A pause of decided¹ duration now followed; an exasperating² pause which tried even me, much as I pride myself upon my patience. There seemed to be some hitch³ in regard to the next witness. The Coroner sent Mr. Gryce into the neighboring room more than once, and finally, when the general uneasiness seemed on the point of expressing itself by a loud murmur⁴, a gentleman stepped forth⁵, whose appearance, instead of allaying⁶ the excitement, renewed it in quite an unprecedented⁷ and remarkable⁸ way.  
I did not know the person thus introduced.
 
He was a handsome man, a very handsome man, if the truth must be told, but it did not seem to be this fact which made half the people there crane their heads to catch a glimpse of him. Something else, something entirely⁹ disconnected with his appearance there as a witness, appeared to hold the people enthralled¹⁰ and waken a subdued¹¹ enthusiasm which showed itself not only in smiles, but in whispers and significant nudges, chiefly among the women, though I noticed that the jurymen stared when somebody obliged them with the name of this new witness. At last it reached my ears, and though it awakened¹² in me also a decided curiosity, I restrained all expression of it, being unwilling[Pg 156] to add one jot¹³ to this ridiculous display of human weakness.
 
Randolph Stone, as the intended husband of the rich Miss Althorpe, was a figure of some importance in the city, and while I was very glad of this opportunity of seeing him, I did not propose to lose my head or forget, in the marked interest his person invoked¹⁴, the very serious cause which had brought him before us. And yet I suppose no one in the room observed his figure more minutely.
 
He was elegantly made and possessed¹⁵, as I have said, a face of peculiar¹⁶ beauty. But these were not his only claims to admiration¹⁷. He was a man of undoubted intelligence and great distinction of manner. The intelligence did not surprise me, knowing, as I did, how he had raised himself to his present enviable position in society in the short space of five years. But the perfection of his manner astonished me, though how I could have expected anything less in a man honored by Miss Althorpe's regard, I cannot say. He had that clear pallor of complexion¹⁸ which in a smooth-shaven face is so impressive, and his voice when he spoke¹⁹ had that music in it which only comes from great cultivation²⁰ and a deliberate intent to please.
 
He was a friend of Howard's, that I saw by the short look that passed between them when he first entered the room; but that it was not as a friend he stood there was apparent from the state of amazement²¹ with which the former recognized him, as well as from the regret to be seen underlying²² the polished manner of the witness himself. Though perfectly²³ self-possessed and perfectly respectful, he showed by every means possible the pain he felt in adding one feather-weight to the[Pg 157] evidence against a man with whom he was on terms of more or less intimacy²⁴.
 
But let me give his testimony²⁵. Having acknowledged that he knew the Van Burnam family well, and Howard in particular, he went on to state that on the night of the seventeenth he had been detained at his office by business of a more than usual pressing nature, and finding that he could expect no rest for that night, humored himself by getting off the cars at Twenty-first Street instead of proceeding²⁶ on to Thirty-third Street, where his apartments were.
 
The smile which these words caused (Miss Althorpe lives in Twenty-first Street) woke no corresponding light on his face. Indeed, he frowned at it, as if he felt that the gravity of the situation admitted of nothing frivolous²⁷ or humorsome. And this feeling was shared by Howard, for he started when the witness mentioned Twenty-first Street, and cast him a haggard look of dismay which happily no one saw but myself, for every one else was concerned with the witness. Or should I except Mr. Gryce?
 
"I had of course no intentions beyond a short stroll through this street previous to returning to my home," continued the witness, gravely; "and am sorry to be obliged to mention this freak of mine, but find it necessary in order to account for my presence there at so unusual an hour."
 
"You need make no apologies," returned the Coroner. "Will you state on what line of cars you came from your office?"
 
"I came up Third Avenue."
 
"Ah! and walked towards Broadway?"
 
"Yes."[Pg 158]
 
"So that you necessarily passed very near the Van Burnam mansion²⁸?"
 
"Yes."
 
"At what time was this, can you say?"
 
"At four, or nearly four. It was half-past three............