Love in the Balance (27 page)

“Molly, please spare yourself. This won’t be pleasant. The lawyer’s arguments are out of my control. I care for you, and I don’t want—”

“That’s enough,” Judge Rice interrupted. “Anything you have to say should be said under oath. Unless Mrs. Pierrepont has an objection, we’ll proceed.”

“Did Mr. Pierrepont propose matrimony to you?”

Molly hadn’t fitted her skirts into the witness chair before the question was asked. The bailiff was still removing the Bible she’d sworn on.

“What kind of question is that? I wouldn’t have gone with him if we weren’t getting married.”

“What were his exact words?” said the man with the spectacles and vulpine whiskers. “Did he promise you a ring? Did you speak to a parson? Were any arrangements made for a wedding?”

Her flesh crawled as she tried to remember. “He talked about spending our lives together. He said he wanted me to travel with him, be his companion.”

“But he never suggested that he was free to marry.”

“Free to marry?” With a roar her father leapt to his feet. “He wouldn’t dare invite my daughter to accompany him otherwise.”

Judge Rice banged his gavel on his bench. “Mr. Lovelace, I will not suffer outbursts in my court. Do you understand?”

Molly closed her eyes in silent prayer. Her father must control his temper or his life could be at stake. Why didn’t Judge Rice remove him before he became unmanageable?

Edward’s lawyer addressed her again. “Please answer my question. Did Mr. Pierrepont at any time ask you to marry him?”

“But he did marry me and that’s illegal. If he would’ve explained himself, I would’ve returned home immediately.”

“Miss Lovelace, about the ceremony, if that word can be applied to what happened—you were sick, were you not? Very sick, according to Mr. Pierrepont.”

“Yes, and displeased.”

“I want to remind the court that your memory of the event might be suspect due to the extreme condition of your health at the time, but would you please share what you remember?”

Molly sat up straight and clutched the banister. “I remember quite clearly. I awoke to find that Mr. Pierrepont was in my room while I was in a state of . . . well . . . dishabille.”

“I’ve had enough!” Thomas Lovelace was on his feet again. “That you would submit my daughter to this indignity is unconscionable!”

“Bailiff.” One word from Judge Rice was all it took.

Sheriff Colton and the bailiff each took an arm of Thomas Lovelace and dragged him backward through the double doors, the man yelling protests every step of the way. The doors closed, muffling but not quite drowning out his voice.

“Mrs. Lovelace,” Judge Rice said, “you might want to fetch a doctor to tend your husband as a precautionary measure.”

Her mother sniffed and stalked out. She could pretend to be disappointed, but Molly knew that she’d wanted to distance herself from the proceedings from the beginning.

And now, with her mother gone, she was the only woman in the room. As humiliating as her testimony was, to have to give it in a room full of men made it even more so. And the way they were twisting her words, she’d even begun to doubt herself.

Once Sheriff Colton and the bailiff returned, Judge Rice nodded to her. What she wouldn’t give for a glass of water, but she continued unaided.

“As I was saying, I woke to find Edward in my chamber. This was unacceptable. I insisted that we get married immediately, and he agreed.”

“Under what circumstances, ma’am?” The lawyer’s voice rose. “He agreed to marry you after he was threatened with detainment, right? It was imperative that he get you to a doctor, and the only way for him to help you was to go through a fraudulent ceremony using a false name. He acted to save your life, even though it was against his best interest. Is that not correct?”

The room swam before Molly’s eyes, but Edward didn’t move. There he sat, as kind and accepting as ever. He looked as if he’d welcome her into his arms and call off this evil lawyer if she’d let him. Yes, he surely would. He’d take her on the train, and they’d put Caldwell County far behind them, but without the benefit of holy matrimony. Until his family cut him off again, he’d care for her as a mistress. That was all she’d ever been to him. All she could be.

Molly released the banister and settled her back against her chair. She took a shaky breath and prayed God would give her the courage to speak the absolute truth.

“What you say is true. Perhaps he didn’t intend to marry me when we left. Perhaps he was forced into that situation, but he should have told me once I recovered. He knew he had a wife already.” Her eyes bounced from person to person, finding nowhere safe to land. “But he didn’t tell me. Instead, he lived with me as my husband. I wouldn’t have consented.”

