Mr. Meeson's Will: Chapter 18

Chapter 18

AUGUSTA FLIES.

Of course, Augusta's story, so far as it was publicly known, had created
no small stir, which was considerably emphasised when pictures of her
appeared in the illustrated papers, and it was discovered that she was
young and charming. But the excitement, great as it was, was as nothing
compared to that which arose when the first whispers of the tale of the
will, which was tattooed upon her shoulders, began to get about.
Paragraphs and stories about this will appeared in the papers, but of
course she took no notice of these.

On the fourth day, however, after she had been photographed for the
purposes of the Registry, things came to a climax. It so happened that on
that morning Lady Holmhurst asked Augusta to go to a certain shop in
Regent-street to get some lace which she required to trim her widow's
dresses, and accordingly at about half-past twelve o'clock she started,
accompanied by the lady's maid. As soon as they shut the front door of
the house in Hanover-square she noticed two or three doubtful-looking men
who were loitering about, and who instantly followed them, staring at her
with all their eyes. She made her way along, however, without taking any
notice until she got to Regent-street, by which time there were quite a
score of people walking after her whispering excitedly at each other. In
Regent-street itself, the first thing that she saw was a man selling
photographs. Evidently he was doing a roaring trade, for there was a
considerable crowd round him, and he was shouting something which she
could not catch. Presently a gentleman, who had bought one of the
photographs, stopped just in front of her to look at it, and as he was
short and Augusta was tall, she could see over his shoulder, and the next
second started back with an indignant exclamation. "No wonder!" for the
photograph was one of herself as she had been taken in the low dress in
the Registry. There was no mistake about it--there was the picture of the
will tattooed right across her shoulders.

Nor did her troubles end there, for at that moment a man came
bawling down the street carrying a number of the first edition of an
evening paper--

"Description and picture of the lovely 'eroine of the Cockatoo," he
yelled, "with the will tattooed upon 'er! Taken from the original
photograph! Facsimile picture!"

"Oh, dear me," said Augusta to the maid, "that is really too bad. Let
us go home."

But meanwhile the crowd at her back had gathered and increased to an
extraordinary extent and was slowly inclosing her in a circle. The fact
was, that the man who had followed her from Hanover-square had told the
others who joined their ranks, who the lady was, and she was now
identified.

"That's her," said one man.

"Who?" said another.

"Why, the Miss Smithers as escaped from the Kangaroo and has the will on
her back, in course."

There was a howl of exultation from the mob, and in another second the
wretched Augusta was pressed, together with the lady's maid, who began to
scream with fright, right up against a lamp-post, while a crowd of eager
faces, mostly unwashed, were pushed almost into her own. Indeed, so
fierce was the crowd in its attempt to get a glimpse of the latest
curiosity, that she began to think that she would be thrown down and
trampled under foot, when timely relief arrived in the shape of two
policemen and a gentleman volunteer, who managed to rescue her and get
them into a hansom cab, which started for Hanover-square, pursued by a
shouting crowd of nondescript individuals.

Now, Augusta was a woman of good-nerve and resolution; but this sort of
thing was too trying, and, accordingly, accompanied by Lady Holmhurst,
she went off, that very day, to some rooms in a little riverside hotel on
the Thames.

When Eustace, walking down the Strand that afternoon, found every
photograph-shop full of accurate pictures of the shoulders of his
beloved, he was simply furious; and, rushing to the photographer who had
taken the picture in the Registry, threatened him with proceedings of
every sort and kind. The man admitted outright that he had put the
photographs upon the market, saying that he had never stipulated not to
do so, and that he could not afford to throw away five or six hundred
pounds when a chance of making it came in his way.

Thereon Eustace departed, still vowing vengeance, to consult the legal
twins. As a result of this, within a week, Mr. James Short made a motion
for and injunction against the photographer, restraining the sale of the
photographs in question, on the ground that such sale, being of copies of
a document vital to a cause now pending in the Court, those copies having
been obtained through the instrumentality of an officer of the court, Dr.
Probate, the sale thereof amounted to a contempt, inasmuch as, if for no
other reason, the photographer who obtained them became technically, and
for that purpose only, an officer of the Court, and had, therefore, no
right to part with them, or any of them, without the leave of the Court.
It will be remembered that this motion gave rise to some very delicate
questions connected with the powers of the Court in such a matter, and
also incidentally with the law of photographic copyright. It is also
memorable for the unanimous and luminous judgment finally delivered by
the Lords Justices of Appeal, whereby the sale of the photographs was
stopped, and the photographer was held to have been guilty of a technical
contempt. This judgment contained perhaps the most searching and learned
definition of constructive contempt that has yet been formulated: but for
the text of this, I must refer the student to the law reports, because,
as it took two hours to deliver, I fear that it would, notwithstanding
its many beauties, be thought too long for the purpose of this history.
Unfortunately, however, it did not greatly benefit Augusta, the victim
of the unlawful dissemination of photographs of her shoulders, inasmuch
as the judgment was not delivered till a week after the great case of
Meeson v. Addison and Another had been settled.

