]
The Grand Jury returned a true bill against Lady Shillito. David had
been studying the case from the morrow of the inquest, that is as
soon as Rossiter had learnt of the coming trouble. The latter though
he regarded Cousin Arbella as a rather amusing minx, an interesting
type in modern psychology (though really her type is as old
as--say--the Hallstadt period) had no wish to see her convicted of
murder. Furthermore he was getting so increasingly interested in
this clever David Williams that he would have liked to make his
fortune by helping him to a sensational success as a pleader, to
one of those cases which 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.
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