The Sins Of The Wolf Part 23

"Of course I'll tell her," Rathbone said quietly. "But she knows already."

"Thank you," Callandra said.

Henry nodded his head.

The morning of the trial was cold, sharp and threatening rain. Oliver Rathbone walked briskly from the rooms he had taken just off Princes Street, up the steps of the mound towards the castle, then up Bank Street and sharp left onto the High Street. Almost immediately he was faced with the great Cathedral of St. Giles, half hiding Parliament Square, on the farther side of which was Parliament House, unused now since the Act of Union, and the High Court of Justiciary.

He crossed the square. No one knew or recognized him. He pa.s.sed newspaper sellers not only pressing their news of today but promising all sorts of scandal and revelation for the next issue. The murderess of Mary Farraline was on trial. Read all about it. Learn the secrets known only to a few. Incredible stories for the price of a penny.

He walked past them impatiently. He had heard all these things before, but they had not hurt when it was only a client. It was to be expected and brushed aside. When it was Hester it had a power to wound in quite a new way.

He went up the steps, and even there, amid the black-gowned barristers, he was unknown. It was surprisingly disorienting. He was accustomed to recognition, even considerable respect, to younger men moving aside for him in deference, muttering to each other of his past successes, hoping to emulate them one day.

Here he was merely another spectator, albeit one who might sit near the front and occasionally pa.s.s a note to the counsel for the defense.

He had already made arrangements and obtained permission to see Hester for a few moments before court was in session. The stated time had been precise. He preceded it by two minutes exactly.

"Good morning, Mr. Rathbone," the clerk said stiffly. "If you will come this way, sir, I'll see if you can speak with the accused for a moment." And without waiting to see if Rathbone agreed, he turned and led the way down the narrow, steep steps to the cells where prisoners were held before trial-or after, awaiting transport to a more permanent place of incarceration.

He found Hester standing white-faced inside the small cell. She was dressed in her usual plain blue-gray which she used for working and she looked severe. The ordeal had told on her health. She had never been softly rounded, but now she was considerably thinner and her shoulders looked stiff and fragile and there were hollows in her cheeks and around her eyes. He imagined this was how she must have looked during the worst days of the war, hungry, cold, worked to exhaustion and racked with fear and pity.

For a second, less than a second, a spark of hope lit in her eyes, then sight of his face made sense prevail. There would be no reprieve now. She was embarra.s.sed that he should have seen such foolishness in her face.

"G-good morning, Oliver," she said almost steadily.

How many more times would he be able to speak to her alone? Then they might part forever. There were all manner of things he wanted to say, emotional things, about caring for her, how intolerably he would miss her, the place in his life no one else would ever enter, let alone fill. He was uncertain exactly what that was, in a romantic sense, but he had no doubt at all about the love of friends, even its nature or its ineffable value.

"Good morning," he replied. "I have met Mr. Argyll, and I am very impressed with him. I think he will not fall short of his reputation. We may have every confidence in him." How dismally formal, and so little of what was in his mind.

"Do you think so?" she asked, watching his face.

"I do. I imagine he has given you all the appropriate advice about your conduct and your replies to him or Mr. Gilfeather?" Perhaps it was best to speak of nothing but business. It would burden her unbearably to be emotional now.

She smiled with an effort. "Yes. But I already knew it, from having heard you speak. I shall answer only as I am asked, speak clearly and respectfully, not stare too directly at anyone...."

"Did he say that?"

"No...but you would have, would you not?"

His smile was uncertain, even painful.

"I would-to you. Men do not like a woman who is too confident."

"I know."

"Yes ..." He swallowed. "Of course you do."

"Don't worry. I shall behave myself meekly," she a.s.sured him. "And he also warned me what to expect the other witnesses to say, and that the crowd will be hostile." She gave a shaky sigh. "I should have expected that, but it is a very unpleasant thought that they have already judged me guilty."

"We will change their minds," he said fiercely. "They have not heard your evidence yet; they have only heard the prosecutor's view of things."

"I-"

But she got no further. There was a brisk knock on the door and it swung open to allow the warder in.

"Sorry, sir, but you'll have to be on your way. Got to take the prisoner up."

There was no time for anything further. Rathbone glanced at Hester once, forced a smile to his lips, then obeyed the orders and withdrew.

The High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh was not like the Old Bailey, and Monk was reminded again with an ugly jolt that they were in a different land. Although united by many common bonds and governed by one queen and one parliament, the law of the land was different, the history and the heritage were different, and until very recently in a long national memory, they had been as often enemies as friends. The borders were drenched with the blood of both sides, and the Auld Alliance was not with England but with France, England's foe down the centuries.

The t.i.tles were different, the clothes marginally so, and there were not twelve men to the jury, but fifteen. Only the majestic implacability of the law was unchanged. The jury had been empaneled, the prisoner charged and the proceedings commenced.

The prosecution was conducted by a huge, rambling man with a soft voice and flyaway gray hair. His face was benign and the lights shone on the bald crown of his head. Monk knew from deep instinct that his affability and gentle air of disorganization were a total sham. Behind the smile was a brain whetted to scalpel sharpness.

