An Inconvenient Wife Part 38

"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."

"What was the purpose for him to accompany you there?"

"He was my doctor," she said. "He was treating me."

"For what, Mrs. Breckenwood?"

Julia's full lips thinned. "I don't understand why that should be important. It's nothing to do with this business."

"Please answer the question, Mrs. Breckenwood," the judge said.

She flushed again. "For my nerves. He was treating me for my nerves."

Howe nodded. "So, Dr. Seth also attended to you day and night, and you were not having intimate relations. The same could be true of Dr. Seth and Mrs. Carelton, couldn't it?"

Julia frowned. "I . . . I suppose so. But-"

"What exactly did Mr. Carelton tell you about Dr. Seth's relations.h.i.+p with his wife?"

"Objection," Scott called out. "Hearsay."

"You opened the door yourself, Mr. Scott," said the judge. "I'll allow it. Please continue, Mrs. Breckenwood."

Julia bowed her head. Her voice was so soft I had to strain to hear it. "He said that Dr. Seth had made advances toward Lucy."

"Did he say how Mrs. Carelton reacted to those advances?"

Julia would not look at him. "He said she had rejected him."

"Do you have reason to believe those words aren't true?"

"No," she whispered. "I suppose not."

"So you have no real knowledge that Mrs. Carelton and Victor Seth were having an affair?"

"No."

"Now, Mrs. Breckenwood, I have only a few more questions. How long have you known Mrs. Carelton?"

"All my life."

"And yet you did not know her well."

"We were never good friends, as I said."

"But you claim to know her well enough to understand her state of mind as she walked down those stairs to the dining room the night of October sixth?"

"Well, I-"

"In fact, you don't know what Mrs. Carelton was thinking, do you, Mrs. Breckenwood?"

"I can a.s.sume-"

"But by your own admission you didn't know Mrs. Carelton well enough to a.s.sume. Isn't that true?"

There was a pause. Julia glanced at me, and her gaze was so hostile it felt like a slap. "Yes," she said.

"Are you acquainted with the symptoms of insanity, Mrs. Breckenwood?"

She said, "Why, it's easy enough to tell."

"Have you spent time in a lunatic asylum?"

"Of course not!"

"Are you a doctor?"

"No, but-"

"You don't know what a doctor might call insanity, do you, Mrs. Breckenwood?"

She was silent. Howe went on as if she'd spoken. His voice raised dramatically. "In fact, Mrs. Breckenwood, not only do you have no knowledge of Mrs. Carelton's illness, you have no knowledge of her life beyond what you've seen at the opera and at parties, do you?"

"No."

"So you are hardly qualified to judge if Mrs. Carelton was indeed insane the night she shot her husband, isn't that right?"

Julia sighed. "Yes."

"And what about Mr. Carelton? When did you meet him?"

"When we all did. About a year before Lucy married him."

"Do you know where he came from?"

"No."

"Did you know anything of his history?"

"No."

"What did you think of Mr. Carelton?"

"What did I think of him?" She looked puzzled.

"Yes."

"He was . . . We were all surprised when Lucy married him."