All eyes turned to the bespectacled lawyer.

“That will be all, Miss Lovelace. We’d like to call the next witness, Your Honor.”

Molly gripped the rail tightly to steady her steps out of the box. Edward had tried to warn her, hadn’t he? But what choice did she have? She couldn’t just walk out the door and inform everyone that she was now Miss Lovelace again. Such a proclamation would forever sully her.

“Who is your witness, Counsel?” Judge Rice asked.

She stopped to watch the shifty man, wondering what he hoped to unearth. No one could contradict her account. Not Pastor Snow, not the conductor, not even Freida. No one could challenge her testimony.

“The defense calls Bailey Garner.”

23

The framed copy of the Ten Commandments on the courthouse wall made a fine tally sheet for Bailey as he checked off Pierrepont’s multiple transgressions. The grim diversion was his only protection from Mr. Lovelace’s tirade.

“It’s outrageous that we don’t get our say. We’re her parents! What does that district attorney think he’s doing asking you to testify?”

Hands in his pockets, Bailey kept his eyes on the plaque before him. Although Thomas Lovelace didn’t expect a reply, Bailey wished he had one. Why was he called to testify? After the donkey he’d made of himself, he was surprised that Molly had requested his help. On the other hand, didn’t he deserve a shot at the blackguard? Next to Molly, his future had been the most affected.

“Bailey Garner,” the bailiff called.

Thomas stood as if to charge the courtroom but was intercepted by the bailiff, who held the door open for Bailey.

Bailey straightened his shoulders and prepared for battle, marching at a cadence until he’d turned into the box and had his hand on the Bible.

He was here, in the same room. Bailey’s neck twitched as he looked at the man who’d lain with his girl. Nothing Bailey could do to him would be bad enough. And there was Molly, looking as queasy as the town drunk. How he wished he could convince himself that she’d been kidnapped, abducted. How he wished she hadn’t left him of her own free will.

He stumbled through the oath, not caring if the words were exactly right. He didn’t need some lawman to remind him to tell the truth—not when God was there, waiting to exact vengeance.

Bailey grasped the arms of the wooden chair as he lowered himself into it. Ready for business. He’d been hard on Molly, but it was small potatoes compared to his feelings for the man seated across the room.

“Mr. Garner, would you please describe your relationship with Miss Lovelace.” Pierrepont’s lawyer stepped up to the bar looking like his chest had slid into his belly and got caught in his belt on the way down.

Bailey cleared his throat and tried to speak in the preacher voice he’d been practicing. “I’ve known her my whole life.”

“But wouldn’t you say your relationship has recently been of a more personal nature?”

“Recently? No, I haven’t—”

“In the last year or so?”

Bailey leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs at the ankles. They were jumping right into the meat of his testimony. Didn’t this expensive lawyer with the letters behind his name understand this was exactly what Bailey wanted to say?

“We were courting for over a year.”

“With her parents’ consent?”

Bailey frowned. “They didn’t exactly approve, but there were no hard feelings. I work for them now.”

“So Miss Lovelace deceived her parents to carry on a relationship without their consent?” Before Bailey could answer, the man fired another round in his direction. “Would you say that Miss Lovelace comported herself as befitting a lady during your relationship?”

“Of course. Mol . . . I mean
Mrs.
Pierrepont
was well brought up.”

“It’s interesting that you’d say so, Mr. Garner, because I’ve discovered testimony that not six months ago you publically denounced her in front of your local congregation. Would you like to share your version of the incident?”

Bailey looked at Molly. Her expression looked a lot like it had that Sunday when he’d stood to unburden his soul. His heart lurched into his throat. “No, that’s not why I’m here. Your man took her under false pretenses.”

“Mr. Garner, you are here to establish her character, or lack thereof. Miss Lovelace has testified that she would not allow a man to trifle with her without the benefit of marriage. That is why your testimony is of particular interest to the defense. That is why we called you.”

“You called me?” Bailey pulled himself forward. “I didn’t come to help you. I came to put him in jail.”

Without blinking, the lawyer turned to Judge Rice. “Your Honor, I’d like to point out that the witness is hostile, but we consider his testimony to be vital to our defense.”

