A TERRIBLE PLIGHT
"Little more than a fortnight after that, Edith Crawford was duly
committed to stand her trial before the High Court of Justiciary. She
had pleaded 'Not Guilty' at the pleading diet, and her defence was
entrusted to Sir James Fenwick, one of the most eminent advocates at the
Criminal Bar.
"Strange to say," continued the man in the corner after a while, "public
opinion from the first went dead against the accused. The public is
absolutely like a child, perfectly irresponsible and wholly illogical;
it argued that since Miss Crawford had been ready to contract a marriage
with a half-demented, deformed creature for the sake of his £100,000 she
must have been equally ready to murder and rob an old lady for the sake
of £50,000 worth of jewellery, without the encumbrance of so undesirable
a husband.
"Perhaps the great sympathy aroused in the popular mind for David Graham
had much to do with this ill-feeling against the accused. David Graham
had, by this cruel and dastardly murder, lost the best--if not the
only--friend he possessed. He had also lost at one fell swoop the large
fortune which Lady Donaldson had been about to assign to him.
"The deed of gift had never been signed, and the old lady's vast wealth,
instead of enriching her favourite nephew, was distributed--since she
had made no will--amongst her heirs-at-law. And now to crown this long
chapter of sorrow David Graham saw the girl he loved accused of the
awful crime which had robbed him of friend and fortune.
"It was, therefore, with an unmistakable thrill of righteous
satisfaction that Edinburgh society saw this 'mercenary girl' in so
terrible a plight.
"I was immensely interested in the case, and journeyed down to Edinburgh
in order to get a good view of the chief actors in the thrilling drama
which was about to be unfolded there.
"I succeeded--I generally do--in securing one of the front seats among
the audience, and was already comfortably installed in my place in court
when through the trap door I saw the head of the prisoner emerge. She
was very becomingly dressed in deep black, and, led by two policemen,
she took her place in the dock. Sir James Fenwick shook hands with her
very warmly, and I could almost hear him instilling words of comfort
into her.
"The trial lasted six clear days, during which time more than forty
persons were examined for the prosecution, and as many for the defence.
But the most interesting witnesses were certainly the two doctors, the
maid Tremlett, Campbell, the High Street jeweller, and David Graham.
"There was, of course, a great deal of medical evidence to go through.
Poor Lady Donaldson had been found with a silk scarf tied tightly round
her neck, her face showing even to the inexperienced eye every symptom
of strangulation.
"Then Tremlett, Lady Donaldson's confidential maid, was called. Closely
examined by Crown Counsel, she gave an account of the ball at Charlotte
Square on the 23rd, and the wearing of the jewels by Miss Crawford on
that occasion.
"'I helped Miss Crawford on with the tiara over her hair,' she said;
'and my lady put the two necklaces round Miss Crawford's neck herself.
There were also some beautiful brooches, bracelets, and earrings. At
four o'clock in the morning when the ball was over, Miss Crawford
brought the jewels back to my lady's room. My lady had already gone to
bed, and I had put out the electric light, as I was going, too. There
was only one candle left in the room, close to the bed.
"'Miss Crawford took all the jewels off, and asked Lady Donaldson for
the key of the safe, so that she might put them away. My lady gave her
the key and said to me, "You can go to bed, Tremlett, you must be dead
tired." I was glad to go, for I could hardly stand up--I was so tired. I
said "Good night!" to my lady and also to Miss Crawford, who was busy
putting the jewels away. As I was going out of the room I heard Lady
Donaldson saying: "Have you managed it, my dear?" Miss Crawford said: "I
have put everything away very nicely."'
"In answer to Sir James Fenwick, Tremlett said that Lady Donaldson
always carried the key of her jewel safe on a ribbon round her neck, and
had done so the whole day preceding her death.
"'On the night of the 24th,' she continued, 'Lady Donaldson still seemed
rather tired, and went up to her room directly after dinner, and while
the family were still sitting in the dining-room. She made me dress her
hair, then she slipped on her dressing-gown and sat in the arm-chair
with a book. She told me that she then felt strangely uncomfortable and
nervous, and could not account for it.
