Part 38 (1/2)
”Surprise me?” Julia paused. The handkerchief was suspended in air. ”Why, yes. It surprised me greatly.”
”You would not have thought Mrs. Carelton capable of such a thing?”
”Lucy? Goodness no. Not at all.”
”Did you see any sign of distress or anger on Mrs. Carelton's face?”
”None. Only that distraction, as I told you.”
”Did she seem in possession of her faculties?”
”Certainly. Yes. Yes, she did.”
”She did not seem to you to be a wild beast?”
Julia shook her head. ”A wild beast? Oh, goodness no.”
Mr. Scott once again propped his arm on the witness box. ”Have you ever observed Mrs. Carelton to act in such a way as to make you think she was not in her right mind?”
Julia frowned. ”No, not at all.”
”Did Mrs. Carelton appear to be in good health?”
”Well, she was frail, and often ill. And she was seeing Dr. Seth. She had fits sometimes, where she fainted, and she was often absent with the headache.”
”But nothing evidencing insanity?”
”No. Nothing like that.”
Mr. Scott looked puffed up, self-satisfied. I sat there in a dull fog. I wondered how I had been so unaware of how much Julia disliked me.
”I'm done with this witness,” Mr. Scott said, and Judge Hammond nodded to Howe, who rose without preamble and went to Julia, leaning close enough that she sat back in her chair.
”Mrs. Breckenwood, you said that you and Mrs. Carelton were not good friends, isn't that true?”
”That's true,” she said quietly.
”Mrs. Carelton did not confide in you?”
”No.”
”Would you say you knew her well enough to know the circ.u.mstances in which she lived?”
”Well . . . yes.”
”I see. You stated that she was often ill, that she had headaches. Did she ever confide in you as to why that might be?”
”No.”
”Did she ever confide in you as to her relations.h.i.+p with Dr. Seth?”
”No.” Julia squirmed.
”So when you said that it was obvious Dr. Seth and Mrs. Carelton had an intimate relations.h.i.+p, this was complete speculation on your part?”
”Not just mine,” she protested. ”Others said the same thing.”
”But it wasn't unusual, was it, for Mrs. Carelton to have male guests at Seaward?”
Julia paused. Her voice was nearly a whisper. ”No.”
”Was it unusual for a man like William Carelton to be away from Newport for long periods of time?”
”I suppose not.”
”Most husbands attend to their wives there only during the weekends, isn't that true?”
Reluctantly, she said, ”Yes.”
”Was Mr. Carelton different from the others in that way?”
”No,” she admitted.
”Now let me ask you: Would you think it unusual for a woman such as Mrs. Carelton, a woman you say suffered headaches and 'fits,' and who seemed to be improving under a doctor's care, to have that same doctor attend to her day and night?”
Julia straightened. ”I wouldn't know about that.”
”Wouldn't you?” Howe stepped back, exaggerated surprise on his face. ”You wouldn't know? Didn't you just say that you and Mrs. Carelton shared a doctor?”
”Yes.”
”And that doctor was Victor Seth?”
”Yes.”
”Why were you seeing Dr. Seth, Mrs. Breckenwood?”
”I don't care to say,” she said.
”Isn't it true that he attended to you during a weekend stay at Mrs. Moreton Hadden's country home in early June?”
She said nothing.
”Isn't it true, Mrs. Breckenwood?”
”Yes,” she whispered.
”Were you having an affair with Dr. Seth?”
”No.” She blushed furiously. ”No, of course not.”