During the Sunday the trial was, as a matter of course, the talk
of the town. Poor Lord Fawn shut himself up, and was seen by no
one;--but his conduct and evidence were discussed everywhere. At
the clubs it was thought that he had escaped as well as could be
expected; but he himself felt that he had been disgraced for ever.
There was a very common opinion that Mr. Chaffanbrass had admitted
too much when he had declared that the man whom Lord Fawn had seen
was doubtless the murderer. To the minds of men generally it seemed
to be less evident that the man so seen should have done the deed,
than that Phineas Finn should have been that man. Was it probable
that there should be two men going about in grey coats, in exactly
the same vicinity, and at exactly the same hour of the night? And
then the evidence which Lord Fawn had given before the magistrates
was to the world at large at any rate as convincing as that given in
the Court. The jury would, of course, be instructed to regard only
the latter; whereas the general public would naturally be guided by
the two combined.
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