The Defeat of the Major

The Law and the Lady

by Wilkie COLLINS (1824 - 1889)

Valeria Brinton marries Eustace Woodville despite objections from Woodville's family leading to disquiet for Valeria's own family and friends.Just a few days after the wedding, various incidents lead Valeria to suspect her husband is hiding a dark secret in his past and she discovers that he has been using a false name. He refuses to discuss it leading them to curtail their honeymoon and return to London where Valeria learns that he was on trial for his first wife's murder by arsenic. He was tried in a Scottish court and the verdict was 'Not Proven' rather than 'not guilty' implying his guilt but without enough proof for a jury to convict him.Valeria sets out to save their happiness by proving her husband innocent of the crime. In her quest, she comes across the disabled character Miserrimus Dexter, a fascinating but mentally unstable genius, and his devoted female cousin, Ariel. Dexter will prove crucial to uncovering the disturbing truth behind the mysterious death. (Introduction by wikipedia)

Listen next episodes of The Law and the Lady:
A Specimen of my Folly , A Specimen of my Wisdom , Ariel , At last! , At the Bedside , First Question - Did the Woman die Poisoned? , Gleninch , I see my Way , In the Dark , In the Light , Miserrimus Dexter - first View , Miserrimus Dexter - second View , More of my Obstinacy , More Surprises , Mr. Dexter at Home , Mr. Playmore in a new Character , Mr. Playmore's Prophecy , My Mother-in-Law surprises me , Nemesis at last , On the Journey back , On the Way to Dexter , Our new Honeymoon , Past and Future , Second Question - Who poisoned Her? , The Crisis deferred , The Defense of Mrs. Beauly , The Dust-Heap disturbed , The End of the Trial , The Evidence for the Defense , The Indictment of Mrs. Beauly , The last of the Story , The Major makes Difficulties , The Man's Decision , The Return to Life , The Scotch Verdict , The Search , The Story of the Trial. The Preliminaries , The Wife's Confession , The Woman's Answer , Third Question - What was his Motive? , What else could I do?