Page 41 of Dangerous Illusions (Dangerous #1)

Jervaulx’s cold gaze came to rest upon her, and although she was conscious of a sudden movement ahead and to the right of her, she could not look away.

The magistrate’s thin lips tightened, and for a moment she had an awful premonition that he was going to cry, “Off with her head!” Licking suddenly dry lips, she waited for summary execution. The courtroom was deathly silent.

“Who, pray, are you?”

“Daintry Tarrant, sir. Lady Susan is my sister.”

“Is that so? Then perhaps you may be forgiven for your unseemly outburst. Reasonable persons will attribute it to a female’s natural inability to control her sensibilities.”

“My sensibilities have nothing to do with it, my lord. You have not even heard her case.”

“She has no case.”

“If she were a man who had been assaulted—”

“She is not a man. She is a wife. And according to the laws of England, a wife has no civil status at the bar—”

“Then the law is unfair to women!”

“Daintry, sit down,” Lady Ophelia hissed.

Daintry ignored her, but Lady Ophelia’s words had clearly carried to the high bench, for Jervaulx glanced at her.

His gaze flickered toward his son, then came to rest again upon Daintry.

“This discussion had better be continued in the magistrates’ chamber.

Sir Lionel, bring your party. Sir Geoffrey, you come along too, of course.

” Jervaulx got to his feet and, robes swirling, descended from the high bench to make his exit, barely pausing long enough for a minion to snatch open the chamber door.

Daintry stood in shock, wondering what on earth she had done.

She saw Susan move ahead with Sir Lionel and felt her aunt tug her sleeve but could not seem to move.

Then a firm hand grasped her other arm, and she looked up to see Deverill, looking more like the stern-faced marquess than she had thought possible.

“Come on,” he said. “He does not like to be kept waiting.”

“You will come, too, won’t you? What will he do?”

“He won’t eat you.” His tone was brusque.

“It is not myself I’m worried about. You must make him listen to all the horrid things Geoffrey has done to Susan!”

Giving her a little push toward the others, Deverill escorted her past the fascinated onlookers to the door through which Jervaulx had disappeared.

It led into a medium-sized chamber used generally for robing, but there was a large desk at one end near a window, and Jervaulx had seated himself behind it.

He indicated chairs for Lady Ophelia and Susan.

“There seems, unfortunately, to be an insufficient number of chairs for everyone, but the gentlemen will not mind standing. Step forward, Lady Daintry, and perhaps these matters can be made plain to you. No, no, Sir Lionel,” he added when the solicitor stepped forward with her.

“You are an excellent advocate, but she has no need of you just now.” To Daintry’s surprise, his tone was nearly benevolent.

“I should not have shrieked out at you like I did, sir,” she said, aware that although Sir Lionel had stepped away Deverill was still behind her. Grateful for his presence, she took a deep breath, adding, “I do apologize if I behaved badly.”

“You did, and to no good purpose.”

“But the law is unfair.”

“My dear young woman, so great a favorite is the female to the laws of England that a good many of them are specifically intended to protect and benefit her. By marriage she becomes one person in law with her husband. That is to say, her very being, her legal existence, is consolidated with his, and she is perceived to act at all times under his command and protection.”

“Protection,” Daintry said scornfully, “is not what my sister has received at the hands of her husband, sir.”

“Consider the many advantages granted a woman,” Jervaulx said as if she had not spoken.

“She does not lose her rank on marriage, a privilege of which Lady Susan has taken advantage. She is allowed to testify on her own behalf if she is raped, and she cannot be imprisoned for debt. She is not even obliged to pay her debts. Her husband must pay them. He is obliged to support her as long as she shares his bed and board, and he is answerable for her actions. In fact, since she is presumed to act under his command and control, she is excused punishment for offenses committed in his presence unless it can be proved that she did not act under his influence.”

“But none of that applies to Susan. She has committed no wrong. She does not even have any debts. What she has got is a great many bruises!”

