Blanche Fury Page #6

of that height with safety.

Oh, Aunt Blanche, I'm sure I can.

No, dear, it isn't possible.

That's a matter of opinion.

Mr Thorn... in future Miss

Lavinia will ride with Aimes.

She'll do no more

jumping for the present.

Very well.

As you wish.

This is a very serious

accusation, Mrs Fury.

I have not made it

lightly, Major Fraser.

What do you thin could

have been his motive?

He'd been told that day that he

might be dismissed from Clare.

You can imagine what that meant to him.

You say now you are sure that it

was his face you saw at the window?

Yes.

Why didn't you say so the other day?

The other day I wasn't sure.

I didn't realise then that he

was capable of such a thing.

And what has happened

since to convince you?

Yesterday, he made an

attempt on Lavinia's life too.

On Lavinia's life?

What possible motive

could he have for that?

It's very simple, Major Fraser.

He regarded Lavinia as the only obstacle

between himself and the...

absolute ownership of the estate.

Mrs Fury, surely if Lavinia were

dead, Clare would belong to you?

Mr Thorn expected to

marry me, Major Fraser.

He expected to marry you?

We loved one another.

Mrs Fury, you realise if

Thorn is brought to trial,

you may be questioned

about this in public.

My intention is to answer any

question that may be put to me.

Very well.

I'll issue a warrant for his arrest.

I admire your courage, Mrs Fury.

I realise what this must have cost you.

Did she send you here

to talk about this?

No. But she told me very frankly

about your feelings towards each other.

When did she do that?

Many weeks ago when she

first came to see me.

And it's only today it

occurs to you to ask me

not to speak of it

in court. Why is that?

There are two reasons, Thorn.

The first is the state

of Mrs Fury's health.

The second is that I heard that you

intend to conduct your own defense.

Is it really Mrs Fury

you're trying to protect?

Or just the good name of

the county's oldest family?

- Look here...

- All right, all right, what do I care?

So it would be better

if it weren't mentioned?

She's lucky.

It so happens that I don't

want it mentioned either.

I don't want anything

except some clean clothes.

- Can you arrange that, Major Fraser?

- I'll see what can be done.

Is there anything else you need?

Can you say with truth

that these are not the handkerchief

and earrings in question?

No.

In fact, to the best of your

belief, they are the same

that you received from the prisoner

and subsequently handed back to him?

- Yes.

- Thank you.

Prisoner at the bar, do you wish

to cross-examine this witness?

Yes.

You say that

these are the earrings and

handkerchief that I gave you.

In fact, have you not seen countless

others of exactly this pattern

worn and sold by gypsies

all over the countryside?

Yes.

Thank you.

Mr Aimes, it seems that you and Mr

Elliot had time to move the bodies

and ascertain that they were dead

before the prisoner joined you.

Which he did

three or four minutes after your own

arrival on the scene of the crime.

Yes, sir.

I should like the jury to pay

the greatest attention to this.

These three men were galvanised

into action by the same signal.

The sound of the two shots

which killed the victims.

They had approximately

the same distance to run.

Yet the prisoner, though young

and in the flower of his strength,

arrived three or four

minutes after the others,

who are neither so young nor so active.

The prisoner has stated that he

delayed long enough to load a gun.

Gentlemen, will you please

keep your eyes on me?

Mr Sanderson, will you

take out your watch?

Right.

- How long, Mr Sanderson?

- 22 seconds.

22 seconds, gentlemen.

Prisoner at the bar, do you wish

to cross-examine this witness?

Yes.

Do you remember when I arrived

on the scene of the crime

I said something to you?

Yes, Mr Thorn.

- Do you remember what it was?

- Yes, Mr Thorn.

You said, "What's happened, Aimes?

I was woken up by the sound of shots. "

Thank you.

I merely wish to point out that

I had to throw on a few clothes,

since when the crime

occurred, I was in bed.

You knew the prisoner regarded himself

as having been

disinherited by your family.

Yes.

Do you think it would be fair to

say he was obsessed by this feeling?

Yes.

Mrs Fury, would it be

correct to say that in fact

the prisoner hated both

your uncle and your husband?

Yes.

But he remained in their employ

because of his passion and

obsession for the estate.

Yes.

Mrs Fury, on the day on

which the crime was committed,

the prisoner was told by your husband

that he was to be dismissed

from Clare, was he not?

- That is so.

- Thank you, Mrs Fury.

Prisoner at the bar, do you wish

to cross-examine this witness?

Yes.

Mrs Fury, did you know that gypsies

had threatened your uncle's life?

I did.

These garments, which

you found in the garden,

- Aren't they typical of most gypsies?

- Yes.

Before the crime, had you

seen me wearing such garments?

No.

Anyone knowing these facts would assume

the crime had been committed by gypsies.

- Wouldn't they?

- Yes.

On the morning after the crime,

you declared that to be

your belief, didn't you?

Yes.

But when you saw these clothes again,

the day you found them in the garden,

you took them to the police

and said you'd changed your mind

and come to the conclusion

that I had worn them.

Yes.

Doesn't that seem... illogical?

I had my reasons for believing it.

One being that I had threatened

the life of Lavinia Fury.

Yes.

By encouraging her to

attempt a dangerous jump.

Yes.

- Was she unwilling to attempt it?

- No.

- Who said it was too dangerous?

- I did.

Will you admit that my experience of

horsemanship is greater than yours?

Of course.

And my judgment is therefore

correspondingly more reliable than yours?

Provided you had no reason for doing

something against your judgment.

What reason could there be?

The child was a Fuller.

You hated all the Fullers.

- Aren't you a Fuller?

- Yes.

- Did I hate you?

- No.

Then you are wrong in saying that

I hated all Fullers, are you not?

Yes.

You must be careful to

speak the truth, Mrs Fury.

I am on oath to do that.

I'm inviting you to find a reason

why I might have threatened

the life of Lavinia Fury.

She was the owner of an

estate which you coveted.

Would her death have made me the owner?

Not in itself, no.

Mrs Fury, your evidence

is so pitifully weak,

I suggest the truth is simply this.

You brought this accusation

for some personal motive.

My lord, I must object.

The prisoner has no right to

question the witness's integrity.

If the witness can

repudiate the imputation,

she should have the

opportunity of doing so.

I merely suggest, my lord,

that Mrs Fury's

longstanding dislike of me

led her to seize this opportunity

of disposing of me for good.

Silence in court!

Mr Thorn...

You know as well as I do that the

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