But Lord Gray wouldn’t see it that way, would he? No, the way he saw it, people likehimdecided questions of guilt or innocence. People like her and Jeremy explained themselves, then begged for forgiveness. Ironic, really, since pleas for mercy never seemed to mean much to menlike Lord Gray.
She’d get nowhere with him, even if she told him the truth. Perhapsespeciallythen.
The truth certainly hadn’t done Jeremy any good, had it? Anyone who’d seen him today should have recognized he wasn’t capable of deception, yet it had taken less than half an hour for him to be tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
Sophia tore her gaze from the locket and met Lord Gray’s forbidding wolf’s eyes. “Tell me, my lord. What was your impression of the court proceedings today?”
“Are you questioningmenow,Miss Monmouth?”
She shrugged. “I simply wondered if you found anything distasteful about it.”
His face hardened. “I saw a guilty man sentenced to death as punishment for a despicable crime. There’s nothing distasteful in that.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s what youwouldsee. I thought you more perceptive than that, but it’s easier to see precisely what you expected, isn’t it?”
With a quick snap of his fingers, her locket disappeared into his fist. “It sounds as if you’re accusing me of something. May I ask what it is you think I’ve done?”
So polite, so correct and courteous, yet Sophia could see the arrogance there, his certainty that he must be in the right. “I accuse you of willful blindness, my lord. It’s not an uncommon failing, but still agrievous one.”
Oh, he didn’t care for that.Thataccusation had gottenunder his skin.
“Explain yourself please,Miss Monmouth.”
“With pleasure.” Sophia leaned forward, her gaze holding his. “Mr. Ives, my lord. Did his demeanor strike you as being at all strange?”
Lord Gray had remained expressionless throughout his questioning, his face a blank canvas, but now Sophia noticed a flicker of something in his eyes. Uneasiness, or consciousness. It was there and gone in an instant, but by then it was too late. Sophia saw it, and pounced. “Youdidfind something strange about it.” Perhaps there was hope for Lord Gray, after all.
He eyed her warily. “Strange in what manner?”
“Mr. Ives didn’t offer much in his own defense, did he? He appeared dazed, baffled by the proceedings. I would have said he didn’t understand the accusations against him, or indeed, why he was in the courtroom at all. Did you happen to notice that?”
Sophia expected a swift and firm denial, but it didn’t come. Lord Gray considered it, his arms crossed over his chest. “I did notice it, yes.”
Sophia’s mouth dropped open. “You did?”
He let out an irritable sigh. “You sound surprised, Miss Monmouth. You’re aware Ihavebeen in a courtroom before? Mr. Ives isn’t the first defendant I’ve ever seen.”
“I hadn’t given any thought at all as to how you spend your time, my lord, but since you’re so familiar with courtroom proceedings, I can only assume you remarked Mr. Ives’s unusual behavior.”
“I just said I did.”
“You did say so, yes, but you don’t seem to have drawn the obvious conclusion from it.”
He shifted impatiently against the seat. “It must not be as obvious as you think it is,Miss Monmouth.”
“It is when one is paying attention. Jeremy Ives is simple, Lord Gray. He appeared confused today because heisconfused.”
Lord Gray went still. “Simple?”
“Yes. Intellectually, I’d put him at roughly seven or eight years old. He doesn’t fully understand what he’s been accused of, and he certainly doesn’t have any notion how to defend himself.”
Lord Gray said nothing, but Sophia could see he was mulling over what she’d said, and she pushed her advantage. “How many seven-year-old children are such clever thieves they’ve escaped justice for months on end? Do you know of any eight-year-old children, my lord, who are capable of committing a murder?”
He regarded her with cool gray eyes. “Simple or not, Miss Monmouth, the court has deemed him capable to stand trial.”
“My, such unerring faith in justice! I’m afraid I don’t have your confidence. I find, my lord, justice often has more to do with who the accuser and the accused are than it does with matters of guilt or innocence.Do you agree?”
Lord Gray’s jaw hardened.“No, I don’t.”