Patiently, Jervaulx said, “But you see, a husband has a vested interest in keeping his wife under his control and out of mischief. Not only is he responsible for her actions but—you will forgive some plain-speaking here—England is the one country in all the world which gives a woman an extraordinary opportunity to palm off a bastard child on her husband. If an Englishman cannot prove his wife’s adultery, any child she has is assumed, under law, to be his full responsibility, however improbable the circumstances of that child’s birth. ”

Seacourt snapped, “That’s right, by God.”

Jervaulx shifted his chilly gaze. “As to you, sir, pray recall that, under law, a husband can be punished if he mistreats his wife in ways not acceptable to the community. No one questions his right to chastise her, but he must not go too far.”

Seacourt looked directly at Susan and said, “The community will hear no complaints from my wife, my lord.”

“Excellent,” Jervaulx said, beginning to rise.

Desperately, Daintry cried, “Please, my lord—”

“No, Lady Daintry,” Jervaulx said sternly.

“There is no more to be said. Extraordinary measures have been allowed today, because of the history existing between the Tarrant and Deverill families. You were not to suppose that your sister could not receive justice from this court. But now that the matter has been fully explained to you, there are other cases that must be heard without further delay.” He got to his feet, nodded at the others, and swept from the room.

Daintry, turning to watch him leave, found herself face to face with Deverill, and all the rage she had had to suppress boiled over in that instant.

“You betrayed us,” she snapped. “We depended on you to help, and you did not speak one word in Susan’s defense.

It is just as I’d feared, and you are no better than any other man.

In fact, you are worse, for you led me to suspect that you had a heart, Deverill, and you have none! ”

“It is not a matter of heart,” he retorted, “but a matter of law. You heard him.” He shot a glance at Susan, still sitting by Lady Ophelia but staring at Sir Geoffrey with much the same look on her face as a rabbit mesmerized by the approach of a fox.

Daintry’s glance followed Deverill’s, and impulsively she stepped in front of Seacourt. “If you dare to hurt Susan again, Geoffrey, so help me, I will see that you pay dearly.”

Seacourt smiled, but the expression was not pleasant.

“So fierce, little sister-in-law, but you have no power to stop me, you know, and nor does Deverill.” He shot a triumphant look at the latter.

“Whether or not there is truth in the accusations against him, Susan has not behaved well at all and deserves to be punished. Come along, my dear,” he added, pushing Daintry out of the way and holding out a commanding hand to his wife.

Still with that mesmerized look on her face, Susan stood up. Her cheeks were pale, her lips parted, her eyes wide with fear.

Lady Ophelia stood up too, briskly shaking out her skirts. She said, “See here, young man, you may have won this skirmish, but the war is far from over, and it would behoove you just now, I think, to recall the source of your wife’s expectations.”

Sir Geoffrey looked sharply at her.

Lady Ophelia’s smile was grim. “Ah, yes, that has brought you up short, has it not? You have always gone out of your way to be charming to me before, but you have seriously blotted your copybook now, and I should like to make you aware of a thing or two. First and foremost is the fact that Susan’s inheritance is merely a matter of my will, which can easily be altered.

At present, she is co-heiress with Daintry, but it might be more sensible to put her share in trust for Melissa instead.

And lest you think that would make no difference to your control, sir, let me make it plain to you that Sir Lionel here will arrange the whole business for me, not through the common court, but through a Court of Chancery, where it can be arranged so that you will have no access to the money.

I should be reluctant to humiliate you so, since at Susan’s own request I did not arrange it that way from the outset, and the news would get round quickly, but if you antagonize me, do not think for a moment that I will not. ”

Seacourt’s cheeks were red, and his outstretched hand had fallen to his side.

He said in a tightly controlled voice, “You misjudge me, ma’am, but I cannot blame you, knowing how much inclined you are always to support the members of your own sex against mine.

Indeed, that part of your character is what I have most admired in you.

But in this instance, I believe you have carried it too far.

I love my wife, not her expectations, so you may do as you please with your money.

I own, I behaved more like a beast than a lover when I thought Susan had been involved in a clandestine affair with such an acknowledged rake as Deverill. ”

Lady Ophelia’s glance shifted abruptly to Deverill, but Sir Geoffrey did not pause long enough for her to speak.