“And what possible excuse did she give for not bringing the child with them in the first place?”
“Actually”—he darted a look at his wife—“Mrs. Parrish supplied that reason. She said they must have left the child with his nurse, until they could prepare a proper nursery at Clifton.”
Mrs. Parrish huffed. “I never said any such thing.”
“Yes, you did, my dear. Perhaps you forget. And we bothdecided it was a godsend, for had the little boy been in that carriage—”
“But of course he wouldn’t have been, for he wasn’t any child of ours, was he?” Marianna interrupted. “He was only an illegitimate whelp Hannah decided to pass off as a Mayfield. For the inheritance.”
Dr. Parrish shook his head. “I can’t believe she ever thought of that. I think she only wanted to be reunited with her son and to provide for him.”
Marianna’s mouth twisted bitterly. “And what better way than to make him a rich man’s heir?”
Lord Shirwell spoke up. “Em ... thank you, my lady, but perhaps it is best if I conduct the hearing, hm?”
“Oh. Yes, your worship. I do beg your pardon. It just rouses my passion most fiercely to think of her greedy deception.”
“Hear, hear,” Mrs. Parrish seconded.
Dr. Parrish said, “One more thing, if I may. When Sir John did regain his senses, and was presented with, um, Miss Rogers here as Lady Mayfield, he did not object. Nor did he correct me. In fact, he addressed her as his wife and, well, acted toward her as a husband would.”
The magistrate’s brows rose. “Are you suggesting they had marital relations?”
Again, the physician blushed. “No, my lord. I suggest no such thing. I only meant that he spoke to her and teased her as a husband might. He gave me no reason to suspect Miss Rogers was not Lady Mayfield. Even invited us to dinner, him at the head of the table and her at its foot. Why would he do that?”
Lord Shirwell entwined his stubby fingers on the desk. “You said he suffered a serious head injury in the accident and nearly died. Is it not possible his senses were still addled as Lady Mayfield suggests? That he has yet to, may never in fact, return to his right mind?”
“Pardon me for saying so, my lord, but that seems an awful presumption to make based on one woman’s accusations. When he isn’t even here to defend his actions.”
“Dr. Parrish.” The magistrate’s eyes grew cold, his voice harsh. “Do I tell you how to dress wounds and lance boils? You will do well to leave my responsibilities to me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, my lord. Still, I must add that in my professional opinion, Sir John did regain his senses, not immediately, but eventually.”
Lord Shirwell’s lips tightened. “Thank you, Dr. Parrish. For your opinion. Well...” The magistrate set down his quill and folded his hands, as though he’d heard enough to pronounce her fate.
“I’d like to say my piece, if I may, your worship,” said Mrs. Parrish.
Oh, Lord, have mercy. Not her, Hannah thought.
Before the magistrate could respond, Marianna beamed encouragement in her direction. “Oh, yes, Mrs. Parrish, I am certain you have a great deal to say on the matter, having witnessed so many of the happenings personally.” Marianna widened her eyes imploringly toward Lord Shirwell. “But of course, the decision is up to you, your worship.”
“Very well. But do endeavor to be brief, Mrs. Parrish, if you please.”
“I will, my lord. I only wanted to say a few words. My husband, you see, is a good-hearted soul, but blind to the ways of people. Women especially. I may have been taken in for a day or two, while Miss Rogers was still insensible. But as soon as she started babbling about a child and not responding to the title ‘my lady,’ I began to suspect. She acted too common, too humble, to be a real lady of quality. And then later I took one look at that scrawny, troubled mite of a wet nurse she returned with and knew something was amiss. No self-respecting ladywould engage such a low girl for the care of her prized son, not if she could help it.”
Mrs. Parrish went on, “And then Sir John’s solicitor arrived. A younger man and quite good-looking. He’d come to make some changes to the will, I overheard. Perhaps to add her son as beneficiary, I don’t know. But I wonder if he was in league with her all along.”
“That’s not true,” Hannah sputtered, before the magistrate silenced her with a glare.
“Can you deny that I saw the two of you all alone in the garden one morning, very cozy and private-like? And him not the first man I saw you with either.”
Hannah shook her head. “No, but we were only talking. It had nothing to do with the will.”
“So you say. You weren’t behaving like any lady then, I can tell you. I don’t know why Sir John didn’t call you out like the Jezebel you are. Maybe he wasn’t in his right mind, or maybe you promised him some ... reward ... if he let the deception go on.”
Hannah sucked in a shocked breath. “I did no such thing.”
“Silence, Miss Rogers,” Lord Shirwell commanded. “You will have your chance to try to defend yourself in a minute.”
