Jeremy Poldark (16 page)

Of course it is as your lordship pleases," said
Bull sulkily and Jud was ushered unceremoniously from the court.

While the next witnesses were making their
procession to and from the box Verity watched the jury. They were decently
dressed, sober-looking men, mostly of middle-age: small gentry and tradesmen.
In Cornwall as a whole there would be a certain lack of condemnation for the
things Ross had done or was accused of doing. Wrecks were looked on as
legitimate spoil. Excise men were the most hated and despised of people. But Henry
Bull had been cunning in his final appeal. Among propertied people there was
now an almost universal dread of a miners insurrection. Jacobin clubs which had
opened in England to lend the French revolutionaries support, the wild scenes
in Redruth last autumn, the recurring bread riots, and the seething discontent
of which they were a symptom, all tended to a feeling of horrid insecurity. One
saved one's twenty pounds a year, one built a new linhay or bought a new farm
cart with a sense of uncertainty about - the future. It was very unsettling,
and if a riot such as this they were hearing about was allowed to pass without
heavy punishment for the ringleader.

Captain Clark was in the box, and described the
scenes on the beach that night as aDante's Inferno, with great bonfires
blazing, hundreds of drunken men and women capering and fighting, mules laden
to breaking point with spoils from his ship, assaults upon his poor shipwrecked
crew, how he and two other men stood guard over the passengers with knives and
a drawn sword to save them from being torn to pieces.

When it was done there was an unaccustomed
silence in the court. The sailor had brought the scene vividly to life, and it
seemed that the people in the court were picturing it, some of them shocked
that their countryfolk should have gone so far. Eventually Ross said : "
Captain Clark, do you recall my coming to you on the beach and offering you and
your. crew shelter for the night in my house?"

Clark said: "I do indeed, sir. It was the
first act of common charity shown us on that dreadful night."

" Did you avail yourself of it?”

" Yes, most certainly. Nineteen of us in
all spent the night in your home."

"You were well treated there?"

"Most kindly treated."

"Did you, while you were on the beach, hear
me or see me encouraging anyone to wreck your ship?"

No, sir.... I may say it was dark except for the
bonfires. But I hadn't set eyes on you until you came forward and offered us
shelter."

.

"Thank you." Ross leaned over and had
a whispered consultation with Mr. Clymer. " Captain Clark, did you see
the meeting between myself and the sergeant of dragoons?"

“Yes."

"Was there any quarrel between us?"

"As far as I remember, you warned him not
to go down to the beach and he accepted your warning.”

"Would you consider it a friendly warning
that I offered, meant to avoid bloodshed?"

It could have been. Yes, I think it's fair to
say so."

There was no fight between us?" "Not
when I was there, certainly not." "Did I accompany you into the
house?" "You did."

“Thank You”.

“One moment, Captain," said Henry Bull,
whisking up as the sailor was about to leave the box. "How, long did the
accused stay with you when you entered the house?"

"Oh, about ten minutes."

"And when did you see him next?"

" About an hour later."

"Were there any excise men in the party
when you met the troopers?"

Not that I saw or noticed."

"There was nothing, so far as you know, to
prevent the accused leaving the house again as soon as you were settled, and
having a further argument with the soldiers?"

" No, sir."

" Thank you. Call Captain Ephraim Trevail”.

A short thin man came to the stand, and stated
that he had witnessed: the fight between the excise men and the soldiers, and
verified that he had seen Ross as the ringleader and identified him as the man
who had struck John Coppard down. So far as Ross knew he had never seen him before,
but he could not shake his evidence. Mr. Jeffery Clymer passed up a note
telling him not to press a hostile witness. Then Eli Clemmow was called and
told exactly the same story. It was more than three years since Ross had seen
this man. He felt his anger rise.

When it was his turn to speak he said:
"Where do you live, Clemmow?"

The man's lips slipped back to expose his
prominent teeth. They were like a special malice which had been kept hidden
until now. "Truro."

"How was it that you were at Hendrawna,
nine miles away, when the wreck came in?"

"I wasn't. I 'eard tell about the first
wreck and walked over to see the fun."

At one time you lived on my land, didn't
you?"

"'Sright."

" But I turned you off, d'you remember,
because you were a constant worry and disturbance to the neighbourhood."

"You mean you turned brother out of house
and home for doin' nothing 't all!"

"You hate me for it, don't you?"

Eli checked. Nay nay. I care naught for
ee."

Mr. Clymer passed Ross a note which read :
"Can you shake him as to detail?"

Ross said slowly: " Tell me, Clemmow, which
of the two wrecks came in closest to my house?"

The lips sucked but there was no reply. After a
time Ross said "Did you hear my question?" "Twas dark when I got,
there."

Which was the bigger of the two ships?"
After a long pause: " Pride o' Madras." "How many masts had
she?"

'two or three."

" How did you know which she was?"
I-'eard tell."

"Was the bigger one nearest my house or
farthest away?" Another, pause.

Ross said: "I suppose you saw the bonfire
on Damsel Point?"

“.. Yes"

“There was no bonfire on Damsel Point or near
it. You were never on Hendrawna Beach that night, were you? You never left
Truro."

" Yes, I were You're only tryin' to trick
me !" Eli Clemmow's face was white and tight. He went on to explain; but
Mr. Henry Bull, rising again, cut him short.

"Have you ever been to sea, Mr.
Clemmow?"

"Well-er-no, not so's you could say 'to
sea.' But----"

" So that if there were two shipwrecks on a
beach in the dark, some distance from each other, you might find it hard,
having no expert knowledge, to say which was the larger?"

