found there Ruth's mare and Wingrave's covert hack. He looked in at the window of Wingrave's room. Wingrave may have been holding Ruth's hand, or something in their faces or attitude convinced Lumley that his jealousy was well founded. Lumley then returned with Ruth's husband." Lovell paused for a moment and continued, "According to Lady Ruth's evidence, her husband entered the room at the exact moment when she was rejecting Wingrave's advances. A struggle followed between the two men, with fatal results for Sir William. The true story of what happened there I doubt if anyone will ever know. The evidence of servants spoke of raised voices and the sound of a heavy fall. Sir William died in a few days, and Wingrave was committed for manslaughter and sent to prison for fifteen years!" Lovell then shared his own perspective, "Lady Ruth was a self-invited guest at White Lodge. She had asked Wingrave for advice on a money trouble and accepted his assistance. When her husband and Lumley appeared, she rejected the check Wingrave was offering. Her subsequent course of action becomes obvious. Of the struggle and the means by which Sir William received his injuries, I know nothing. The most serious part of the case lies in the circumstances of her husband's removal from White Lodge. Sir William was not meant to live." Lovell explained how Wingrave's trial unfolded with intense moments of confrontation between the key characters. The story, as presented by Lady Ruth and others, had a layer of vengeance and deceit lurking beneath the surface. The courtroom atmosphere was described vividly, capturing the tension and drama of the proceedings."My lord,' he said, 'I have no questions to ask this witness!'Everyone staggered. Wingrave's few friends were horrified. After that there was, of course, no hope for him. He got fifteen years' penal servitude.

Like an echo from that pent-up murmur of feeling which had rippled through the crowded court many years ago, his little group of auditors almost gasped as Lovell left his place and strolled down the room. Aynesworth laid his hand upon his shoulder.

'All the time,' he said, 'you were looking at that calendar! Why?'

Lovell once more faced them. He was standing with his back to a round table, strewn with papers and magazines.

'It was the date,' he said, 'and the fact that I must leave England within a few hours, which forced this story from me. Tomorrow Wingrave will be free! Listen, Aynesworth,' he continued, turning towards him, 'and the rest of you who fancy that it is I who am leaving a humdrum city for the world of tragedies! 

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