An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser [384]
The boldness and ironic sting of this was sufficient to cause at first a hush, later a slight nervous tremor on the part of the audience which, Mason as well as Justice Oberwaltzer noting, caused both to frown apprehensively. Why, this brazen young cynic! How dared he, via innuendo and in the guise of serious questioning, intrude such a thought as this, which by implication at least picked at the very foundations of society—religious and moral! At the same time there he was, standing boldly and leoninely, the while Clyde replied:
“Yes, sir, I suppose I did—certainly—but I didn’t try to seduce her at first or at any time, really. I was in love with her.”
“You were in love with her?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Very much?”
“Very much.”
“And was she as much in love with you at that time?”
“Yes, sir, she was.”
“From the very first?”
“From the very first.”
“She told you so?”
“Yes, sir.”
“At the time she left the Newtons—you have heard all the testimony here in regard to that—did you induce or seek to induce her in any way, by any trick or agreement, to leave there?”
“No, sir, I didn’t. She wanted to leave there of her own accord. She wanted me to help her find a place.”
“She wanted you to help her find a place?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And just why?”
“Because she didn’t know the city very well and she thought maybe I could tell her where there was a nice room she could get—one that she could afford.”
“And did you tell her about the room she took at the Gilpins’?”
“No, sir, I didn’t. I never told her about any room. She found it herself.” (This was the exact answer he had memorized.)
“But why didn’t you help her?”
“Because I was busy, days and most evenings. And besides I thought she knew better what she wanted than I did—the kind of people and all.”
“Did you personally ever see the Gilpin place before she went there?”
“No, sir.”
“Ever have any discussion with her before she moved there as to the kind of a room she was to take—its position as regards to entrance, exit, privacy, or anything of that sort?”
“No, sir, I never did.”
“Never insisted, for instance, that she take a certain type of room which you could slip in and out of at night or by day without being seen?”
“I never did. Besides, no one could very well slip in or out of that house without being seen.”
“And why not?”
“Because the door to her room was right next to the door to the general front entrance where everybody went in and out and anybody that was around could see.” That was another answer he had memorized.
“But you slipped in and out, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes, sir—that is, we both decided from the first that the less we were seen together anywhere, the better.”
“On account of that factory rule?”
“Yes, sir—on account of that factory rule.”
And then the story of his various difficulties with Roberta, due to Miss X coming into his life.
“Now, Clyde, we will have to go into the matter of this Miss X a little. Because of an agreement between the defense and the prosecution which you gentlemen of the jury fully understand, we can only touch on this incidentally, since it all concerns an entirely innocent person whose real name can be of no service here anyhow. But some of the facts must be touched upon, although we will deal with them as light as possible, as much for the sake of the innocent living as the worthy dead. And I am sure Miss Alden would have it so if she were alive. But now in regard to Miss X,” he continued, turning to Clyde, “it is already agreed by both sides that you met her in Lycurgus some time in November or December of last year. That is correct, is it not?”
“Yes, sir, that is correct,” replied Clyde, sadly.
“And that at once you fell very much in love with her?”
“Yes, sir. That