Yes, that's true 'nough ! "

"Much harder, no doubt, than if you had
helped actively to wreck the ships and assault the crews?" Eli nodded
gratefully.

"Did you notice where the bonfires were
particularly?"

" No. They was about just 'ere and
thur."

" How far were you from the struggle which
developed between the prisoner and the excise men?"

" Which it is alleged developed," said
Mr. Jeffery Clymer, getting up and sitting down again all in one movement.

Which it is alleged developed?" "Oh. close
as you are to me."

“And the story you have told on oath-that is a
true eye-witness account of what took place?" " Yes, true as I'm
standing here"

Demelza's faintness kept coming in waves. It
would lean over her and then at the last moment move away again, leaving her
shaken: and sick. The excise man, Coppard, had been called, had confirmed the
general story, but to give him credit, had been vague as to whether he had been
attacked by the accused or even whether the accused man had been there at all.
The sergeant of dragoons had come and gone. The afternoon was half spent, and
so far there had been, no break for refreshments. `Two street sellers had got
in through the half-closed doors and were doing brisk if illicit business in
the back rows. The heat and the smell were stifling.

The last witness for the prosecution was Hick,
the justice who had taken all the depositions, including Ross's own. Some
difficulty had arisen on the Truro bench when it became known that the law
expected them to proceed with this case. Some of the magistrates were so
favourably disposed towards the accused man that it would have been plainly
unfair for them to have taken charge. Others, such as the Rev. Dr. Halse, were
equally prejudiced against him. In the end the nonentity, Ephraim Hick, had
been chosen to preside. Hick's main interest was the brandy bottle - but the
depositions had come,, through with a fair enough degree of impartiality.

Hick now had to put in this testimony and this
testimony was dangerous in the extreme.

From the answers the prisoner had made at his
interrogation it appeared that he fully admitted the charge of having, roused
the neighbourhood when the first wreck came in. To the question, "What
purpose had you -in mind?" he had answered, "There were families in
the district who were starving. Question, "Did you lead these people to the
wreck?" Answer, "They needed no leading. They knew the district as well
as I did." Question, "Did you incite them to attack the crew of the
Queen Charlotte? Answer, "None of the crew of the Queen -Charlotte was
attacked." Were you the first to board her, and, if so, what was your
purpose in so doing?" "My purpose was to see what cargo she
carried." Was any of the crew left on board when you reached her?"
" No, only one passenger, and he was dead." "Was he dead when
you reached the ship?" "Of course. Are you accusing me of murdering
him?" "Did you help your friends to board the ship by means of a
line?" "Yes." "Did you make any effort to get the body of
the dead man ashore?" " None whatever. " Did you help to wreck
the ship and carry away its cargo?" " No." " Were you
present while this was being done?" "Yes." " Did; you make
any attempt to stop it?" "None at all. I am not a magistrate."
"But you were the only gentleman present, - the only person-with
sufficient authority to stop this plundering in its early stages?"
"You exaggerate my influence."

Later on the interrogation. went on: " Were
you among the first persons to see the second shipwreck?" " I believe
so." "Did you encourage your friends to attack the crew of the Pride
of 'Madras?" " Certainly not." " Did you stand by and let
them be assaulted without protest?" "They were not assaulted by any
men known to me. By this time great numbers of miners were on the beach from farther
afield." " That doesn't answer my question." " It is all
the answer I can give you. I was not able to be in every place at the same
time." "But you went aboard the Pride of Madras?" "I
did." "Long before offering the shipwrecked sailors any help?"
" Some time before" " Did you approve of this riot which had
started? "I did not consider it a riot." "Do you approve of it
now?" "Do you approve of whole families being without enough food to
keep them alive?"

At the end the accused had denied all knowledge
of the attack upon the soldiers and excise men.

This concluded the Crown's case.

There were only five witnesses for the defence.
First were John and Jane Gimlett, who were called to testify that the prisoner
had not left the house again after entering it with the shipwrecked crew. The
first hour, while they were serving hot drinks to the castaways, he had spent
by the bedside of his sleeping wife, who was seriously ill. Henry Bull: did
much to intimidate them but nothing at all to shake them. If the prisoner had
left the house again it could not have been until very much later - until well
after the time of, the assault. Then came Zacky Martin and "Whitehead
" Scoble, who testified to Ross's seemly behaviour at an earlier stage.
Last witness was Dwight Enys.

He did not know how the case had gone up to this
time. The sun was out now, and beat down through the tall windows. Among the
spectators he caught sight of a. vivid auburn head. So she was here as she had
said.

It was a strange position to be confronted by
Ross and asked to give his testimony. After speaking for a moment or two he turned
more directly to the judge.

“My lord, I am the physician who attended on
Captain Poldark's wife and child during their attack of malignant sore throat,
(morbus strangulatorius). During this attack I was very constantly in the
house, and I know that Captain Poldark had had no sleep for almost a week. His
only child died, and she was buried the day before the wreck. His wife was
still dangerously ill. I attended him professionally the night before the
wreck, and formed the opinion that he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
That breakdown, I, consider, did take place and any strangeness in his actions
during the next two days is almost wholly to be attributed to that
condition."

There was silence. Everyone was listening
intently now. Henry Bull glanced at Ross, whisked his gown and got up. This
witness's testimony was dangerous to the prosecution's case.

"You are an apothecary, Dr. Enys?'

"No. A physician."

“I understand that is a distinction without a
difference - at least in the provinces.”

" I don't know all the provinces. In fact
there's a very great difference."