第119章

way。Andit’sthelaw。“

Helookedimpatientlyathiswatch。Asheputitbackagaininhispockettherewasaringatthebell。Wasittheladbringingtheluggage？Yes。And，withit，thelawyer’sreport？No。Betterthanthat——thelawyerhimself。

“Comein!“criedGeoffrey，meetinghisvisitoratthedoor。

Thelawyerenteredthedining-room。Thecandle-lightrevealedtoviewacorpulent，full-lipped，bright-eyedman——withastrainofnegrobloodinhisyellowface，andwithunmistakabletracesinhislookandmannerofwalkinghabituallyinthedirtiestprofessionalby-waysofthelaw。

“I’vegotalittleplaceofmyowninyourneighborhood，“hesaid。“AndIthoughtIwouldlookinmyself，Mr。Delamayn，onmywayhome。“

“Haveyouseenthewitnesses？“

“Ihaveexaminedthemboth，Sir。First，Mrs。InchbareandMr。

Bishopriggstogether。Next，Mrs。InchbareandMr。Bishopriggsseparately。“

“Well？“

“Well，Sir，theresultisunfavorable，Iamsorrytosay。“

“Whatdoyoumean？“

“Neithertheonenortheotherofthem，Mr。Delamayn，cangivetheevidencewewant。Ihavemadesureofthat。“

“Madesureofthat？Youhavemadeaninfernalmessofit!Youdon’tunderstandthecase!“

Themulattolawyersmiled。Therudenessofhisclientappearedonlytoamusehim。

“Don’tI？“hesaid。“SupposeyoutellmewhereIamwrongaboutit？Hereitisinoutlineonly。OnthefourteenthofAugustlastyourwifewasataninninScotland。AgentlemannamedArnoldBrinkworthjoinedherthere。Herepresentedhimselftobeherhusband，andhestaidwithhertillthenextmorning。Startingfromthosefacts，theobjectyouhaveinviewistosueforaDivorcefromyourwife。YoumakeMr。ArnoldBrinkworththeco-respondent。Andyouproduceinevidencethewaiterandthelandladyoftheinn。Anythingwrong，Sir，sofar？“

Nothingwrong。AtonecowardlystroketocastAnnedisgracedontheworld，andtosethimselffree——there，plainlyandtrulystated，wastheschemewhichhehaddevised，whenhehadturnedbackonthewaytoFulhamtoconsultMr。Moy。

“Somuchforthecase，“resumedthelawyer。“NowforwhatIhavedoneonreceivingyourinstructions。Ihaveexaminedthewitnesses；andIhavehadaninterview(notaverypleasantone)

withMr。Moy。Theresultofthosetwoproceedingsisbrieflythis。Firstdiscovery：Inassumingthecharacterofthelady’shusbandMr。Brinkworthwasactingunderyourdirections——whichtellsdeadagainst_you。_Seconddiscovery：Nottheslightestimproprietyofconduct，notanapproacheventoharmlessfamiliarity，wasdetectedbyeitherofthewitnesses，whiletheladyandgentlemanweretogetherattheinn。Thereisliterallynoevidencetoproduceagainstthem，exceptthatthey_were_

together——intworooms。Howareyoutoassumeaguiltypurpose，whenyoucan’tproveanapproachtoaguiltyact？YoucannomoretakesuchacaseasthatintoCourtthanyoucanjum