A Free Soul Page #8

- I object, Your Honor.

It's all right, I'm not trying to juggle

with this witness, Your Honor.

Objection sustained.

All right, strike out the answer

about Wilfong's brutality.

Can you remember my question, Jan?

He came to the hotel quite drunk.

He said that arrangements had been made

to get married.

- You and Wilfong?

- Yes.

- And you refused?

- Yes.

- How did you refuse?

- I told him what a beast he was.

I object, Your Honor.

Ace Wilfong is not on trial.

Objection sustained.

Try and remember what was said, Jan.

You refused, and he said what?

He threatened me.

This is theatrical, emotional.

- Overruled. Proceed.

- He said what, Jan?

He said,

"You haven't got a chance to get away.

You may be in your car, you may be walking

on the street, but I'll get you. "

- And then what happened?

- Then he tried to kiss me against my will.

It was at this moment that the defendant,

Dwight Winthrop, came into the room?

- Yes.

- What was your relation to the defendant?

We'd been engaged.

Was it true that he, the defendant,

was very deeply in love with you?

Yes.

Can you recall what Wilfong said

to the defendant?

- Your Honor...

Quiet.

- There's nothing to be gained by this...

Quiet. Quiet.

- He told Dwight...

- I object.

Quiet.

- Jan, you mustn't. Please, you must...

He told Dwight Winthrop

I'd gone to his place and stayed there...

...that I belonged to him.

And then what happened?

- He said I'd either marry...

- You mustn't...

Wilfong said?

Yes. Or he'd see that everybody knew

I wasn't fit to marry anyone.

And is that all he said?

He said

if Dwight Winthrop ever married me...

...that he wouldn't live long enough

to start the honeymoon.

- Then he left.

- What did the defendant say?

Nothing. He was... He was stunned.

He... He took me to my grandmother's.

He stayed there a while and then he left.

- And he had nothing further to say?

- Nothing.

- When did you next see the defendant?

- After the arrest.

Ah. And where was your father

during all this?

I don't know.

Was there anyone in all the

world during this terrible time...

...that you could turn to,

except the defendant, Dwight Winthrop?

I object, Your Honor.

This is not evidence.

Your witness.

So the bad man threatened to kidnap you,

did he?

Oh, I'm not trying to blame Ace Wilfong.

I have no right to and I don't want to.

I'll thank you, Miss Ashe...

...if you'll answer my questions

in a straightforward manner.

- Did he threaten to kidnap you?

- Yes, he did.

Was he truthful when he said

you went to his place and stayed there?

Yes.

Did he kidnap you

the first time you went there and stayed?

- No.

- You went because you wanted to?

Yes.

Over how long a period did you go to

his place and stay because you wanted to?

Several months.

- You've been to school?

- Yes.

- Good American schools?

- Yes.

And you were over 21

when you went to Wilfong...

...and belonged to him, weren't you?

- Yes.

And he became a beast...

...after you were through and he wasn't,

isn't that it?

- Your Honor, I object to this bullying.

- I am through.

If it please Your Honor... Jan.

Your Honor,

I've served here a good many years.

I crave some latitude...

...so the jury may fix the responsibility

for this crime where it belongs.

Say it.

Jan, my child...

...you never knew your mother, did you?

No, she died when I was born.

You never had any guidance

from anyone but your father, had you?

No.

Was there very great affection

between you and your father?

Oh, very great. There still is.

I think he's the most wonderful man

in the world.

Had you complete, absolute faith

in his teachings and his point of view?

Yes, of course, always.

And did he find you

in Ace Wilfong's place?

Yes.

- What time of day was it?

- Late at night.

Up to this time...

...had he ever criticized your friendship

with this man?

No, he had not.

Had he ever given you any advice

or warning about it at all?

Why, he didn't think it was necessary.

And this night that he found you there,

was he able to protect you?

To fight for you?

To help you in any way at all?

- Yes or no?

- Why, no.

Why not?

Was it because he was so drunk

that he couldn't protest...

...or help you in any way?

Oh, please don't. Please stop.

My father taught me

to stand on my own feet.

That's all, nothing else.

Just not to be a coward.

I ask to define the nature of evidence.

If I got smashed up, it's my fault,

nobody else's.

I knew what I was doing.

My life was my own affair.

I'm not trying to blame anybody

for anything at all.

Jan, dear.

That's all.

Your Honor...

...ladies and gentlemen.

The attorney for the prosecution has,

in a few vicious moments...

...wiped out the feeling

I've tried to give you...

...that this crime might have been done

without cold, deliberate premeditation.

But, my friends...

...I'm not tearing my very heart out

here before you...

...nor the heart of this child

that I love above all things in the world.

I'm not doing that...

...without the valid hope that it's

going to help you in doing justice.

There's not one atom of the brutal

evidence that I brought out...

...that the defendant didn't know.

How much he loves this girl,

you know by now.

He was going to the gallows

with his lips sealed.

But, my friends, I can't have that.

I'm going to ask you

to listen with your hearts.

Dwight Winthrop knew

that from the cradle on...

...through all her years...

...Jan Ashe listened to one mentor,

only one.

Her father.

Dwight Winthrop knew this too:

That she placed no moral value

on this ugly thing...

...until the result and the punishment

threatened the rest of her life.

You who have sons...

...should pray that they might have the

nobility and kindness of this young man.

And you who have daughters

must believe with him...

...that she was not to blame.

It was through her father

that she met this gambler, this beast.

Her father

endorsed this unholy friendship.

And when this man

threatened the rest of her life...

...this father wasn't there

to protect his daughter.

All this, Dwight Winthrop knew.

All this was caught in the whirlpool

of his love.

The poor boy went insane.

And he's not guilty of cold,

deliberate murder.

There's only one breast...

...that you can surely pin the

responsibility of this crime on.

Only one.

Stephen Ashe is guilty, and nobody else.

Stephen Ashe.

Your Honor...

...I...

Quiet. Quiet.

Oh, please, help.

No.

Please change your mind, Jan, don't go.

If I were only sure

that it would make you happy always.

I'm sure, Jan.

Wait a little while, darling.

I'll be in New York, working at something.

I'll follow you there.

If you ever do...

...I'll follow you to the ends of the earth.

- That's a date.

- Pardon me, sir.

The secret of my success

is never say die.

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