general's speech, although in places his description "was directly contrary to the evidence". Tomes relates that "many opined that the judge's summing-up had been unacceptably biased"; Havers, Grayson and Shankland call Coleridge's speech "biased", while The National Observer considered it "a melancholy and flagrant violation of the best traditions of the English bench." Some sections of the press, however, were more sympathetic; The Pall Mall Gazette thought the summing up to be justified, while The Daily Telegraph thought Coleridge's summary to have been "nobly comprehensive and eloquent ... he fulfilled his duty perfectly, displaying nothing but impartial desire for the truth". The jury deliberated for only thirteen minutes before finding in favour of the defendants; their decision was greeted by prolonged hissing from some members of the galleries. According to the historian Christopher Hibbert "the demonstrations in court were an accurate reflection of the feelings of the people outside". The historian Philip Magnus-Allcroft later wrote that "a storm of obloquy broke over the head of the Prince of Wales. It would be difficult to exaggerate the momentary unpopularity of the Prince", and he was booed at Ascot that month. Aftermath Gordon-Cumming was dismissed from the British Army on 10 June 1891, the day after the case closed, and he resigned his membership of his four London clubs: the Carlton, Guards', Marlborough and Turf. Although he offered to break his engagement for a second time, he married his American heiress fiancée the same day; she had stood by him throughout the scandal and the couple went on to have five children together. He retired to his Scottish estate and his property in Dawlish, Devon. He never re-entered society and the prince "declined to meet anyone who henceforth acknowledged the Scottish baronet". The leader in The Times stated that "He is ... condemned by the verdict of the jury to social extinction. His brilliant record is wiped out and he must, so to speak, begin life again. Such is the inexorable social rule ... He has committed a mortal offence. Society can know him no more." None of Gordon-Cumming's close friends spoke to him again, although some relented after Edward's death in 1910; Gordon-Cumming remained bitter about the events until his death in 1930. Clarke retained his faith in his client and, in his 1918 memoirs, wrote that "I believe the verdict was wrong, and that Sir William Gordon-Cumming was innocent". Following