She never had believed in human nature, and now the
girl whom she had rescued from comparative poverty and placed in
opulence had wanted to kill her. M. Vandeloup, whom she admired and
trusted, what black infamy he was guilty of--he had sworn most
solemnly he never harmed Kitty, and yet he was the man who had
ruined her. Madame Midas felt that the worst had come--Vandeloup
false, Kitty a murderess, her husband vanished, and Selina dead. All
the world was falling into ruins around her, and she remained alone
amid the ruins with her enormous fortune, like a golden statue in a
deserted temple. With clasped hands, aching heart, but impassive
face, she sat waiting for the end.
The jury returned in about half an hour, and there was a dead
silence as the foreman stood up to deliver the verdict.
The jury found as follows:--
That the deceased, Selina Jane Sprotts, died on the 21st day of
November, from the effects of poison, namely, conia, feloniously
administered by one Katherine Marchurst, and the jury, on their
oaths, say that the said Katherine Marchurst feloniously, wilfully,
and maliciously did murder the said deceased.
That evening Kitty was arrested and lodged in the Melbourne Gaol, to
await her trial on a charge of wilful murder.
CHAPTER XV
KISMET
Of two evils it is always best to choose the least, and as M.
Vandeloup had to choose between the loss of his popularity or his
liberty, he chose to lose the former instead of the latter.
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