Frankenstein

CHAPTER 9: The Trial of Poor Justine

The trial started at aleven o'clock that morning. The whole family went to court. Ernest and I went for support. My father and Elizabeth went to tell the court what a good person Justine was. A sour mood filled me with anger and regret. Justine should be living a good life. She was a loyal, kind person. She shouldn't be on trial for murder! But I couldn't tell anyone what I knew. I would be thought of madman, and sent away for the rest of my life. What good would that serve?

Justine sat in the box for the accused. She looked ple, but calm. A tear slipped down her check when she saw our family enter the courtroom.

The bailiff called the room to order and the trial began The evidence built against the poor girl. The court said she had been out all night. A market woman had sent her early the next morning not far from where they found William. The woman asked Justine what she had been doing, but all she got was a confused answer. The fact the the maid had found the missing locket in Justine's clothes was still the strongest piece of evidence.

The judge called upon Justine to speak in her own defense. Her voice was clear, but it was obvious that she was deeply troubled.

"I am entirely innocent. I know I can say it, but you do not have to believe me. My good charater should also be taken as eveidence."

She told the court that Elizabeth had given her permission to visit with her aunt the day my brother was killed. On her way back to Geneva, she met a man who asked if she had seen a young boy who was missing. When Justine realized that it was William who could not be found, she had joined the search party. Over the next few hours, Justine searched the woods high and low for my brother.

Justine went on to tell the court that it was very late when she finally stopped looking. By that time, the city gates were closed. Justine did not know what to do, so she asked a kindly old man if she could sleep in his barn.

She spent a cold, scary night laying on some hay in the barn near town. Every noise woke her up and she slept very little. When the market woman found her, she was confused because she hadn't slept. If she had walked by where they found William, she didn't do it on purpose. But the locket? Justine cried. She didn't know how it got into her pocket - it was the one thing she just couldn't explain.

Several townspeople spoke up next. Many knew Justine to be a good person, but they believe the evidence. They thought she was guilty. My father told the court how well Justine had served our family. Next, Elizabeth was called to the stand. She told the court that the girl would never do anything to harm the children she nursed.

"She is perfectly innocent," Elizabeth swore.

Elizabeth's speech moved many in the audience. Justine looked thankful for her kind words and put on a brave face. However, the judge did not look at all convinced. The jury cast their votes and we waited patiently whil they were counted.

The bailiff came back into the courtroom and annouced that Justine was guilty! I felt a great sense of despair. Justine was sentenced to spend the rest of her life in jail. Elizabeth collapsed beside me and started to cry. I did my best to comfort her, in spite of the aches in my own heart.

Everything was my fault! My hands alone had built that monster. I could not stop my mind from turning those awful memories over and over. What if this wasn't the last of the monster's evil actions? What if my brother and Justine were just the first victims of my own creation?

I was free an dalive while Justine was in jail and my brother was dead. Nothing could remove the pain in my soul. My blind need for a great discovery had come at such a high price. Instead of finding hope in my work, I now felt nothing but sadness.

The events of the past few weeks took their toll on my already weak body. Nothing but a long talk with my father could tear me away from my grief.

"My son," he said one afternoon when he noticed that I was sitting in the corner just staring oout the window, "no one could have loved a child as mush as I loved your brother, but we can not spend all of our days staring blankly out of the windows. We are all unhappy. You owe it to both Justine and your brother to be useful. Without that, no man is fit for society."

He spoke the truth, but my father's words meant litte to me.

We decided to spent time at our summer house in Bellerive. The fact that the city gates closed early in the evening made me feel trapped. I was glad to be in the country and be acle to roam free.

I would leave the house most nights while the rest of the family was sleeping. I would take the boat and spend many hours on the water. Sometimes, I would leave the sail up and make my way with the purpose. But more often than not, I would let the water carry the boat wherever it wanted to go. I would lie in the bottom and stare up at the stars. the simple beauty of the sky would bring me to tears. I cried openly, knowing that no one put the frogs and the fish could hear or see me.

I lived in fear day in and day out, knowing the moster was still alive. What if he did something else? How could I live with myself? What if he hurt someone else I loved? These thought made me so angry that I ground my teeth and screamed at the top of my lungs.

In those moments, all I thought about was taking back the gift I had given him. If I could return my whole world to the way it had been before my experiment, maybe I could make things right again. My thought were evil. But what was worse? Creating him or stoppong more bad things from happening? it was a moral dilemma of the first degree.

Everyone in our house was sad. My father tried to be strong, but we could all tell he wasn't the same. Elizabeth had tears in her eyes almost everyday. For the sake of them both, I tried to be strong on the outside and hide my inner pain.

In the middle of our grief, my brother Ernest left. We wished him well as he entered the Foreign Service. It's strange how life repeats itself. Just a few years ago I had left my home after we lost our mother. Now Ernest left just after another loss.

One day, Elizabeth and I sat talking. She told me she was upset about how things had turned out. "The fate of poor Justine makes me think the world is an awful place. Before now, bad things only happened in books. Now, our lives are full of sadness. Justine was innocent, but she went to jail. How is that fair?"

Oh, my lovely Elizabeth! I hurt me so much to hear her so upset. I was the cause of all of these troubles, not because I actually did them, but because I created the monster. My face became an ashly color. Elizabeth saw the color drain from my checks.

She grabbed my hands and said, "I'm sorry, my love. I didn't mean to upset you." She held them tightly. "Everything will be okay. Maybe not today, but it will be soon. I promise."

I smiled at her kindly, but I didn't feel any better. In the back of my mind, I knew it was far from over.

"I'm sorry Elizabeth. I need to be alone right now." I rose from the coach and went up to my room. I wanted to tell her the truth. To explain how everthing was my fault. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Hours later, I decided the only thing that would make me feel better was a long hike through the Alps. Maybe if I took onather trip like the one with Henry, I could get over what had happened to poor William and Justine.