On the other bench, equally courteous but utterly different in att.i.tude, was James Argyll. He looked grizzled and dangerous, like an old bear, his black eyes and sharp brows accentuating his air of intense concentration and the fact that he feared nothing and was deceived by no one.

How much was it a personal battle, with Hester's life to win or lose as the prize? These two must have met many times before. They must know each other as one can know only an adversary tested and tried to the limit. One can never know a friend in quite that way.

Monk looked at Hester in the dock. She was very white, her eyes focused far away, as if she were in a daze. Perhaps she was. This was reality so intense it was like no other, and therefore would seem unreal. Each sense would at times be so keen she would remember every grain of wood in the dock railing and yet not hear what was said. Or hear even an intake of bream from the clerk before her, or the wardress behind, or the crackle of the fires in the two grates at each side of the room, and yet not see the people in the gallery even if they moved or jostled each other the better to see.

The judge was seated above them, an elderly man with a narrow, clever face and crooked teeth, a long nose and fine hair. He must have been handsome in his youth. Now his character was too deeply marked and his erratic temper stamped his features.

The first witness for the prosecution was Alastair Farraline. There was a hush in the court and then a slow letting out of breath as his name was called. Everyone knew he was the Procurator Fiscal, a t.i.tle to elicit both fear and respect in the law. A woman in the gallery gave a little scream of sheer pent-up emotion as he climbed to the witness-box, and the judge glared at her.

"Control yourself, madam, or I shall have you removed," he warned grimly.

She clapped both hands over her mouth.

"Proceed," the judge commanded.

Gilfeather thanked him and turned to Alastair with a smile.

"First of all, Mr. Farraline, may I extend to you the court's sympathy on the loss of your mother. A lady we all held in the highest esteem."

Alastair, pale and very upright, the light s.h.i.+ning on his hair, tried to smile back, and failed.

"Thank you," he said simply.

Monk glanced at Hester, but she was immobile and staring at Alastair.

Immediately behind Argyll, Oliver Rathbone was so rigid that even from across the room Monk could see the fabric of his coat stretched across his shoulders.

"Now, Mr. Farraline," Gilfeather continued. "When your mother planned this journey south into England, did you always intend to send someone with her to care for her?"

"Yes."

"Why, sir? Why not one of her own servants? You have a sufficiency of servants, do you not?"

"Of course." Alastair looked puzzled and unhappy. "Mother's lady's maid had never traveled, and did not wish to. We were afraid her own nervousness would make her unsuitable as a companion, and possibly inefficient, especially at dealing with any difficulty or inconvenience which might arise."

"Naturally," Gilfeather agreed, nodding sagely. "You wished someone competent to take care in any contingency, therefore a woman who had traveled before."

"And a nurse," Alastair added. "Just in case the...." He swallowed. He looked wretched. "In case the tension of the journey should make Mother unwell."

The judge's mouth tightened. There was a rustle in the gallery.

Oliver Rathbone winced. Argyll sat expressionless.

"So you advertised for someone suitable?" Gilfeather prompted.

"Yes. We had two or three replies, but Miss Latterly seemed to us to be the best qualified and most suitable."

"She gave you references, of course?"

"Of course. She seemed excellent."

"Did you at any time have cause to doubt the wisdom of your choice prior to your seeing her off in Edinburgh station for the journey to London?"

"No. She seemed a perfectly acceptable young woman," Alastair answered. Never once did he glance at Hester, but kept his eyes studiously away from her.

Gilfeather asked him a few more questions, all fairly trivial. Monk's attention wandered. He looked for Oonagh's fair head and did not find her, but Eilish was easy to see, and Deirdra. He was surprised to see Deirdra looking straight back at him with pity, and something like conspiracy, in her eyes.

Or perhaps it was only the lamplight reflecting.

Gilfeather sat down amid a stir of excitement from the gallery. James Argyll stood up.

"Mr. Farraline ..."

Alastair looked at him with a fixed, polite expression of dislike.

"Mr. Farraline." Argyll did not smile at him. "Why did you choose someone from London rather than Edinburgh? Have we no acceptable nurses in Scotland?"

Alastair's face tightened noticeably.

"I imagine so, sir. None of them answered our advertis.e.m.e.nt. We wished for the best we could find. A woman who had served with Florence Nightingale seemed to us above reproach."

There was a murmur around the crowd and mixed emotions, patriotic approval of Florence Nightingale and all she stood for in their minds, anger that her reputation should be besmirched, even vicariously, surprise, doubt and antic.i.p.ation.

"You really considered such qualification necessary for so simple a task as administering a prepared dose to an intelligent and far from incapacitated lady?" Argyll said curiously. "Members of the jury may wonder why a local woman of sound reputation would not have served at least as well, and far less expensively in railway fares than sending for a stranger from London."

This time the rustle was agreement.

Monk s.h.i.+fted impatiently. It was a point so minor as to be worthless, too subtle for the jury even to understand, much less recall when the time came.

