being accused of behaviour "bordering on perjury''.

The claim, from lawyer Mr. Mark Diel, came in the final hours of a multi-million dollar trial that is being bitterly fought right to the end.

Mrs. MacMillan's attorney, Mr. Julian Hall, leapt to her defence. But judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Ground said he would decide the matter later.

Mrs. MacMillan, 60, is fighting to keep her home, Perot's Island in Riddell's Bay.

Canadian tycoon Mr. Michael DeGroote took her to Supreme Court after she backed out of a deal to sell him the island for $8.5 million.

The case, which is expected to end tomorrow after almost eight weeks, flared up on Monday when Mr. DeGroote's lawyer, Mr. John Riihiluoma, accused Mrs.

MacMillan of making a statement which had been proved to be a "pack of lies''.

He said it wrongly claimed Betco, the Bank of Butterfield real estate firm, had actively advised Mrs. MacMillan on fixing the sale price of the island.

Yesterday Mr. Diel, Betco's lawyer, returned to the statement -- an affidavit she made during early legal moves in December, 1991.

Mr. Diel said Mrs. MacMillan had declined to say whether she knew the affidavit was untrue when she signed it -- presumably because of the possibility of incriminating herself.

Mr. Hall objected to this, saying he had already been "shocked and distressed'' by Mr. Riihiluoma "calling my client a liar''.

He said the disputed section of the affidavit was composed by legal counsel on Mrs. MacMillan's behalf.

She had set the island's price herself without actively requesting "input'' from Betco, but had relied on the firm to tell her if it was right. Mr. Diel was making a "very, very serious'' accusation based on her "total frankness'' in the witness box.

This was "quite the opposite of the behaviour of a liar'', and such an allegation was without foundation.

Certain parts of the affidavit viewed in isolation "were not, strictly speaking, true'', Mr. Hall admitted.

In the light of subsequent evidence and the development of the case, the affidavit was misleading.

But Mrs. MacMillan had not intended it to be misleading, and it was never intended to be relied upon in a trial.

Mr. Justice Ground told him: "Taken on its own, at that time in proceedings, the affidavit was misleading.'' But he would decide the question at the end of the day.

Mr. Diel denied allegations from Mrs. MacMillan's side that Betco acted for Mr. DeGroote as well as for her.

And he said Mrs. MacMillan had come up with no evidence that she was pressured into the sale, as had been claimed.

Betco's Ms Jonelle White had not been surreptitious, he added, but had a "fairly close relationship'' with the heiress.

It was hard to see how someone as wealthy as Mrs. MacMillan could suffer hardship merely from having to leave the island, as she had claimed.

Mr. Andrew Martin, lawyer for realtors Cooper Associates, said the firm should never have been involved in the case.

Coopers acted only for Mr. DeGroote in the Perot's Island deal, he said, and there was simply nothing in the case to give rise to any wrongdoing on their part.