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Jaded as they were, those in the courtroom visibly recoiled in shock. “Positively medieval,” one man said. “I always said madness ran in the Worthington family.”
“Silence,” commanded the Lord High Steward, “or I shall be forced to clear this room.
“Carry on, my lord Counsel.”
This went on in excruciating detail. Finally, King’s Counsel announced he was finished with the witness. Counsel for the defense stepped up to cross-examine Lady Josephine.
“I have only two questions for you, my lady. I’m sure you will be glad, after King’s Counsel interrogated you so thoroughly!” He gave a false smile, meant to show he was on her side.
“The first question is this: what exactly were you doing, and with whom, when my lord Earl entered your guest bedroom at Worthington Hall?”
This is it,Ace thought.This is when they shame her, ruining her credibility in front of the Lords Triers and all of Society. My poor Josephine—stay strong!
Lady Josephine worded her response carefully and with dignity. “I was in the arms of Mr. Smith, the bodyguard, whom I had come to love,” she said.
There was a collective hissing sound as people around the room gasped in pretended shock.
You hypocrites,Ace thought.You all knew of this before you got here today. Yet you fake outrage.
“Very well. Concisely answered,” said the Earl’s counsel. “And for my second question, if it pleases your ladyship. Do you find it surprising that a man of the Earl’s noble stature—or indeed any gentleman worth his salt—would be angered to the point of near madness by such a betrayal? Committed by the woman he loved?”
“Yes. I do find it surprising, in this case,” Lady Josephine said, her chin stubbornly in the air. “For the Earl told me often that he did not love me. He said, quite bluntly, that the only reason he was marrying me was to get my inheritance.
“Moreover, I told him I was willing to behave honorably, and to let him break off the engagement, putting the public blame on me. In fact, I begged him to do so. He refused, and he said he would insist on marrying me, just for the money it would bring him. He mocked me frequently with that.”
There was another collective hiss in the courtroom. “What a cad!” one fellow said in disgust.
“I have no further questions for this witness, my lord,” said counsel for the defense.
The trial went on, it seemed, interminably. Ace gave witness, and was led through how the Earl had had him seized and kidnapped by a press gang.
“Why would he do that?” asked King’s Counsel.
“I presume, my lord, it was so that I would not be able to do my job and protect the Lady Josephine.”
“Or do your job in her bed,” called out someone from the audience, to the laughter of others.
The Lord High Steward chastened them. “Order! I will have order in here. Is this a solemn gathering of members of the House of Lords, or a stable full of bawdy, uneducated ruffians? I will find the next man who calls out in contempt of this court.”
There were many other witnesses. The Duke testified about his kidnapping, and about the shooting of the Baron. Then the Earl was called to the stand in his own defense.
Counsel for the defense appeared to be making the point, through the Earl’s testimony, that the Earl was not the one who murdered Baron Roster. “Why would I?” the Earl said blandly. “I barely knew Baron Roster. We did not socialize in the same circles,” he added haughtily.
“And Baron Roster had no part in my pre-marital difficulties. Why would I bear him any animosity?”
King’s Counsel, in cross-examination, said, “But what of the sworn testimony of the man Shiemour, who stated under oath that you and the Baron were in competition: he to kill her for her father’s money, and you to marry her for the same reason? That it was a matter between you of who got to her first?”
“If that were true,” the Earl said, “then I could plead that I shot the Baron to save my betrothed’s life. And therefore, that I should not be held responsible for his death. But it isn’t true. Anyway, Shiemour was no gentleman—I would not trust his word, oath or no oath.”
“You are saying you did not pull the trigger of the gun that shot Baron Roster.”
“That is correct, my lord.”
“Then who shot him? You were standing there in the room when it happened,” King’s Counsel said.
“Why, I believe, on my oath, that it was that man Smith who did it. I am told that the gun that killed Roster was a Sea Service pistol, which is commonly given out to men in the Navy. Smith was impressed into the Navy. He apparently risked his life to escape unlawfully from the demands of serving King and country onThe Valiant.I daresay such a man wouldn’t hesitate merely to steal a firearm, before he escaped the ship.
“Moreover, he was the one with a motive: he shot Roster to save the life of his mistress—his paramour, shall we say?”
