harshly of her. Rather, in a way he could not understand, he
loved her more than ever.

"Poor mother!" he said to himself. "It was all for love of me--all
because she wanted to make me happy!"

Again he went over the whole miserable story, and tried to see whether
he had not been mistaken in the suspicion which haunted his brain, but
he saw no loophole anywhere. Who could have committed the deed but
she? There was the fact of the knife, the fact of the wild threats she
had uttered, the fact of her going out into the night alone, the fact
that when he returned in the morning he had found her in an almost
hysterical state of mind in her bedroom, the fact that his knife was
buried in Wilson's heart. No, no; there could be no doubt about it.
He did not love her the less, rather the more. He did not regard her
as a murderess, and yet he felt sure it was she, even although he lay
there apprehended for one of the foulest deeds man could commit.

The following morning Paul was brought before the magistrates. He knew
that their duty was largely a matter of form. It was for them to
justify the warrant that had been taken out against him, the warrant to
arrest him on a charge of murder.

When he entered the justice room he was perfectly calm. He had mapped
out his course of action to the minutest detail, and he had no doubt
about the findings of the magistrates. Up to the present no coroner's
inquest had been held on the body of Edward Wilson. That might not
take place for another day or so. Certain preliminaries would have to
be arranged first.

The court was thronged, and he afterwards learnt that the street
outside was literally deluged with people who had tried to obtain
admission. He had no doubt that thousands who had shouted with
exultation when he became Member for Brunford now believed him to be a
murderer; while others, with that morbid interest which is ever
associated with crime, wanted to be present while he was tried. Every
seat on the magistrates' bench was occupied; both the victim and the
supposed murderer were well known.

Several witnesses were examined; the two men who had seen the quarrel
between Paul and Wilson gave evidence of the very angry scene which
took place. They described Wilson's rage, and told how he had struck
Paul a very heavy blow on the head with a stick; and that Paul, on his
recovery, had threatened to be revenged. The knife, also, which had
been found in Wilson's body,