About a week after Augusta's adventure in Regent-street, a motion was
made in the Court of Probate on behalf of the defendants, Messrs. Addison
and Roscoe, who were the executors and principal beneficiaries under the
former will of November, 1885, demanding that the Court should order the
plaintiff to file a further and better affidavit of scripts, with the
original will got up by him attached, the object, of course, being to
compel an inspection of the document. This motion, which first brought
the whole case under the notice of the public, was strenuously resisted
by Mr. James Short, and resulted in the matter being referred to the
learned Registrar for his report. On the next motion day this report was
presented, and, on its appearing from it that the photography had taken
place in his presence and accurately represented the tattoo marks on the
lady's shoulders, the Court declined to harass the "will" by ordering her
to submit to any further inspection before the trial. It was on this
occasion that it transpired that the will was engaged to be married to
the plaintiff, a fact at which the Court metaphorically opened its eyes.
After this the defendants obtained leave to amend their answer to the
plaintiffs statement of claim. At first they had only pleaded that the
testator had not duly executed the alleged will in accordance with the
provisions of 1 Vic., cap. 26, sec. 2, and that he did not know and
approve the contents thereof. But now they added a plea to the effect
that the said alleged will was obtained by the undue influence of Augusta
Smithers, or, as one of the learned counsel for the defendants put it
much more clearly at the trial, "that the will had herself procured the
will, by an undue projection of her own will upon the unwilling mind of
the testator."

And so the time went on. As often as he could, Eustace got away from
London, and went down to the little riverside hotel, and was as happy as
a man can be who has a tremendous law suit hanging over him. The law, no
doubt, is an admirable institution, out of which a large number of people
make a living, and a proportion of benefit accrues to the community at
large. But woe unto those who form the subject-matter of its operations.
For instance, the Court of Chancery is an excellent institution in
theory, and looks after the affairs of minors upon the purest principles.
But how many of its wards after, and as a result of one of its
well-intentioned interferences, have to struggle for the rest of their
lives under a load of debt raised to pay the crushing costs! To employ
the Court of Chancery to look after wards is something as though one set
a tame elephant to pick up pins. No doubt he could pick them up, but it
would cost something to feed him. It is a perfectly arguable proposition
that the Court of Chancery produces as much wretchedness and poverty as
it prevents, and it certainly is a bold step, except under the most
exceptionable circumstances, to place anybody in its custody who has
money that can be dissipated in law expenses. But of course these are
revolutionary remarks, which one cannot expect everybody to agree with,
least of all the conveyancing counsel of the Court.

However this may be, certainly his impending lawsuit proved a fly in
Eustace's honey. Never a day passed but some fresh worry arose. James
and John, the legal twins, fought like heroes, and held their own
although their experience was so small--as men of talent almost
invariably do when they are put to it. But it was difficult for Eustace
to keep them supplied even with sufficient money for out-of-pocket
expenses; and, of course, as was natural in a case in which such enormous
sums were at stake, and in which the defendants were already men of vast
wealth, they found the flower of the entire talent and weight of the Bar
arrayed against them. Naturally Eustace felt, and so did Mr. James
Short--who, notwithstanding his pomposity and the technicality of his
talk, was both a clever and sensible man--that more counsel, men of
weight and experience, ought to be briefed; but there were absolutely no
funds for this purpose, nor was anybody likely to advance any upon the
security of a will tattooed upon a young lady's back. This was awkward,
because success in law proceedings so very often leans towards the
weightiest purse, and Judges however impartial, being but men after all,
are more apt to listen to an argument which is urged upon their attention
by an Attorney-General than on one advanced by an unknown junior.

However, there the fact was, and they had to make the best of it; and a
point in their favour was that the case, although of a most remarkable
nature, was comparatively simple, and did not involve any great mass of
documentary evidence.

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