sitting room.
The young man, dispirited and horrified by the awful spectacle he hadjust contemplated, hurried to the little study occupied by his sister.Marston himself ascended, as we have said, the great staircase leading tohis wife's private sitting room.
"Mrs. Marston," he said, entering, "this is a hateful occurrence, adreadful thing to have taken place here; I don't mean to affect griefwhich I don't feel; but the thing is very shocking, and particularly so,as having occurred under my roof; but that cannot now be helped. I haveresolved to spare no exertions, and no influence, to bring the assassinto justice; and a coroner's jury will, within a few hours, sift theevidence which we have succeeded in collecting. But my purpose in seekingyou now is, to recur to the conversation we yesterday had, respecting amember of this establishment."
"Mademoiselle de Barras?" suggested the lady.
"Yes, Mademoiselle de Barras," echoed Marston; "I wish to say, that,having reconsidered the circumstances affecting her, I am absolutelyresolved that she shall not continue to be an inmate of this house."
He paused, and Mrs. Marston said--
"Well, Richard, I am sorry, very sorry for it; but your decision shallnever be disputed by me."
"Of course," said Marston, drily; "and, therefore, the sooner youacquaint her with it, and let her know that she must go, the better."
Having said this, he left her, and went to his own chamber, where heproceeded to make his toilet with elaborate propriety, in preparation forthe scene which was about to take place under his roof.
Mrs. Marston, meanwhile, suffered from a horrible uncertainty. She neverharbored, it is true, one doubt as to her husband's perfect innocence ofthe ghastly crime which filled their house with fear and gloom; but atthe same time that she thoroughly and indignantly scouted the possibilityof his, under any circumstances, being accessory to such a crime, sheexperienced a nervous and agonizing anxiety lest anyone else shouldpossibly suspect him, however obliquely and faintly, of any participationwhatever in the foul deed. This vague fear tortured her; it had takenpossession of her mind; and it was the more acutely painful, because itwas of a kind which precluded the possibility of her dispelling it, asmorbid fears so often are dispelled, by taking counsel upon itssuggestions with a friend.
The day wore on, and strange faces began to fill the great parlor. Thecoroner, accompanied by a physician, had arrived. Several of the gentryin the immediate vicinity had been summoned as jurors, and now began toarrive in succession. Marston, in a handsome and sober suit, receivedthese visitors with a stately and melancholy courtesy, befitting theoccasion. Mervyn and his son had both been summoned, and, of course, werein attendance. There being now a sufficient number to form a jury, theywere sworn, and immediately proceeded to the chamber where the body ofthe murdered man was lying.
Marston accompanied them, and with a pale and stern countenance, and in aclear and subdued tone, called their attention successively to everyparticular detail which he conceived important to be noted. Having thusemployed some minutes, the jury again returned to the parlor, and theexamination of the witnesses commenced.
Marston, at his own request, was first sworn and examined. He deposedmerely to the circumstance of his parting, on the night previous, withSir Wynston, and to the state in which he had seen the room and the bodyin the morning. He mentioned also the fact, that on hearing the alarm inthe morning, he had hastened from his own chamber to Sir Wynston's, andfound, on trying to enter, that the door opening upon the passage wassecured on the inside. This circumstance showed that the murderer musthave made his egress at least through the valet's chamber, and by theback-stairs. Marston's evidence went no further.
