But before they arrived Hill had made his escape; while Mohun, who at
least had the courage of his race, submitted himself to arrest. His
first question to the watchmen was, "Has Hill escaped?" And when he was
assured that he had, he added: "I am glad of it! I should not care if I
were hanged for him."

Such was the story which sent a thrill of horror through London on the
day following the tragedy, and which aroused a fury of anger against the
cowardly assassins; for not only was Jack Montford a popular idol who
had captured all hearts with his handsome face and figure, his clever
acting and his unaffected personal charm, but his wife, who had been
thus tragically widowed, was one of the most gifted and delightful women
who ever adorned the stage.

It was thus inevitable that Lord Mohun's trial by his Peers, which was
opened on the 31st of January 1693, in Westminster Hall, and which was
invested with all the pomp and ceremonial befitting such an occasion,
should attract crowds of excited spectators, curious to see the
principal actors in this sensational drama, and burning to see justice
done to the noble instigator of the murder. The pent-up excitement
culminated when Mrs Bracegirdle, looking more beautiful than ever in
spite of her pallor and evidences of suffering, entered the witness-box;
and every word of the story she told was listened to in a silence that
was painful in its intensity.

In answer to the Attorney-General's request that she should "give my
lord an account of the whole of your knowledge of the attempt that was
made upon you in Drury Lane, and what followed upon it," she said:

"'My lord, I was in Prince's Street at supper at Mr