“Archie!”
He stood, looked towards the voice and breathed a sigh when he saw Nathan approaching.
Archie turned back to Marigold. “Sit here, rest a moment. I need to speak with someone.”
She nodded, bit her lower lip. “I t-t-trust you, Archie.”
His stomach plummeted, but he managed a nod and a weak smile before turning his attention to Nathan. “Thank god you’re here,” he muttered, leading his friend several paces away from her. “I’m in a mess.”
“I told you this divorce business was nasty.” Nathan glanced over at the marquess’ table. “Stansbury is an old dog, but he’s clever. What do you suppose is his angle?”
He lowered his voice further. “I think he’s trying to have her declared insane and institutionalized.”
“Damn,” Nathan hissed. “Smart, but wicked. He no longer has a wife, but will be spared the scandal and the cost of supporting her.”
“Precisely,” Archie said, then moaned as he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “I can’t let her on the stand.”
“Who else can testify to the abuse? Can the son?”
Archie dropped his hands. “She’d be furious. I promised I wouldn’t do it.”
“You promised to win her case.” Nathan’s brows furrowed. “What’s going on with you? I’ve never seen you this flustered in a trial.”
He looked over at Marigold, at the woman who’d fallen asleep on his chest two nights ago, whom he’d sworn to love and fight for and was now flailing, falling apart entirely.
Nathan sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. “Good god, Arch. You’re not—” He dropped his voice to a ragged whisper. “Are you carrying on with the wife?”
“Quiet,” Archie said, and Nathan caught the lack of denial, pointing a finger at Archie’s chest.
“Get your head out of your arse and win. Youneedto come back to Chapin and Baines, and that won’t happen if you lose. You can’t think straight with her nearby, so remove her from the discussions. What advice would you give me if I were trying this case?”
Archie shook his head, looked at his shoes, and released a heavy sigh. “Put the boy on the stand.”
Nathan bobbed his chin. “Where is he now? In London?”
Could he betray Marigold’s trust and ask Reggie to testify? He knew the boy would if Archie asked him, yet another betrayal of the trust he’d built with her family. But if he didn’t, she would be lost to all of them. He swallowed, then nodded. “Yes, in a hotel with the nanny.”
“Give me the direction, and I’ll have him back here in a quarter hour. Stall as long as you can. While I’m gone, ask for a private meeting with the judge. Make the case about the children and you’ll still have a chance.”
Archie’s footsteps felt like lead as he returned to the table, found a scrap of paper and scrawled out the direction for Marigold’s hotel. She looked up, her eyes wide and hopeful. “Is everything alright?”
Archie felt the contents of his stomach rebelling. If he went through with this, he might win the case, but he would lose her. “Yes,” he managed. “Everything will be just fine.”
Chapter 32
“Wehaveonemorewitness, my lord,” Archie told the judge when he called the hearing back into session, “but he’s not here yet.”
Marigold startled and leaned close to whisper. “I thought—when d-do I sp-speak?” Despite the anxiety crawling along her bones, she had to trust him, had to believe he would get her through this. Getthemthrough, because today could mark the beginning of their lives together.
Assuming the judge didn’t strangle her barrister. The man rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like waiting.”
“Perhaps we could present our case, my lord,” Mr. Stansbury offered as he stood, and Archie’s lips parted.
“By all means,” Archie ground out, any politeness of his words eviscerated by the ire in his tone.
Marigold’s blood cooled until she’d frozen, her bones brittle and lungs chilled. One by one, Stansbury presented his witnesses,friends of her husband from the highest echelons of society who spoke to the marquess’ high character, how they’d never seen or heard a cruelty from the man, particularly directed at his wife or children.
Funny, as she’d never met these men.
