Young Jackson rose up to cross-examine. “Now, Mr. Bevan,” he asked in a quiet and conversational tone, “do you think Mrs. Britton-Fox was quite alive to the importance of the document she was signing that morning?”
“Oh, I think so, sir,” replied Bevan. “She certainly did look very ill and her face was twitching badly, but she was most determined to get the paper signed.”
“But from the shakiness of her handwriting,” went on Jackson, “she must have been very agitated when she was affixing her signature?”
The butler considered. “Well, at any rate, sir,” he said, “she was so very shortly before she signed, but as I did not see her actually write her name I cannot say what was exactly her condition at that very moment.”
A gasp so loud that it was distinctly audible ran round the court, mout
