“I didn’t lie.”
“You didn’t tell him about the runaway.”
“He never asked me if I had seen a runaway—or a woman, for that matter.”
“Another deputy found Mr.Webb’s slave being carried by your steward, a block away from the hotel.”
Victor stood on his toes again, trying to see the woman on the stand as well as the slave.
“I believe I’ve already explained that I thought Persila was going to be harmed. And I remain resolute in my assumption. If this court returns her to the man in front of me, he will hurt and possibly kill her.”
“Conjecture, Miss Labrie. It’s not for you or me to surmise about the future.”
“But if he injures Persila further, it will be on my conscience, as it should be on yours.”
“I abide by the law of man,” the attorney said. “No matter what my conscience says.”
“Perhaps you should abide by God’s law instead.”
The judge struck the gavel again. “In this case, we will all abide by the law of California.”
Straining his neck, Victor saw the profile of Miss Labrie, turning toward the judge. “It seems that the laws in our state keep shifting.”
“They are growing and changing, with the rest of the state,” Judge Snyder said.
“Then you have the power to change this too, for the sake of an innocent woman who only wants to be free like you and me.”
The judge shook his head. “That’s something I cannot do.”
The debate continued for another hour, the back and forth. And somewhere in the midst of the arguments, Victor grew bored of it all.
He needed to be searching for Isaac while most of the city was packed inside here—or perhaps he should be back at the hotel with Fanny, if her husband was as oblivious to her activities as he supposed.
Alden panicked when he stepped into the Golden. Miss Labrie was typically at the front desk at this hour while Janette, Isaac, and Stephan were preparing the evening meal. Instead, it seemed that Miss Labrie and Isaac and everyone else at the hotel had disappeared.
He walked outside, around the corner of the alleyway to see if Isaac or one of the others might be working on Miss Labrie’s herb garden in the courtyard, but there was no one outside either.
As he looked over at Miss Labrie’s window, his heart seemed to stop. What if the trip back to San Francisco was just a ruse? It was possible that Miss Labrie sent him away in order to snatch Isaac. She wouldn’t kidnap Isaac to sell him, but he could imagine her stealing Isaac to set him free.
He should be thrilled if Miss Labrie were able to find a good home for Isaac, but if he was honest with himself, he didn’t really want Isaac to leave—the boy had become like a younger brother to him. Isaac needed a family, though, and a sense of stability that Alden couldn’t provide.
He sat down in the front lobby, shaken. He would find Miss Labrie and tell her the truth. Then he’d find Isaac so he could say good-bye.
Outside the window, he saw a petite Chinese woman pause next to the lobby door. She was dressed in a silky pink dress, her head covered with a white parasol. When she opened the door to the hotel, Isaac rushed inside.
Alden hopped up from his seat.
“You’re home,” Isaac exclaimed, giving him a hug.
“I thought—” Alden started, vastly relieved. “I thought you might have gotten lost.”
Isaac was grinning when he stepped back. “Miss Labrie asked me and Missus Barr to take care of the hotel in her absence.”
He looked over at Mrs.Barr. Unlike Isaac, the woman wasn’t smiling. “Do you know where Miss Labrie is?”
She twisted the handle of the parasol. “I’m afraid I do.”
“And Stephan?”
