Page 8 of The Secret Love of a Gentleman (The Marlow Family Secrets #3)

Caro had lived through abuse all her life, she knew fear. Yet, when she walked downstairs in Pembroke Place, her brother-in-law’s home, to face the magistrate who was considering the charge of incest, she had never felt so petrified.

Her hands clasped together in front of her, the clamour of her heartbeat pounding in her ears so hard she might be walking through a smithy where several blacksmiths hammered iron on anvils.

Mary and her uncle, the Duke of Arundel, waited for Caro at the bottom of the stairs. She had been told the magistrate was waiting in the drawing room.

If she could not make this man believe her, Drew might hang because of her. But to speak about such private things to a stranger.

‘Would you like me to join you in the room?’ Mary asked.

‘No. Thank you.’ She could not bear to tell the truth of her humiliation before her young sister-in-law. She had not been here long but already she knew this family would not treat each other as her family did. Certainly, the husbands would not beat their wives.

Shame flooded Caro and touched her skin with warmth as she entered the room, she must be crimson.

‘I have asked for the records to be handled discreetly,’ the Duke of Arundel said quietly before closing the door.

Caro took a breath to calm her nerves and looked at the magistrate. She held his gaze firmly as she walked forward, denying her fear.