"'However, she did not want me to sit with her, so I thought that the
best thing I could do was to tell Mr. David Graham that her ladyship did
not seem very cheerful. Her ladyship was so fond of Mr. David; it always
made her happy to have him with her. I then went to my room, and at
half-past eight Mr. David called me. He said: "Your mistress does seem a
little restless to-night. If I were you I would just go and listen at
her door in about an hour's time, and if she has not gone to bed I would
go in and stay with her until she has." At about ten o'clock I did as
Mr. David suggested, and listened at her ladyship's door. However, all
was quiet in the room, and, thinking her ladyship had gone to sleep, I
went back to bed.
"'The next morning at eight o'clock, when I took in my mistress's cup of
tea, I saw her lying on the floor, her poor dear face all purple and
distorted. I screamed, and the other servants came rushing along. Then
Mr. Graham had the door locked and sent for the doctor and the police.'
"The poor woman seemed to find it very difficult not to break down. She
was closely questioned by Sir James Fenwick, but had nothing further to
say. She had last seen her mistress alive at eight o'clock on the
evening of the 24th.
"'And when you listened at her door at ten o'clock,' asked Sir James,
'did you try to open it?'
"'I did, but it was locked,' she replied.
"'Did Lady Donaldson usually lock her bedroom at night?'
"'Nearly always.'
"'And in the morning when you took in the tea?'
"'The door was open. I walked straight in.'
"'You are quite sure?' insisted Sir James.
"'I swear it,' solemnly asserted the woman.
"After that we were informed by several members of Mr. Graham's
establishment that Miss Crawford had been in to tea at Charlotte Square
in the afternoon of the 24th, that she told every one she was going to
London by the night mail, as she had some special shopping she wished to
do there. It appears that Mr. Graham and David both tried to persuade
her to stay to dinner, and then to go by the 9.10 p.m. from the
Caledonian Station. Miss Crawford however had refused, saying she always
preferred to go from the Waverley Station. It was nearer to her own
rooms, and she still had a good deal of writing to do.
"In spite of this, two witnesses saw the accused in Charlotte Square
later on in the evening. She was carrying a bag which seemed heavy, and
was walking towards the Caledonian Railway Station.
"But the most thrilling moment in that sensational trial was reached on
the second day, when David Graham, looking wretchedly ill, unkempt, and
haggard, stepped into the witness-box. A murmur of sympathy went round
the audience at sight of him, who was the second, perhaps, most deeply
stricken victim of the Charlotte Square tragedy.
"David Graham, in answer to Crown Counsel, gave an account of his last
interview with Lady Donaldson.
"'Tremlett had told me that she seemed anxious and upset, and I went to
have a chat with her; she soon cheered up and....'
"There the unfortunate young man hesitated visibly, but after a while
resumed with an obvious effort.
"'She spoke of my marriage, and of the gift she was about to bestow upon
me. She said the diamonds would be for my wife, and after that for my
daughter, if I had one. She also complained that Mr. Macfinlay had been
so punctilious about preparing the deed of gift, and that it was a great
pity the £100,000 could not just pass from her hands to mine without so
much fuss.
"'I stayed talking with her for about half an hour; then I left her, as
she seemed ready to go to bed; but I told her maid to listen at the door
in about an hour's time.'
"There was deep silence in the court for a few moments, a silence which
to me seemed almost electrical. It was as if, some time before it was
uttered, the next question put by Crown Counsel to the witness had
hovered in the air.
"'You were engaged to Miss Edith Crawford at one time, were you not?'
"One felt, rather than heard, the almost inaudible 'Yes' which escaped
from David Graham's compressed lips.
"'Under what circumstances was that engagement broken off?'
"Sir James Fenwick had already risen in protest, but David Graham had
been the first to speak.
"'I do not think that I need answer that question.'
"'I will put it in a different form, then,' said Crown Counsel
urbanely--'one to which my learned friend cannot possibly take
exception. Did you or did you not on October 27th receive a letter from
the accused, in which she desired to be released from her promise of
marriage to you?'
"Again David Graham would have refused to answer, and he certainly gave
no audible reply to the learned counsel's question; but every one in the
audience there present--aye, every member of the jury and of the
bar--read upon David Graham's pale countenance and large, sorrowful eyes
that ominous 'Yes!' which had failed to reach his trembling lips."