Evening journal., 1922-11-18
CHAPTER II

IHtS spared no enoTl 10 Tx
upon me. That they were unable t
do so is not. think. attributabl
to chis thing which you call Provi
denee.
1T is attributable, rather think
TO the intelligence of my legal coun
sci and TO myself"
He looked directly at Monsieur
Jonquelle. His big placid face lift
ed: ibis voice was even and unhur
ried.
4 am not embarrassed to discus
it. monsieur" he continued. "Whei
the war had ended with the death o
Lord Wintons sons, l was, by virtu,
of what you have so aptly called
the accident of birth, next In sue
cession TO the title. thought it botl
advisable and coureous to present
myself to Lord Winton, and l weni
to England for that purpose.
Lord Winton was an eccentric
person. As he grew older, and after
the death of his sons, his ecoentric-
ity became more dominant. I did
not find him on his estates at RAJ
venscroft; he was at this time in
London in little old house which
the .-family has always owned in a
street toward Covent Garden.
ON the night that called to see
Lord Winton. it was quite late.
found him alone in the house. He
seemed disturbed TO see me but he
was courteous and / cannot COM
plain of his welcome. He seemed
however, not TO realize that 1 had
grown into man. He seemed TO re-
gard me as a queer, foreign lad 10
whom he owed some obligation Of
hospitality"
Lord Valleys stopped. He leaned a
little forward in the chair, and his
voice took on firmer note.
Monsieur" he said, Il am saying
to you now a thing to which l testi-
fied..at the English trial, and which
was. not believed Lord WiDton told
me shat he expected person to
call@cn him within very few min
utes and 10 remain for perhaps an
hour. He asked me TO return at the
end of an hour. / got up to go.
As ] went down the stairway, a
hanson. entering the street from
the direction OF the city, stopped be-
fore the door. The door was closed
but .the sound was clearly audible.
Lord Winton, who was behind
me came also down the steps. on
a console in the hall were several
candles which the servants, accord
ing to custom, had placed there. An
idea came TO Lord WiDton, for he
stopped me as my hand was on the i
door to go out. He took up one Of /
these capdles in a tall brass candle /
stick, and touching me on the arm,
handed it to me.
INSTEAD of going out he said,
suppose you go down into the wine
cellar. There should be some bot
tles-of Burgundy of a famous year
stored there by your grandfatner
See II you can find them, and we
shall have a glass OF wine with our
talk. I have a great deal TO say TO
yousi my nephew. The wine will
sustain u.s.
"Xou will see monsieur, that this
idea. that 1 was merely a grown-up
lad. come to visit an ancient rela-
tive. was quite fixed with Lord
Winton. AS the servants had gone
out. he was sending me. as though
were a lad from Elton, TO find the
wing for our conversation. He gave
me the key, a direction about the
steps and doors. He even said there
was~a box OF biscuit on the dining
room table which I should bring up.
1t was all, you see, monsieur, quite
as though 1 were an undergraduate
from some English public school,"
The man looked down at his firm
placid hands resting upon and OBJ
scuring the arms of the chair in .
which he sat.
This" monsieur" he said, is a /.
portion of my evidence which the
English criminal court refused to
believe. Il was incredibly stupid" ,,
Monsieur Jonauelle looked up
sharply at that sentence.
The English criminal court" he :
said, was even more stupid than ,
you imagine. It was. as you have ;
said, incredibly stupid"
Lord Valleys made no comment )
There was only my word for the
0tdA llc cdANs NOuAU nOL
prove it, and yet 1t was the truth" +,
The man was startled by Non :
sieur Jonquelle's reply. \
"One knew that although one T,
would have been troubled to de- }
scribe the evidence. 1t is precisely v
the truth" said Monsieur jon 8
quelle. e
Lord Valleys looked steadily at I
the Project for a moment before he 2
spoke. {
i regret. monsieur" he said. !
that you were not present in that 1
English court"
The man looked down again at =
his wonderful hands, steel strong,
md as supple as silk; then he Went !
IN:
1T happened, however, that this :
nance, which you question in !.
unan affairs came to my aid. One :,
( the Metropolitan police on duty :,
n this night in the neighborhood T
I Covent Garden saw a hanson
rive away from Lord Winton's >,
DOR, The time, as nearly as could is
e fixed. correspondent with the
our which I had indicated in my
sstimony And for the first time II
/ the course % the criminal trial n,