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No, not a whisper of it, till the witnesses on the side of the prosecution were called for.

And how did he look when he heard it?

So astonished, at first, that his face became pale with astonishment; and one would have believed it was a witness on his own side that was lost. But soon after, I warrant ye, there was a wonderful change in his behaviour.

How so?

Why, now, to make it clear to you, Ma'am; seeing him before he heard it, and seeing him afterwards, was, according to my notion, like seeing a man crossing over a river lately frozen, with his half-bended body, picking a step here, and picking a step there, while the ice is bending and cracking round him on every side, and then seeing him when he gets fairly to the shore, lifting up his head, looking round him again, and standing upright and firmly on his legs, like a pillar.

And Mrs. Arden—how did she receive the news of his acquittal? It grieved me not to be