Complete Plays of John Galsworthy eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,284 pages of information about Complete Plays of John Galsworthy.

Complete Plays of John Galsworthy eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 1,284 pages of information about Complete Plays of John Galsworthy.

Cokeson. [With his hand to his ear] I’m a little deaf.

Frome.  Was there anything in the course of that morning—­I mean before the discovery—­that caught your attention?

Cokeson.  Ye-es—­a woman.

The judge.  How is this relevant, Mr. Frome?

Frome.  I am trying to establish the state of mind in which the prisoner committed this act, my lord.

The judge.  I quite appreciate that.  But this was long after the act.

Frome.  Yes, my lord, but it contributes to my contention.

The judge.  Well!

Frome.  You say a woman.  Do you mean that she came to the office?

Cokeson.  Ye-es.

Frome.  What for?

Cokeson.  Asked to see young Falder; he was out at the moment.

Frome.  Did you see her?

Cokeson.  I did.

Frome.  Did she come alone?

Cokeson. [Confidentially] Well, there you put me in a difficulty. 
I mustn’t tell you what the office-boy told me.

Frome.  Quite so, Mr. Cokeson, quite so——­

Cokeson. [Breaking in with an air of “You are young—­leave it to me”] But I think we can get round it.  In answer to a question put to her by a third party the woman said to me:  “They’re mine, sir.”

The judge.  What are?  What were?

Cokeson.  Her children.  They were outside.

The judgeHow do you know?

Cokeson.  Your lordship mustn’t ask me that, or I shall have to tell you what I was told—­and that’d never do.

The judge. [Smiling] The office-boy made a statement.

Cokeson.  Egg-zactly.

Frome.  What I want to ask you, Mr. Cokeson, is this.  In the course of her appeal to see Falder, did the woman say anything that you specially remember?

Cokeson. [Looking at him as if to encourage him to complete the sentence] A leetle more, sir.

Frome.  Or did she not?

Cokeson.  She did.  I shouldn’t like you to have led me to the answer.

Frome. [With an irritated smile] Will you tell the jury what it was?

Cokeson.  “It’s a matter of life and death.”

Foreman of the jury.  Do you mean the woman said that?

Cokeson. [Nodding] It’s not the sort of thing you like to have said to you.

Frome. [A little impatiently] Did Falder come in while she was there? [Cokeson nods] And she saw him, and went away?

Cokeson.  Ah! there I can’t follow you.  I didn’t see her go.

Frome.  Well, is she there now?

Cokeson. [With an indulgent smile] No!

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Complete Plays of John Galsworthy from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.