no blush on her face: she stood, divested of allpersonal considerations whether of vanity or shyness. Her clear voicesounded as it might have done if she had been making a confession offaith. She began and went on without query or interruption. Every facelooked grave and respectful.
"I am Esther Lyon, the daughter of Mr. Lyon, the Independent minister atTreby, who has been one of the witnesses for the prisoner. I know FelixHolt well. On the day of the election at Treby, when I had been muchalarmed by the noises that reached me from the main street, Felix Holtcame to call upon me. He knew that my father was away, and he thoughtthat I should be alarmed by the sounds of disturbance. It was about themiddle of the day, and he came to tell me that the disturbance wasquieted, and that the streets were nearly emptied. But he said he fearedthat the men would collect again after drinking, and that somethingworse might happen later in the day. And he was in much sadness at thisthought. He stayed a little while, and then he left me. He was verymelancholy. His mind was full of great resolutions that came from hiskind feeling toward others. It was the last thing he would have done tojoin in riot or to hurt any man, if he could have helped it. His natureis very noble; he is tender-hearted; he could never have had anyintention that was not brave and good."
There was something so naive and beautiful in this action of Esther's,that it conquered every low or petty suggestion even in the commonestminds. The three men in that assembly who knew her best--even her fatherand Felix Holt--felt a thrill of surprise mingling with theiradmiration. This bright, delicate, beautiful-shaped thing that seemedmost like a toy or ornament--some hand had touched the chords, and therecame forth music that brought tears. Half a year before, Esther's dreadof being ridiculous spread over the surface of her life; but the depthbelow was sleeping.
Harold Transome was ready to give her his hand and lead her back to herplace. When she was there, Felix, for the first time, could not helplooking toward her, and their eyes met in one solemn glance.
Afterward Esther found herself unable to listen so as to form anyjudgment on what she heard. The acting out of that strong impulse hadexhausted every energy. There was a brief pause, filled with a murmur, abuzz, and much coughing. The audience generally felt as if dull weatherwas setting in again. And under those auspices the counsel for theprosecution got up to make his reply. Esther's deed had its effectbeyond the momentary one, but the effect was not visible in the rigidnecessities of legal procedure. The counsel's duty of restoring allunfavorable facts to due prominence in the minds of the jurors, had itseffect altogether reinforced by the summing-up of the judge. Even thebare discernment of facts, much more their arrangement with a view toinferences, must carry a bias: human impartiality, whether judicial ornot, can hardly escape being more or less loaded. It was not that thejudge had severe intentions; it was only that he saw with severity. Theconduct of Felix was not such as inclined him to indulgentconsideration, and, in his directions to the jury, that mental attitudenecessarily told on the light in which he placed the homicide. Even tomany in the Court who were not constrained by judicial duty, it seemedthat though this high regard felt for the prisoner by his friends, andespecially by a generous-hearted woman, was very pretty, such conduct ashis was not the less dangerous and foolish, and assaulting and killing aconstable was not the less an offence to be regarded without leniency.
Esther seemed now so tremulous, and looked so ill, that Harold beggedher to leave the Court with his mother and Mr. Lingon. He would come andtell her the issue. But she said, quietly, that she would rather stay;she was only a little overcome by the exertion of speaking. She wasinwardly resolved to see Felix to the last moment before he left theCourt.
Though she could not follow the address of the counsel or the judge, shehad a keen ear for what was brief and decisive. She heard the verdict,"Guilty of manslaughter." And every word uttered by the judge inpronouncing sentence fell upon her like an unforgetable sound that wouldcome back in dreaming and in waking. She had her eyes on Felix, and atthe words, "Imprisonment for four years," she saw his lip tremble. Butotherwise he stood firm and calm.
Esther gave a start from her seat. Her heart swelled with a horriblesensation of pain; but, alarmed lest she should lose her self-command,she grasped Mrs. Transome's hand, getting some strength from that humancontact.
Esther saw that Felix had turned. She could no longer see his face."Yes," she said, drawing down her veil, "let us go."