H庄园的午餐52

II

Nurse O’Brien was in the box.

“On the morning of June 29th did Nurse Hopkins make a statement to you?”

“Yes. She said she had a tube of morphine hydrochloride missing¹ from her case.”

“What did you do?”

“I helped her to hunt for it.”

“But you could not find it?”

“No.”

“To your knowledge, was the case left overnight² in the hall?”

“It was.”

“Mr. Welman and the accused were both staying in the house at the time of Mrs. Welman’sdeath—that is, on June 28th to 29th?”

“Yes.”

“Will you tell us of an incident that occurred on June 29th—the day after Mrs. Welman’sdeath?”

“I saw Mr. Roderick Welman with Mary Gerrard. He was telling her he loved her, and he triedto kiss her.”

“He was at the time engaged to the accused?”

“Yes.”

“What happened next?”

“Mary told him to think shame of himself, and him engaged to Miss Elinor!”

“In your opinion, what was the feeling of the accused towards Mary Gerrard?”

“She hated her. She would look after her as though she’d like to destroy her.”

Sir Edwin jumped up.

Elinor thought: “Why do they wrangle³ about it? What does it matter?”

Sir Edwin Bulmer cross-examined.

“Is it not a fact that Nurse Hopkins said she thought she had left the morphia at home?”

“Well, you see, it was this way: After—”

“Kindly answer my question. Did she not say that she had probably left the morphia at home?”

“Yes.”

“She was not really worried at the time about it?”

“No, not then.”

“Because she thought she had left it at home. So naturally she was not uneasy⁴.”

“She couldn’t imagine anyone taking it.”

“Exactly. It wasn’t till after Mary Gerrard’s death from morphia that her imagination got towork.”

The judge interrupted:

“I think, Sir Edwin, that you have already been over that point with the former witness.”

“As your lordship pleases.”

“Now, regarding⁵ the attitude of the accused to Mary Gerrard, there was no quarrel betweenthem at any time?”

“No quarrel, no.”

“Miss Carlisle was always quite pleasant to the girl?”

“Yes. ’Twas the way she looked at her.”

“Yes—yes—yes. But we can’t go by that sort of thing. You’re Irish, I think?”

“I am that.”

“And the Irish have rather a vivid imagination, haven’t they?”

Nurse O’Brien cried excitedly:

“Every word I’ve told you is the truth.”

 

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