(Copyright National Post 2007)

CHICAGO - For the past three months the social life of Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel has been on trial alongside the Lord's business affairs as the jury hears of their escapades snorkelling in Tahiti, raising glasses of Dom Perignon and shopping at Yves St. Laurent.

The couple's high-society lifestyle has been rudely interrupted by the proceedings. Their absence at premiere galas and dinner salons in Toronto has been quietly noted. Since March they have spent most of their time holed up Chicago, dividing their days between the windowless courtroom and their hotel room at the Ritz- Carlton.

The strain of the trial is evident on the couple's faces as they walk the familiar stretch of hallway between the courtroom and a small room set aside for the family on court breaks. Lord Black resembled a tranquilized lion as he listened to prosecutors outline his alleged "dirty deals" and scheme to steal millions from the shareholders of Hollinger International Inc.

But while the trial prevents Lord Black from attending his usual roster of social gatherings in Canada, the party seems to be coming to him.

And if Lord Black looks weary of late, it is not only because of the trial, said Mark Steyn, a conservative journalist covering the court proceedings and friend of the Blacks.

"The reason he looks drawn is he's a convivial, social fellow and he's been enjoying a sociable drink until late in the evening," he said.

Lord Black has embraced life in Chicago and befriended the maitre d' at a fine restaurant near his hotel where "the ornate introduction of every dish is inversely proportional to the size of the menu item," Mr. Steyn said.

Lord Black has dined with old friends who have also testified as witnesses for defence, among them Ken Whyte, editor of Maclean's magazine and the founding editor of the National Post, and John O'Sullivan, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and editor-at- large of National Review. He is often the last to leave the restaurant.

"I've dined with persons of several nationalities who have flown in to see him," Mr. Steyn said.

While Lord Black is mesmerized by the trial and performs imitations of the various lawyers in the courtroom at dinner (his impressions of prosecutors are said to be rather more pointed), later in the evening he discusses history and politics instead.

"There's a side of him that wants to be thinking about the case and there's a point in the night when he wants to be the Conrad Black he used to be," Mr. Steyn said. Socialites in Chicago have also taken note of Lord Black's presence and are said to have invited him to attend a "75th Anniversary Salute" to Franklin Delano Roosevelt on July 2nd, in honour of the president who accepted his first presidential nomination in Chicago. Lord Black is an expert on Roosevelt, having written a celebrated book about the former president.

Barbara Amiel, on the other hand, has not been quite so outgoing. While she has been known to join Lord Black for dinner out on occasion, she prefers to end the day at the hotel room.

"Chicago routine is straightforward: get up at 6:45 a.m., leave for court at 8:25 a.m., pat-down by pleasant court security man 8:50 a.m., listen to nasty things said about us till 5 p.m., with a lunch break for one banana and a carton of skim milk," Ms. Amiel recently wrote in Maclean's.

"Day ends with hand laundry and hot bath while listening to iPod with Brahms symphonies and Roy Orbison before reading myself to sleep."

In the trial's final days, Ms. Amiel often arrived on the 12th floor of the Everett McKinley Dirksen Federal Courthouse with newspaper columnist George Jonas, her second husband, who remains a close friend. Meanwhile, Lord Black and his three children emerged from a separate elevator.

Mr. Jonas occasionally joined Ms. Amiel on the hard wooden bench reserved for the defendants' families in the courtroom. They often lunched together in the courtroom cafeteria, their heads bent in close conversation as jurors and courtroom observers walked by with lunches in Styrofoam boxes.

Observers say Ms. Amiel's concern for her husband is palpable.

"Barbara is worried for him," Mr. Steyn said. "You can see that on her face every day in court."

The difference goes to the fundamental difference in their personalities, Mr. Steyn continued.

"Conrad is one of nature's optimists, and you would have to be to get through the last four years," he said. "Barbara is one of nature's pessimists."

It is still clear even to outside observers, however, that the couple is relying on each other to get through this ordeal. Last week, during closing arguments, Lord Black instinctively grabbed Ms. Amiel's fingers and gave them a squeeze as they slipped back into the courtroom. And as the jurors are filing out for breaks, Lord Black is often seen leaning over to his wife and murmuring in her ear.

Ms. Amiel recently returned to Toronto, where she was spotted sipping a Diet Coke at the Coffee Mill in Yorkville. Judge Amy St. Eve's punishing court schedule has prevented Lord Black from returning for events he would otherwise be expected to attend. He missed his first ever lecture at the ongoing Grano Speaker Series on a recent Tuesday night; court was sitting the following day. Coincidentally, the speaker was Gore Vidal, who used the event to unleash criticism of Lord Black and Ms. Amiel, branding the couple "rogues" and referring to Ms. Amiel as the "Duchess of Hotspur."

"If he had been there, it would have been some great fireworks," Rudyard Griffiths, executive director of the Dominion Institute and cofounder of the Grano Speaker Series, said of Lord Black. He usually brings "snap, crackle and pop" to Toronto's public life, he added.

Lord Black and Barbara Amiel did manage to put in an appearance, however, at a book launch held in honour of Mr. Jonas during the trial's early days.

Appearing to be in good spirits, Lord Black gave a short address and stayed to chat with nearly everyone in the room during the high- profile event held at the University of Toronto's Massey College. He also took the opportunity to dress down Toronto Star writer Martin Knelman. The arts reporter had written about Lord Black's apology to historian Margaret MacMillan over a review Lord Black penned of her current book about Nixon in the Literary Review of Canada.

Observers noted Lord Black ended the confrontation on a friendly note with a joke. He left the event at Ms. Amiel's urging when she informed him it was time to leave.

mvallis@nationalpost.com