“You may proceed with the questions.” Judge Rice’s eyebrows lowered. “Mr. Garner, I remind you that you’re under oath.”

What could he do? Bailey looked for help, for counsel, but the district attorney was frozen like a scared possum. Molly’s eyes were huge, shining with vulnerability, expecting the worse.

“Let’s return to your proclamation before the church. What exactly were your words?” the lawyer asked.

Bailey scowled. “It wasn’t Molly’s fault. It was mine. I was confessing my own personal failings. Not hers.”

“Did you ever force yourself on Miss Lovelace?”

“Of course not.”

“So she freely allowed you liberties?”

“I didn’t defile her, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“But you are saying that all inappropriate contact between the two of you was consensual? That Miss Lovelace’s claims of innocence are not accurate?”

Bailey swallowed hard. He’d sworn on a Bible, he who lived in a parsonage and opened up the meetinghouse twice a week. Did Molly understand, or would she think he was exacting his revenge? Too fast. Everything was happening too fast.

“It wasn’t her fault. I take full responsibility.”

“Seems to be a pattern of hers, doesn’t it? She’s never at fault?”

“You are leading the witness,” Judge Rice warned. “Caution.”

“Mr. Garner, if Miss Lovelace had as spotless of a reputation as she claims, she must have been humiliated by your confession before the church.”

Bailey nodded. There was one response he could be proud of.

“Is it fair to assume that your relationship was not resumed? That she never again allowed you liberties?”

How did they know? Was it a lucky guess? Molly’s cheeks flamed red, her eyes lowered. He wished she’d look at him. Wished she’d glare—or swear—or anything besides sit resigned as he bludgeoned her reputation.

Sheriff Colton coughed and raised an eyebrow. If Colton weren’t there, Bailey would be tempted to fib on a stack of Bibles, but the man had caught them red-handed. He had to tell the truth or he’d be arrested for perjury.

His voice sounded weak, foreign to his own ears. “There was one incident.”

He was lost. There was no redemption for him. Not only had he done his best to compromise her, but now he was exposing his near success to her enemies. Hell couldn’t produce hot enough flames for him.

“One incident, you say. I won’t ask for the lurid details, but are we to assume the . . .
ahem
 . . . activity was more than a friendly gesture?”

Bailey sat mute.

“And when did this rendezvous occur? You weren’t courting after you exposed her for her wayward behavior, but it must’ve been before she left town with Mr. Pierrepont.” He leaned forward to peer at Bailey. “She enjoyed your company and then waited how long before skipping town with my client?”

Bailey crossed his arms. His jaw jutted out.

“Mr. Collins”—Judge Rice rubbed his forehead with a weary hand as he spoke to the district attorney—“do you wish to consult with your client, or should we continue?”

The District Attorney shuffled through papers. “I’m not sure how to proceed.”

“Let’s allow the witness to answer the question,” Pierrepont’s lawyer continued. “Perhaps the lady was innocently besotted with you. It took her a month, perhaps, before she elected to become the companion of another man?”

Why didn’t Mr. Collins stop them? Bailey looked to the judge’s bench, but there was no help coming from that direction.

“Not a full month, then? I
will
have your answer, Mr. Garner. Exactly how long did it take Miss Lovelace to turn her affections from you to my client?”

Since God hadn’t graciously struck him mute, he’d have to answer the question.

“She left with him the next day—make that two days later.”

Bailey had to clasp his fists together to keep from reaching over the banister, grabbing the lawyer by his fancy knotted cravat, and stuffing it into his satisfied mouth. He rambled on, but Bailey didn’t catch all the words. Unfaithful, gold digger, cuckolding his client with other men—all charges brought against the solemn woman in the simple blue gown.

Mechanically Bailey rose as instructed and walked past her. Mr. Collins had finally voiced his opinion. There would be no trial. Bailey had ruined Molly’s case, and Edward Pierrepont would walk out of Caldwell County not guilty. The married man who had bedded his sweetheart would go free.

All the guilt rested on Bailey.

24

The road between Lockhart and Prairie Lea had never seemed so long. No matter. Molly probably wouldn’t be making this trip much in the months ahead. She was moving home.