if successfully conducted mark out a path to the Bench.  So he insisted that David Williams be briefed for the defence, and well fee’ed, in order that he might be able to devote all his time to the investigation of the mystery.  David had an uphill task.  He went down to the North in November, 1908, conferred with Lady Shillito’s solicitors, and at great length with the curiously calm, ironly-resolved Lady Shillito herself.  The evidence was too much against her for him to prevent her being committed for trial and lodged in reasonably comfortable quarters in Newcastle jail, or for the Grand Jury to find no true bill of indictment.  But between these stages in the process and the actual trial for murder in February, 1909, David worked hard and accumulated conclusive evidence (with Rossiter’s help) to prove his client’s innocence of the deed of which she believed herself guilty.  To punish her as she deserved he allowed her to think herself guilty till his defence of her began.

The prospect of a death on the gallows did not perturb Lady Shillito in the least.  She was perfectly certain that if found guilty her beauty and station in life would avail to have the death penalty commuted to a term of imprisonment which she would spend in the Infirmary.  Still, that would ruin her life pretty conclusively.  She would issue from prison a broken woman, whom in spite of her wealth—­if she retained any—­no impossibly-faithful Colonel would marry at the age of forty-five or fifty.  So she followed the opening hours of the trial with a dry mouth.

With the help of Rossiter and of many and minute researches David got on the track of the consultation in Harley Street, the warning given of the possible cancer.  He found in Sir Grimthorpe’s laboratory sufficient strychnine to kill an army.  He was privately informed by the family doctor (who didn’t want to press matters to a tragedy) that although he fully believed Arbella capable of the deed, she certainly had—­so far as the doctor’s prescriptions were concerned—­obtained nothing from him which could have killed her husband, even if she had centupled the dose.

Lady Shillito appeared in the dock dressed as much as possible like Mary, Queen of Scots on her trial; and was attended by a hospital nurse with restoratives and carminatives.  The Jury retired for a quarter of an hour only, and returned a verdict of Not Guilty.  The Court was rent with applause, and the Judge commented very severely on such a breach of decorum, apparently unknown to him in previous annals of our courts of justice.  Lady Shillito fainted and the nurse fussed, and the Judge in his private room sent for Mr. Williams and complimented him handsomely on his magnificent conduct of the case.  “Of course she meant to poison him; but I quite agree with the Jury, she didn’t.  He saved her the trouble.  Now I suppose she’ll marry again.  Well!  I pity her next husband.  Come and have lunch with me.”