remains your submission that Lady Barrington knew exactly what she was signing?’
‘Most certainly,’ said Siddons firmly. ‘Otherwise I would not have been willing to go ahead with the procedure.’
‘Quite so. No more questions, m’lud,’ said Mr Todd.
‘Your witness, Sir Cuthbert.’
‘Thank you, m’lud. Mr Siddons, you told the court that you were under considerable pressure to get the new will completed and signed, and for that reason you prepared it expeditiously, to use your own word.’
‘Yes. I had been warned by Mr Langbourne that Lady Barrington didn’t have long to live.’
‘So, understandably, you did everything in your power to speed things up.’
‘I didn’t have much choice.’
‘I don’t doubt it, Mr Siddons. Can I ask how long it took you to execute the earlier will, the one that my client contends is Lady Barrington’s authentic testament?’
Siddons hesitated for a moment before saying, ‘Three, possibly four months.’
‘With regular consultations with Lady Barrington, no doubt?’
‘Yes, she was a stickler for detail.’
‘I’m sure she was. But she wasn’t given much time to consider the details of her later will. Five days to be precise.’
‘Yes, but don’t forget—’
‘And on the final day, she only just managed to sign the will in the nick of time. Isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes, I suppose you could put it that way.’
Sir Cuthbert turned to the clerk of the court. ‘Would you be kind enough to pass Mr Siddons Lady Barrington’s two wills?’
Sir Cuthbert waited until the two documents had been handed to the witness, before he continued his cross-examination.
‘Would you agree with me, Mr Siddons, that the signature on the earlier will is much bolder and more assured than that on the “nick of time” will? In fact, it’s hard to believe they were signed by the same person.’
‘Sir Cuthbert, are you suggesting that Lady Barrington didn’t sign the second will?’ asked the judge.
‘Certainly not, m’lud, but I am suggesting she had no idea what she was signing.’
‘Mr Siddons,’ Sir Cuthbert continued, turning back to the solicitor, who was now gripping the edge of the witness box with both hands, ‘once you’d completed the new rushed will, did you take your client through it clause by clause?’
‘No, I didn’t. After all, there was only one major change from the earlier will.’
‘If you didn’t take Lady Barrington through the document clause by clause, Mr Siddons, we only have your word for that.’
‘M’lud, that is an outrageous suggestion,’ said Mr Todd, leaping to his feet. ‘Mr Siddons has had a long and distinguished career in the legal profession, and does not deserve such a slur on his character.’
‘I agree with you, Mr Todd,’ said the judge. ‘Sir Cuthbert, you will withdraw that statement.’
‘I apologize, m’lud,’ Sir Cuthbert said, offering a slight bow before turning back to the witness once again. ‘Mr Siddons, in the earlier will, who was it that suggested that all thirty-six pages should be initialled with the letters EB?’
‘I believe I did,’ said Siddons, sounding a little flustered.
‘But you did not insist on the same rigorous procedure for the second will, the expeditiously prepared document.’
‘I didn’t feel it was necessary. After all, there was, as I have said, only one significant change.’
‘And on which page will we find this significant change, Mr Siddons?’
Siddons flicked through the will and smiled. ‘Page twenty-nine, clause seven.’
‘Ah yes, I have it in front of me,’ said Sir Cuthbert. ‘But I don’t see the initials EB, either at the bottom of the page or next to the relevant clause. Perhaps Lady Barrington was too tired to manage two signatures on the same day?’
Siddons looked as if he wanted to protest, but said nothing.
‘Let me ask you, Mr Siddons, on how many occasions in your long and distinguished career have you failed to advise a client to put their initials on every page of a will?’
Siddons didn’t reply. Sir Cuthbert looked first at Mr Todd and then at the judge, before his eyes returned to the witness box. ‘I’m still waiting, sir.’
Siddons stared desperately up at the bench, and blurted out, ‘If you were to read the letter, m’lud, that Lady Barrington addressed to you, it might help you decide if she knew exactly what she was doing.’
‘Letter?’ said the judge, looking puzzled. ‘I know nothing of a letter. It was certainly not among the court’s bundle of papers. Are you aware of such a letter, Sir Cuthbert?’
‘It’s the first I’ve heard of it, m’lud. I’m as much in the dark as you are.’
‘That’s because,’ Siddons spluttered, ‘it was handed to me only this morning. I