hat
case, where (so far) was the husband's motive for poisoning her? and
where was the presumption of the prisoner's guilt?

Pressed by this skillful lawyer, the nurse was obliged to exhibit my
husband's first wife under an entirely new aspect. Here is the substance
of what the Dean of Faculty extracted from Christina Ormsay:

"I persist in declaring that Mrs. Macallan had a most violent temper.
But she was certainly in the habit of making amends for the offense that
she gave by her violence. When she was quiet again she always made her
excuses to me, and she made them with a good grace. Her manners were
engaging at such times as these. She spoke and acted like a well-bred
lady. Then, again, as to her personal appearance. Plain as she was in
face, she had a good figure; her hands and feet, I was told, had been
modeled by a sculptor. She had a very pleasant voice, and she was
reported when in health to sing beautifully. She was also (if her maid's
account was to be trusted) a pattern in the matter of dressing for the
other ladies in the neighborhood. Then, as to Mrs. Beauly, though she
was certainly jealous of the beautiful young widow, she had shown at
the same time that she was capable of controlling that feeling. It was
through Mrs. Macallan that Mrs. Beauly was in the house. Mrs. Beauly had
wished to postpone her visit on account of the state of Mrs. Macallan's
health. It was Mrs. Macallan herself--not her husband--who decided that
Mrs. Beauly should not be disappointed, and should pay her visit to
Gleninch then and there. Further, Mrs. Macallan (in spite of her temper)
was popular with her friends and popular with her servants. There was
hardly a dry eye in the house when it was known she was dying. And,
further still, in those little domestic disagreements at which the nurse
had been present, Mr. Macallan had never lost his temper, and had never
used harsh language: he seemed to be more sorry than angry when the
quarrels took place."--Moral for the jury: Was this the sort of woman
who would exasperate a man into poisoning her? And was this the sort of
man who would be capable of poisoning his wife?

Having produced this salutary counter-impression, the Dean of Faculty
sat down; and the medical witnesses were called next.

Here the evidence was simply irresistible.

Dr. Jerome and Mr. Gale positively swore that the symptoms of the
illness were the symptoms of poisoning by arsenic. The surgeon who had
performed