“Lord Stark, Lady Roxbury.” The judge himself opened the door.
Short and with soft features, the judge had a paternal expression that eased some of the tension in Ethan’s chest.
“Welcome.” Judge Quigley shook Ethan’s hand and bowed to Cora. “My sister sent me a letter regarding your visit. She thinks I might be of help. Please come in and tell me everything.” He showed them to a small study with a diamond window opening to the sea.
No carriages rattling by, no street vendors yelling their prices, and no chatting crowd. Only the seagulls and the rhythmic slosh of the waves against the rocks. Ethan could get used to the peace and quiet. He, Cora, and David would spend a few weeks here in summer… if everything went well.
He held out a chair for Cora and sat next to her while she told Judge Quigley everything about her life with Roxbury. The romantic courtship, her husband’s possessiveness turned into indifference, and his cruelty towards her and David. Hearing her story for the second time didn’t make it easier to endure. Every time Ethan thought about what Roxbury had done to her, his blood boiled and he wanted to smash something. Possibly Roxbury’s face.
Judge Quigley nodded and took notes in his notebook without interrupting Cora, his pince-nez glasses perched on his nose.
When Cora told him about the night of the shooting, Judge Quigley stopped taking notes. “Lord Roxbury tried to shoot his own son?”
Cora nodded. “He said he didn’t mean to kill him but only to teach him a lesson.”
“It doesn’t lessen the gravity of what he did.” Judge Quigley scowled. “He hit you instead.”
“I can show you the wound from the gunshot,” Cora said. “It’s healed recently, but the scar is visible.”
“That won’t be necessary, my lady,” Judge Quigley said. “I believe you.”
“Is an annulment possible?” Ethan asked when the judge didn’t add anything.
“Well.” Judge Quigley removed his glasses. “I believe everything Lady Roxbury told me, and Lord Roxbury clearly neglected her and his son, not to mention the attempted murder and the cruelty, but that unfortunately isn’t the point. The point is what we can prove. We have Lady Roxbury’s word against Lord Roxbury’s word.”
“But there’s the wound from Lord Roxbury’s gun,” Ethan said.
Judge Quigley held up a hand. “Yes, but Lady Roxbury didn’t go to the police or the hospital after the incident. She went to you. If she’d gone to the police, they would have investigated the matter further, inspected the room where the shooting happened, questioned Lord Roxbury, and above all, Lady Roxbury’s injury would have been recorded by the doctors of the hospital. As of now, the gunshot wound could come from any incident with a gun, and Lord Roxbury’s testimony on the event contradicts Lady Roxbury’s. After I received my sister’s letter, I did some research and discovered that Commissioner North, Detective Inspector Purnell’s superior, refused to file Lady Roxbury’s complaint for attempted murder.” He spread his arms. “Instead, Lord Roxbury’s head injury has been recorded by the physician Lord Roxbury’s butler called. After the incident, Lord Roxbury went straight to the hospital although he hasn’t officially denounced his wife as of yet. He told Commissioner North that his wife attacked him while spreading the rumourthat his wife had left London to visit some relatives. Likely, to avoid gossip, but it’s quite confusing. He can easily accuse his wife of having tried to kill him before fleeing, and Lady Roxbury could have staged the shooting.”
“David would confirm what happened,” Cora said.
“My lady, David is a thirteen-year-old boy and your son.” Judge Quigley shook his head. “I’m afraid his word doesn’t carry the legal weight we need for an annulment case, which is taken very seriously by the parliament.”
Ethan clenched his fist in a futile attempt to calm himself down. “There must be something we can do.”
“It depends,” Judge Quigley said. “If you can provide another witness, an adult who isn’t related to Lady Roxbury, someone who can testify to Lord Roxbury’s abuse, then, yes, there’s grounds for an annulment.”
“I could testify,” Ethan said.
“Now, now, Lord Stark.” Judge Quigley pinched the bridge of his nose. “Any jury will understand you’re speaking only to protect the lady. You have never witnessed any arguments between Lord and Lady Roxbury or acts of violence, have you?”
Damn. “No.”
“Also, how are you going to explain the fact Lady Roxbury came to you instead of going to the hospital?” The judge lifted his shoulders. “The court will come to the conclusion that Lady Roxbury and you see each other regularly, which won’t help our case. Your association with Lady Roxbury rules you out as a witness, and if we present this case in court, we want to make sure our defence is impeccable and beyond criticism. Our witness must be someonesuper partes, impartial.”
“Cora?” Ethan turned towards her. “Can you think of anyone? Someone who has been with you in the past years? Your maid, perhaps.”
“A physician?” Judge Quigley suggested.
“My maid would never say a word against my husband. There’s Mrs. Marshall,” Cora said. “She was my midwife and our governess for years. She helped me with David when he was a baby. My husband sent her away when she questioned him about the way he treated David.”
Judge Quigley scribbled in his notebook. “Can she attest to the neglect Lord Roxbury showed towards his own son and the cruelty towards you?”
“Certainly. I haven’t been close to any other member of the household. But Mrs. Marshall left our house years ago. I don’t know where she lives now.”
“Finn will find her,” Ethan said, pausing for a moment. “If the annulment is successful, what will happen to David?”
Judge Quigley exhaled, lowering his pen. “David will become an out-of-marriage child. He’ll lose his right to the title or any inheritance from his father. An annulment is very different from a divorce from this point of view. After a divorce, paternity isn’t questioned, but the annulment effectively revokes it. Unfortunately, the father has the last word on the children’s custody, especially for male children. Lord Roxbury might decide he wants David by his side despite everything.”
