Mr. Trelford was quickly on his feet. “My lady, I must protest.”
“Yes, yes, Mr. Trelford, I agree. Sir Edward, that was uncalled for.”
“I apologize, my lady. May I ask you, Mrs. Clifton, if Sir Giles was shocked by your mother’s decision?”
“Sir Edward,” said the judge, even before Mr. Trelford could get to his feet.
“I do apologize, my lady. I’m just an old seeker after the truth.”
“It was a terrible shock for all of us,” said Emma. “My mother adored Giles.”
“But, like you, she clearly didn’t adore Lady Virginia, otherwise she would presumably have made provision for him in her will.” Sir Edward quickly added, “But let us move on. Your brother and Lady Virginia’s marriage was sadly to end in divorce, on the grounds of his adultery.”
“As you well know, Sir Edward,” said Emma, trying to restrain herself, “those were the days when a man had to spend a night in a Brighton hotel with a hired woman before the courts would grant him a divorce. Giles did so at Virginia’s request.”
“I am so sorry, Mrs. Clifton, but on the divorce petition, it merely says adultery. But at least we now all know how you react when you feel strongly about something.”
One look at the jury and it was clear that Sir Edward had made his point.
“One final question concerning the divorce, Mrs. Clifton. Was it a cause of celebration for you and your family?”
“My lady,” said Trelford, leaping to his feet.
“Sir Edward, you are once again overstepping your brief.”
“I’ll try hard not to transgress in future, my lady.”
But when Trelford looked at the jury, he knew that Sir Edward would have felt the reprimand had served its purpose.
“Mrs. Clifton, let us move on to more important matters, namely what you said and what you meant when my client put a perfectly legitimate question to you at the annual general meeting of the Barrington Shipping Company. In the interests of accuracy, I will repeat Lady Virginia’s question: ‘Is it true that one of your directors sold his vast shareholding over the weekend, in an attempt to bring the company down?’ If I may say so, Mrs. Clifton, you deftly and quite brilliantly avoided answering that question. Perhaps you’d care to do so now?”
Emma glanced over at Trelford. He had advised her not to answer the question so she remained silent.
“Perhaps I can suggest that the reason you didn’t want to answer that particular question was because Lady Virginia went on to ask, ‘If one of your directors was involved in such an exercise, shouldn’t he resign from the board?’ Your reply was, ‘If you are referring to Major Fisher…’ although she wasn’t, as you knew only too well. She was talking about your close friend and colleague, Mr. Cedric Hardcastle, was she not?”
“One of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever known,” said Emma.
“Was he indeed?” said Sir Edward. “Well then, let us examine that statement more closely, shall we, because it seems to me that what you were suggesting is that when your close friend—one of the ‘finest men’ you’ve ever known—sold his shares overnight, he did so in order to help the company, but when Lady Virginia sold her shares she was doing it to harm the company. Perhaps the jury might feel that you can’t have it both ways, Mrs. Clifton, unless of course you can find a weakness in my argument, and explain to the court the subtle distinction between what Mr. Hardcastle did on behalf of the company and what Major Fisher did on behalf of my client?”
Emma knew she couldn’t justify what Cedric had done in good faith, and that the reason he’d sold his shares would be extremely difficult to explain to the jury. Trelford had advised her, when in doubt, simply don’t reply, especially if the answer would damn her.
Sir Edward waited for some time before he said, “Well, as you seem unwilling to answer that question, perhaps we should move on to what you said next? ‘If it was your intention to bring the company down, Lady Virginia, then … you have failed, and failed lamentably, because you were defeated by decent ordinary people who want this company to be a success.’ Can you deny, Mrs. Clifton, that what you were suggesting to a packed audience in the Colston Hall in Bristol that morning was that Lady Virginia is not a decent ordinary person?” He emphasized the last three words.
“She’s certainly not ordinary.”
“I agree with you, Mrs. Clifton, she’s extraordinary. But I put it to the jury that the suggestion that my client is not decent, and that her purpose was to bring your company down, is libelous, Mrs. Clifton. Or is that, in your view, also nothing more than the truth?”
“I meant what I said,” Emma replied.
“And so convinced were you of your righteousness that you insisted your words be recorded in the minutes of the AGM.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did the company secretary advise against this course of action at the time?”
Emma hesitated.
“I can always call Mr. Webster to give evidence,” said Sir Edward.