[The House of the Whispering Pines by Anna Katharine Green]@TWC D-Link book
The House of the Whispering Pines

BOOK THREE
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You may still believe me as guiltless of Adelaide's violent death as a man can be who drove her and hers into misery which death alone could end." "I will believe it," he muttered, "I must." And he dropped the subject, as he made me see, forever.
I drew a deep breath of relief.

I had come very near to revealing my secret.
When we returned to the court-room, we found it already packed with a very subdued and breathless crowd.

It differed somewhat from the one which had faced us in the morning; but Ella and her parents were there and many others of the acknowledged friends of the accused and of his family.
He, himself, wore the heavy and dogged air which became him least.
Physically refreshed, he carried himself boldly, but it was a boldness which convinced me that any talk he may have had with his lawyer, had been no more productive of comfort than the one I had held with mine.
As he took the witness chair, and prepared to meet the cross-examination of the district attorney, a solemn hush settled upon the room.

Would the coming ordeal rob his brow of its present effrontery, or would he continue to bear himself with the same surly dignity, which, misunderstood as it was, produced its own effect, and at certain moments seemed to shake even the confidence of Mr.Fox, settled as he seemed to be in his belief in the integrity of his cause and the rights of the prosecution.
Shaken or not, his attack was stern, swift, and to the point.
"Was the visit you made to the wine-vault on the evening of the second of December, the first one you had ever paid there ?" "No; I had been there once before.

But I always paid for my depredations," he added, proudly.
"The categorical answer, Mr.Cumberland.Anything else is superfluous." Arthur's lip curled, but only for an instant; and nothing could have exceeded the impassiveness of his manner as Mr.Fox went on.
"Then you knew the way ?" "Perfectly." "And the lock ?" "Sufficiently well to open it without difficulty." "How long do you think you were in entering the house and procuring these bottles ?" "I cannot say.


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