one; but not an eye met his without shrinking from its keen and ferocious expression:—not a single individual present thought him innocent.
Both were placed at the bar; and on a sign from the judge, the officer at her side removed the muffling from the female prisoner's face: she appeared scarcely conscious of the action. The long black hair, utterly unconfined, fell down in a mass of dark ringlets, strongly contrasted by the bright red cloak; they hung back off the countenance, whose sweet and childish beauty was thus fully displayed. She had the small smooth features, the fresh colour, the unconscious smile, which belongs only to very early youth, and those large, soft, beseeching eyes with which we almost unawares connect the idea of helplessness and innocence. It was like sacrilege to Nature to suspect of crime a creature so lovely. Those opposite could observe that her whole attention was fixed on a beautiful nosegay placed on the bench near the judge. The season was too far advanced for the gardens to boast much bloom; and the rich bunch of purple and crimson flowers was from the hot-house of a gentleman noted for his rare collection of tropical plants. Her eyes filled with tears—was it possible that the spicy perfume and magnificent dyes of the bouquet before her recalled the associations of her childhood?
The prisoners were now required to plead guilty or not guilty.
H
