"When she came to my home, very upset, and delivered the news to Antonia and myself."
"And who is Antonia?"
"She is a friend of mine, and the wife of Harry Morrison, one of my father's business acquaintances. She was visiting with me at the time."
"And how did you respond to this news?" asked Shakespeare. "Well, we sought to comfort her, of course," Elizabeth replied. "And was that all!"
"Not entirely."
"As it happens, 'twas your suggestion to her that she should elope with Thomas, was it not?"
"It was."
This brought a reaction from the assemblage, and Locke hammered for silence, or at least some reasonable semblance of it.
"Curious," said Shakespeare. "'Twould seem that everyone wanted this young couple to elope, save for their parents. And what did you do then?"
"We took a coach and went in search of Thomas," Elizabeth replied.
"And by 'we,' you mean yourself, Antonia, and Portia, is that not so?"
"'Tis so."
"Where did you go?"
"To the shop of Master Leffingwell, where Thomas was employed," Elizabeth replied.
"And what did you discover when you went there?"
"We discovered that Thomas was not there," Elizabeth replied.
"Master Leffingwell told us that he had not come in to work that day."
"And was that all he told you?"
Elizabeth frowned. "I believe so."
"Allow me to refresh your memory. Did you not know that Thomas had a room just across the street in the cul-de-sac, above the mercer's shop?"
"Oh. Aye, we did. That is to say, I did not know it, Portia did. But we did not go there, because Master Leffingwell also told us that he had sent one of his apprentices there earlier to see if Thomas was at home, and he was not."
"And so, not seeing any reason to do otherwise, you took him at his word and returned home, thinking to find Thomas later, perhaps the following day. At what point did you discover he ,was dead?"
"The very next day," Elizabeth replied, "when the sheriff's men came to my house to question us."
"And why did they wish to question you?"
"Because Master Leffingwell had told them we were at his shop, seeking Thomas."
"Portia was with you at the time the sheriff's men arrived?"
"Aye, she was. She had spent the night with me at my home."
"And how did she respond to this tragic news?"
"As you may well imagine, she was horrified and struck with grief. She fled the room, sobbing."
"And the sheriff's men, of course, did not pursue her to press her any further."