g him,
as was but legally decent; but it mattered little, for the jurors had
heard, and I knew that the holy man's words would stick in their minds
at verdict time.

Following Father Michel came two respectable serving-men from Arran,
declaring that early the morning after the murder Mr. Danvers had sent
them to Leith to say that he no longer wanted the boat, and that they
had found its owner, the one who had testified for the prosecution, in
such a state of intoxication that they could not make their errand
clear, and left the message with his errand-boy, who was produced to
verify the truth of their statements. And after him came Nancy Stair
again, recalled for the defense, to swear to a letter sent to the duke
by her the morning of the day of his demise, which read as follows:

"MY DEAR, DEAR FRIEND:

"That I love you, you know; but that I can love you with that
fondness which a wife should have for a husband is forever an
impossibility to me. Perhaps after a time we may be friends again.
I have always admired your power. Of late I have admired your
goodness as well.

"You say you will have no courage to go on without me, and I wish
with all my heart I could love you as you desire, but my heart's
all gone from me, and to one who never will know.

"'Courage to go on!' If I have it, can not you who are so much
stronger have it as well?

"Affectionately your Friend,

"Nancy Stair."

And after, Jamie Henderlin swore that it was he who ran across the
grounds, on his way home from a wedding, and that he had heard the
shots and mentioned them to his mother on his arrival at the Burnside,
thus identifying the small figure I had seen running through the shaft
of light, and wiping away the last black mark on the slate against
Danvers.

Mr. Magendie asked permission at this point to address the court,
saying that the defense had been reserved by Mr. Carmichael's wish, and
that the manner of the duke's taking off had been a known thing to both
of them for more than a week, but that Mr. Carmichael had stood his
trial in order that every charge against him might be cleared away. And
after raising public expectation to its highest, and ridiculing the
idea that a man of intelligence should murder another and leave a
weapon heavily marked with his own name by the side of the dead; or
that because a man had uttered some threats of again challenging one
whom he had alread