Read Online As Berry and I Were Saying by Dornford Yates - Free Book Online Page A

fifty pound,
    ‘Well, I wouldn’t be that lady if I could.’”
     
    “That was pretty hot,” said Berry.
    “I heard it,” said I. “And the roars of applause with which it was received had to be heard to be believed. But, except for those two lapses, Bigham made an excellent Judge.”
    “Did they often transfer cases?”
    “No. I remember a case that was postponed – for a very unusual reason.”
    “Proceed.”
    “Well, I was in the case, so I know what I know. Even now I can’t say much, for it was one of those cases which are heard in camera . But I can tell you this – that it was the most astounding case that ever was heard. And that was Charles Gill’s opinion: and he was a pretty good judge. Tolstoy never conceived a drama so savage and so sensational. The accused was a millionaire – an American millionaire. He had a fine place in England – and was arrested at his own lodge-gates. Bodkin, a splendid lawyer, appeared for the Crown. Gill and Wild, both QCs, and the head of my chambers, as their junior, were instructed for the defence. The case entailed many hearings before the Justices; and, since the head of my chambers had a great deal of work, I used to take his place. Gill lived in St James’s Street, and every day he picked me up at the Club and took me down in his car. It was a long drive, and that was how I came to know him so well.
    “It’s strange, looking back. Gill and Wild and I used always to lunch at The Crown , a fine old house, where we have all lunched together time and again.”
    “ The Crown? ” said Jill.
    “Don’t knit your brows, my sweet. I’ve changed its name. I must do that sometimes, if I am to tell these tales.
    “After lunch, Gill and I used to walk up and down the sleepy old High Street, while Wild, I rather think, dozed. Gill wouldn’t let him touch the case – he did everything himself. Gill used to tell me the line which he was going to take that afternoon: and I used to make suggestions, which he heard with attention and invariably turned down. One day, during our walk, he asked a favour of me.
    “‘You know,’ he said, ‘that they’re sitting again tomorrow?’
    “‘Yes.’
    “‘And that tomorrow will be a very critical day?’
    “I nodded.
    “So it would be. The defendant was going into the box.
    “‘Well,’ said Gill. ‘I want you to do something for me – something to help. The man is in a highly excited state. He is violently resentful. Instead of coming back to London with me, I want you to travel with him and to calm him down.’
    “I stood still and closed my eyes.
    “‘Almost everything else,’ I said. ‘I’d do a great deal for you. But I do not want to sit by the side of that man.’
    “‘I ask this of you,’ said Gill. ‘I want you to ride with him and to let him let go to you. If he lets go to you, he won’t let go in the box. For he is now in that state in which he must let off steam. Encourage him to do it – to you. If he goes it in court tomorrow – well, there’s an end of the case. He won’t do it to me or to Wild. But he will to you.’
    “‘All right,’ I said. ‘For your sake. But I simply loathe the idea.’
    “‘I know you do,’ said Gill. He put his arm through mine. ‘And I’m greatly obliged. But it’s really of great importance. Just let him talk. And – and – well, deal with him as you think fit. I’ll ask him to give you a lift. I’ll say you want to get back, but that I’m going to stop on the way.’
    “I doubt if the defendant enjoyed the drive any more than I did. But I’ll say he let himself go… Gill was perfectly right. The man had to let off steam. Next day he did very well in the witness-box.
    “At the end of each hearing, Bodkin and I used to stay to hear the depositions which had been taken that day read through to the respective witnesses. These, I used to check with my note, and Bodkin with his recollection. Sometimes there was a dispute about the actual words which