The Advocate's Wife by Norman Russell

Author:Norman Russell [Norman Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780709096719
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 2012-09-02T16:00:00+00:00

The wreckage of Sir William Porteous’s coach lay tilted in the middle of Euston Road, just opposite the entrance to Gower Street. Splintered fragments of wood and slivers of glass littered the pavement. The horse lay dead and shattered between the shafts. It seemed almost an affront that one of the coach wheels still rotated idly.

All traffic had come to a halt, and a crowd had gathered, though the police had very soon arrived to control the situation. The coachman had miraculously been thrown clear from his box by the explosion, and sat on the pavement, where he was tended by a nurse who had run out from University College Hospital.

The police had summoned the fire-engines, and two firemen had begun to clamber into the ruins of the coach, using their axes to hew the shattered timbers out of their way.

The crowd held its breath. What would the firemen find? They say it was Sir William Porteous, the great lawyer. Poor thing. Maybe it was those Russian murderers who did it. They’re getting him out now …

There was a stir among the crowd as the two fireman emerged from the wreckage carrying a bloody bundle. Other nurses and doctors had appeared at the scene. Men hurried forward with blankets and stretchers, and the burden was carried swiftly through the parting crowd towards the great hospital in Gower Street.

People spoke in hushed tones, as though at a funeral.

‘He’s a goner! Poor blighter. Even with bags of money you’re not allowed to live these days.’

‘You’re right, mister. The police don’t seem to do anything about it. Where are they all, today? And you reckon he’s dead? A bomb, it was. The whole coach just rose up in the air and flew to bits. Sir William Porteous, it was, the great lawyer. A crying shame it is. All this anarchy! The police don’t seem to do anything about it.’

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