The next witness sworn was Edward Smith, the servant of the late SirWynston Berkley. His evidence was a narrative of the occurrences we havealready stated. He described the sounds which he had overheard from hismaster's room, the subsequent appearance of Merton, and the conversationwhich had passed between them. He then proceeded to mention, that it washis master's custom to have himself called at seven o'clock, at whichhour he usually took some medicine, which it was the valet's duty tobring to him; after which he either settled again to rest, or rose in ashort time, if unable to sleep. Having measured and prepared the dose inthe dressing room, the servant went on to say, he had knocked at hismaster's door, and receiving no answer, had entered the room, and partlyunclosed the shutters. He perceived the blood on the carpet, and onopening the curtains, saw his master lying with his mouth and eyes open,perfectly dead, and weltering in gore. He had stretched out his hand, andseized that of the dead man, which was quite stiff and cold; then, losingheart, he had run to the door communicating with the passage, but foundit locked, and turned to the other entrance, and ran down theback-stairs, crying "murder." Mr. Hughes, the butler, and James Carney,another servant, came immediately, and they all three went back into theroom. The key was in the outer door, upon the inside, but they did notunlock it until they had viewed the body. There was a great pool of bloodin the bed, and in it was lying a red-handled case knife, which wasproduced, and identified by the witness. Just then they heard Mr. Marstoncalling for admission, and they opened the door with some difficulty, forthe lock was rusty. Mr. Marston had ordered them to leave the things asthey were, and had used very stern language to the witness. They had thenleft the room, securing both doors.
This witness underwent a severe and searching examination, but hisevidence was clear and consistent.
In conclusion, Marston produced a dagger, which was stained with blood,and asked the man whether he recognized it.
Smith at once stated this to have been the property of his late master,who, when traveling, carried it, together with his pistols, along withhim. Since his arrival at Gray Forest, it had lain upon thechimney-piece in his bedroom, where he believed it to have been upon theprevious night.
James Carney, one of Marston's servants, was next sworn and examined. Hehad, he said, observed a strange and unaccountable agitation anddepression in Merton's manner for some days past; he had also beenseveral times disturbed at night by his talking aloud to himself, andwalking to and fro in his room. Their bedrooms were separated by a thinpartition, in which was a window, through which Carney had, on the nightof the murder, observed a light in Merton's room, and, on looking in, hadseen him dressing hastily. He also saw him twice take up, and again laydown, the red-hafted knife which had been found in the bed of themurdered man. He knew it by the handle being broken near the end. He hadno suspicion of Merton having any mischievous intentions, and lay downagain to rest. He afterwards heard him pass out of his room, and goslowly up the back-stairs leading to the upper story. Shortly after thishe had fallen asleep, and did not hear or see him return. He thendescribed, as Smith had already done, the scene which presented itself inthe morning, on his accompanying him into Sir Wynston's bedchamber.
The next witness examined was a little Irish boy, who described himselfas "a poor scholar." His testimony was somewhat singular. He deposed thathe had come to the house on the preceding evening, and had been givensome supper, and was afterwards permitted to sleep among the hay in oneof the lofts. He had, however, discovered what he considered a snuggerberth. This was an unused stable, in the further end of which lay aquantity of hay. Among this he had lain down, and gone to sleep. He was,however, awakened in the course of the night by the entrance of a man,whom he saw with perfect distinctness in the moonlight, and hisdescription of his dress and appearance tallied exactly with those ofMerton. This man occupied himself for sometime in washing his hands andface in a stable bucket, which happened to stand by the door; and, duringthe whole of this process, he continued to moan and mutter, like one inwoeful perturbation. He said, distinctly, twice or thrice, "by ----, I amdone for;" and every now and then he muttered, "and nothing for it, afterall." When he had done washing his hands, he took something from hiscoat-pocket, and looked at it, shaking his head; at this time he wasstanding with his back turned toward the boy, so that he could not seewhat this object might be.
The man, however, put it into his breast, andthen began to search hurriedly, as it seemed, for some hiding place forit. After looking at the pavement, and poking at the chinks of the wall,he suddenly went to the window, and forced up the stone which formed thesill. Under this he threw the object which the boy had seen him examinewith so much perplexity, and then he readjusted the stone, and removedthe evidences of its having been recently stirred. The boy was a littlefrightened, but very curious about all that he saw; and when the man leftthe stable in which he lay, he got up, and following to the door, peepedafter him. He saw him putting on an outside-coat and hat, near the yardgate; and then, with great caution, unbolt the wicket, constantly lookingback towards the house, and so let himself out. The boy was uneasy, andsat in the hay, wide-awake, until morning. He then told the servants