The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 141: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

118 REYNOLDS’ WORKS had not been found, either in the pond or in the neighbour- hood, so that it was tolerably evident the assassin had taken it away with him. The cloth which the dog had brought in his mouth was a fragment evidently torn from the skirt of a surtout coat, and it was therefore supposed that the faithful animal had flown at the murderer of his master, in doing which he had received the fatal bullet. It was further shown that Bertram had on a black surtout coat when he left Oaklands after the scene with the duke and. Eliza. The evidence being now complete, the coroner proceeded tosum up. In alluding to the circumstance of the dagger, he sald that it had been incontestably proved that the weapon belonged to Bertram, and that the jury, with this fact before them, would have to weigh well whether, under all the circum- stances, it was Bertram’s hand which committed the deed, or whether some other person had obtained possession of that dagger with the foulest of purposes. The coroner remarked that it was certainly extraordinary that Bertram should have had the dagger about him at the time when he was walking with the duchess and when the incident occurred that compelled him to fly from Oaklands. None of the witnesses had been able to throw any light upon this point, such for instance as proving that the dagger was still in Bertram’s room at the time of his flight, or on the other hand, that they missed it from the room. Certain it was the dagger had dealt the murderous blow, and it was for the jury to say whether the hand of Bertram or that of an unknown assassin had wielded the weapon. Having commented upon all other parts of the evidence, the coroner left the matter in the hands of the jury. The deliberation was not long, and its unanimous result was a verdict of ‘‘ Wilful murder against Bertram Vivian, now Lord Clandon.”’ When the tragic circumstances which thus occurred at Oaklands became spread abroad over the United Kingdom by means of the public journals, the usual excitement lasted for a time and then began to die away. Warrants were issued for Bertram’s apprehension, a reward was offered by the Secretary of State, advertisements were inserted in the newspapers, but all to no effect: the accused was not to be found. And Eliza? Nothing was heard of her. The natural inference, therefore, was that Bertram and the GoOmMmichbooks (E(0)