he L10,000 in his pocket.

"The public and the magistrate had hung breathless upon her words. There
was nothing but sympathy felt for this handsome woman, who throughout
had been more sinned against than sinning, and whose gravest fault seems
to have been a total lack of intelligence in dealing with her own life.
But I can assure you of one thing, that in no case within my
recollection was there ever such a sensation in a court as when the
magistrate, after a few minutes' silence, said gently to Mrs. Morton:

"'And now, Mrs. Morton, will you kindly look at the prisoner, and tell
me if in him you recognize your former husband?'

"And she, without even turning to look at the accused, said quietly:

"'Oh no! your Honour! of course that man is _not_ the Comte de la
Tremouille.'"

CHAPTER XXVI

A SENSATION

"I can assure you that the situation was quite dramatic," continued the
man in the corner, whilst his funny, claw-like hands took up a bit of
string with renewed feverishness.

"In answer to further questions from the magistrate, she declared that
she had never seen the accused; he might have been the go-between,
however, that she could not say. The letters she received were all
typewritten, but signed 'Armand de la Tremouille,' and certainly the
signature was identical with that on the letters she used to receive
from him years ago, all of which she had kept.

"'And did it _never_ strike you,' asked the magistrate with a smile,
'that the letters you received might be forgeries?'

"'How could they be?' she replied decisively; no one knew of my marriage
to the Comte de la Tremouille, no one in England certainly. And,
besides, if some one did know the Comte intimately enough to forge his
handwriting and to blackmail me, why should that some one have waited
all these years? I have been married seven years, your Honour.'

"That was true enough, and there the matter rested as far as she was
concerned. But the identity of Mr. Francis Morton's assailant had to be
finally established, of course, before the prisoner was committed for
trial. Dr. Mellish promised that Mr. Morton would be allowed to come to
court for half an hour and identify the accused on the following day,
and the case was adjourned until then. The accused was led away between
two constables, bail being refused, and Brighton had perforce to
moderate its impatience until the Wednesday.

"On that day the court was crowded to overflowing; actors