"We wanted someone accustomed to travel," Alastair repeated doggedly, his face pink, although it was impossible to tell what emotion lay behind the flushed cheeks and unhappy eyes. It could have been no more than grief, and certain embarra.s.sment at being required to stand so publicly for everyone to stare at with such morbid interest. He was used only to honor, respect, even awe. Now his private affairs, his family and its emotions, were displayed and he was helpless to defend himself.

"Thank you," Argyll said politely, conveying neither belief nor disbelief. "Did Miss Latterly seem an entirely satisfactory person to you while she was in your house?"

Even if Alastair had wished to deny it, he was now in a position where he could not, or he would seem to have connived at whatever ill he had implied.

"Yes, of course," he said sharply. "I should never have permitted my mother to travel if I had suspected anything at all."

Argyll nodded and smiled. "In fact, would it be true to say that your mother seemed to get along particularly well with Miss Latterly?"

Alastair's face hardened. "Yes...I feel it would. A remarkably-" He stopped.

Argyll waited. The judged looked inquiringly at Alastair. The jurors all sat staring.

Alastair bit his lip. Apparently he had thought better of what he was going to say.

There was a murmur of sympathy around the room. Alastair's face tightened, loathing the public pity.

Argyll knew when he had stopped winning, even if he did not know why.

"Thank you, sir. That is all I have to ask you."

Gilfeather nodded benignly, and the judge excused Alastair with a further expression of sympathy and respect which Alastair accepted tight-lipped.

The next witness to be called was Oonagh McIvor. She caused even more of a stir than Alastair. She had no t.i.tle, no public position, but even if no one had known who she was, her air of dignity and suppressed pa.s.sion would have commanded both respect and attention. Of course she was dressed entirely in black, but she was anything but drab. Her fair skin was delicate and warm and the gleam of her hair was plain beneath her black bonnet.

She climbed the steps deliberately and took the oath with an unwavering voice, then stood waiting for Gilfeather to begin. Not one of the fifteen jurors took his eyes from her.

Gilfeather hesitated, as if wondering how much to play on the jury's sympathy, then decided against it. He was a subtle man and saw no need to gild the lily.

"Mrs. McIvor, did you concur in your brother's decision to employ a nurse from London for your mother?"

"Yes I did," she said slowly and calmly. "I confess I thought it an excellent idea. I thought as well as her professional abilities, and her experience in travel, she would be an interesting companion for my mother." She looked apologetic. "Mother had traveled considerably in her youth, and I think at times she missed the excitement of it. I thought such a woman would be able to talk with her about foreign parts and experiences that would be bound to entertain her."

"Most understandable." Gilfeather nodded. "I think in your circ.u.mstances I should have felt the same. And presumably that part of your arrangement lived up to your hopes."

Oonagh smiled bleakly, but did not answer.

"Were you present when Miss Latterly arrived, Mrs. McIvor?" Gilfeather continued.

The questions were all as Monk had foreseen. Gilfeather asked them and Oonagh answered them, and the court listened with rapt attention, all except Monk, who stared around at first one face, then another. Gilfeather himself looked satisfied, even smug. Watching him, the jury could only believe he was completely in command of the whole procedure and held no doubt as to its outcome.

Monk resented it bitterly, while admiring the man's professionalism. He could not recall the trial of his mentor all those years ago. He did not even know in which court it had been held, but his helplessness now brought back waves of old emotion and grief. Then he had known the truth and had watched impotently while someone he had both loved and admired had been convicted of a crime he had not committed. Then Monk had been young and looking with incredulity at the injustice, not believing until the last possible moment that it could really happen. Afterwards he had been stunned. This time it was all too familiar, an old wound with scar tissue ripped away to reveal the unhealed depths, and probed anew.

At the defense table James Argyll sat with his black brows drawn down in thought. His was a dangerous face, full of strength and subtlety, but he was a man without weapons. Monk had failed him. Deliberately he used the word over and over to himself. Failure. Someone had killed Mary Farraline, and he had not found any trace of who it was or why it had happened. He had had weeks in which to seek, and all he had produced was that Kenneth had a pretty mistress with long yellow hair, white skin and a determination never to be cold and hungry again, or to sleep in some strange bed at some man's favor, because she had not one of her own.

Actually Monk sympathized with her more than he did with Kenneth, who had been forced to part with more expensive gifts than he had wished, in order to keep her favors.

But unless someone could raise adequate suspicion of embezzlement to have the company books audited, and embezzlement was in fact proved true, then it was possibly scandalous, although not probably, and it was certainly no cause for murder.

Monk looked at Rathbone and in spite of himself felt a stab of sympathy. To a stranger he appeared merely to be listening, his head a trifle to one side, his long face thoughtful, his dark eyes heavy-lidded as if his attention were entirely involved. But Monk had known him long enough and seen him under pressure before. He could see the angle of his shoulders hunched under his beautiful jacket, the stiffness of his neck and the slow clenching and unclenching of his hand on the table, and he felt the frustration boiling inside him. Whatever he thought or whatever emotions churned inside him, there was nothing he could do now. Whatever he would have done differently, whether it was a whole strategy or as little as an intonation or an expression of the face, he could only sit silently and watch.

Oonagh was answering Gilfeather's questions about the preparation for Mary's journey.