"Well, of course it's all nonsense," exclaimed Aunt Lil impatiently.
"French people are so sensational, and they jump at conclusions so. The
idea of their daring to accuse a man like Ivor Dundas of murder! They
ought to know better. They'll soon be eating humble-pie, and begging
England's pardon for wrongful treatment of a British subject, won't
they, Eric?"
"I'm afraid there's no question of jumping at conclusions on the part of
the authorities, or of eating humble-pie," Uncle Eric said. "The
evidence--entirely circumstantial so far, luckily--is dead against Ivor.
And as for his being a British subject, there's nothing in that. If an
Englishman chooses to commit a murder in France, he's left to the French
law to deal with, as if he were a Frenchman."
"But Ivor hasn't committed murder!" cried Aunt Lilian, horrified.
"Of course not. But he's got to prove that he hasn't. And in that he's
worse off than if this thing happened in England. English law supposes a
man innocent until he's been proved guilty. French law, on the contrary,
presumes that he's guilty until he's proved innocent. In face of the
evidence against Ivor, the authorities couldn't have done otherwise than
they have done.
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