"Further… the nature of the jury empanelled on Jamaica, with so many of the members either kin to the Beaumans, or kin to the Captain George Sellers, who perished along with Colonel Ledyard Beauman in an infamous duel of honour, and, the inclusion of men either employed by Mister Hugh Beauman or his kin, or intimately linked with the slave trade on Jamaica, smacks of collusion and prejudice… which as well requires a new proceeding, de ovo.

"Therefore… ahem!… I rule that Captain Lewrie's trial in absentia at Kingston, Jamaica, the verdict of guilty, and the sentence of death by hanging is null and void, and is set as-"

The last of his ruling was drowned out by hoots, whistles, and cheers from the spectators, and a boisterous round of clapping (along with the surreptitious exchange of pound notes as bets were paid off) that continued 'til Oglethorpe gavelled them to relative silence, and more carefully guarded pleased whispers, coughs, and the rustling of ladies' skirtings.

"At this juncture, ahem…," Lord Justice Oglethorpe continued. "I should empanel a jury. I wonder, however, Sir George, whether such an action might be precipitate. If your principal is not here, and neither are any of the witnesses quoted in the transcript, I conjure you, sir… are you able to lay a case against Captain Lewrie, this day?"

"I… I… '' Sir George Norman stammered, all his glibness and noble carriage punched from him. "Is the transcript of the previous trial eliminated, milud, I do not see how I would be able, no." Sir George could almost be heard groaning… or grinding his teeth.

"My lord!" MacDougall cried. "Will this odious charge hang over my principal's head the rest of his life, like the Sword of Damocles? Must Captain Lewrie's good name, his repute as a successful Commission Sea Officer in our Navy, be besmirched? His accusers are not present today, but… when might Mister Hugh Beauman come forth with a fresh proceeding, a new crop of witnesses, perhaps even an expanded list of charges, since the first set did not suit? A year, my lord? Two, or five, or ten?