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At the close of his examination, he paused, and said:

“I should like to make one thing clear. I utterly reject and disapprove of Sir Ernest Heavywether’s insinuations against my brother. My brother, I am convinced, had no more to do with the crime than I have.”

Sir Ernest merely smiled, and noted with a sharp eye that John’s protest had produced a very favourable impression on the jury.

Then the cross-examination began.

“I understand you to say that it never entered your head that the witnesses at the inquest could possibly have mistaken your voice for that of Mr. Inglethorp. Is not that very surprising?”

“No, I don’t think so. I was told there had been a quarrel between my mother and Mr. Inglethorp, and it never occurred to me that such was not really the case.”

“Not when the servant Dorcas repeated certain fragments of the conversation — fragments which you must have recognized?”

“I did not recognize them.”

“Your memory must be unusually short!”

“No, but we were both angry, and, I think, said more than we meant. I paid very little attention to my mother’s actual words.”