Never Land the First Fish

Chapter Twenty-Four: Part 2

"Were you acquainted with Lady Beryl Sutter? In what ways were you acquainted?"

She had funded his lifestyle, for a while, while he kept her happy in bed. "I know her, yes. I escorted her to entertainments, for a period. After her husband died. Before she met the man who later became her second husband."

The barrister raised his eyebrows. "Escorted her to entertainments? And how well did you entertain her, Lord Joseph?"

Gills caught himself shifting uncomfortably. Everyone knew he had been the lady's lover, but a gentleman did not speak of such things. "You would have to ask the lady her opinion, Sir Thomas," he managed.

"Lady Martha Andersville.... Mrs Athena Crighton... Mrs Thelma Griggson... Lady Harriet Hastington..." Every woman who had ever given him a farthing for services rendered. The list of his tailors' bills seemed endless when read off in a legal monotone.

When he continued to refuse to compromise the reputations of those with whom he had dallied, Sir Thomas changed direction. "While in New York, did you not share a hotel with Lady Athol?"

Gills took a sip of water while he suppressed his surge of irritation. They are here to help us. A second thought was less soothing. It will be worse in Court. He managed to keep his voice calm when he answered, "And with Maddox and dozens of other people, until we all found more comfortable long-term accommodations." As an afterthought, he added, "While we were at the hotel, we all had our own suites."

Sir Thomas sounded bored. "And who paid for whose accommodations, Lord Joseph?"

Gills was beyond pleased when the butler appeared to say lunch would be served here in short order, and would they mind if the footmen came in to arrange things?

Luncheon lasted exactly one hour, when Sir Thomas looked at his pocket watch and proclaimed, "No time to waste!" Gills begged to differ. He'd happily waste the afternoon on any number of occupations than this.

Alone again, Sir Thomas steepled his hands. "We shall take up where we left off! Who paid for whose accommodations in New York City?"

Gills had had time to collect himself. "As we have established, Lady Athol and I left England unexpectedly, so did not bring any money with us. So, to start, Maddox paid for us all, on the expectation of repayment when my trust was delivered upon my return to England. Eventually, Lady Julia—Lady Athol—took paid work, as did I. We paid our own way henceforth, though Maddox did offer me houseroom in accommodations he acquired from a friend. I have since repaid Maddox's loan, and while we were still in New York, Lady Athol made quite a production of repaying me." He smiled at the memory of her insistence.

"Is it true Lady Athol lived in a rooming house in New York?" Sir Thomas asked next.

"A tightly chaperoned boardinghouse for gently bred young ladies." Again, he smiled. "I assure you, her landlady was a dragon."

Sir Thomas changed tack. "In what occupation did Lady Athol engage?"

Where was he going with this? "She was a lady's companion."

"She was companion to a stage performer, was she not?" Sir Thomas raised both eyebrows.

Gills tamped down his anger at the slur to Emily. After all the other slurs today, this was minor. "A world-renowned musician, as it happens, celebrated on every continent."

"And your own occupation?" Sir Thomas asked, continuing before Gills could answer, "Did you not engage in a liaison with one Mrs Dorothy Van Huesen while in New York City?

Gills, who had been slouching to show how unaffected he was by the line of questioning, sat up straight at that. "I did not!" With some difficulty, he managed a facsimile of his usual drawl. "I had naught to do with her beyond a passing acquaintance."

Sir Thomas did not sound convinced. "Was she not just another of the older widows for which you are so well known here in England? Was she not your 'paid employment'."

"No." Mrs Didi Van Huesen deserved no extra syllables. None of this deserved any of Gills' time at all, but for Julia's sake, he explained. "I worked for Vanderberg, the New York property magnate, in his theatrical management enterprise."

He thought that Sir Thomas would express contempt, but the barrister ignored the job as the red herring it was intended to be. "It was reported in the New York Times newspaper that you and Lord Maddox both escorted Mrs Van Huesen on separate occasions. Which brings me to your association with Lord Maddox. Was he aware of your intention to stow away aboard his ship?"

Again, the line of questioning slipped under Gills' defences. "Neither of us escorted... We weren't stowing away! For the love of..."

Again, Sir Thomas raised his eyebrows. "Vulgarity will not be helpful."

And so it continued, hour after hour, the questioners rotating like clockwork, always asking the same questions again and again, some kinder and more empathetic than others, but all invasive and progressively more odious.

"Were you acquainted with Lady Athol Soddenfeld before the occasion when she says you saved her from her husband?" asked Wakefield.

"I wish you would call her Lady Julia." Gills had already made this request several times.

"What you wish is immaterial, Lord Joseph," Sir Thomas interjected, and he repeated the question. "Were you acquainted with Lady Athol Soddenfeld before the occasion when she says you saved her?"

"I did save her," Gills repeated. "and yes, I did know her. We grew up in the same circles in London; I knew her as a child."

Wakefield tipped his head to one side, his eyes intent. "Did you not engage in an adulterous affair with Lady Athol during the Season of 1839?"

Gills stood up, ready to do battle. "I did not!"

Sir Thomas sighed. "Lord Joseph, it will not be helpful to raise your voice. It is alleged by three separate witnesses that you engaged in such an affair, with disagreement as to the timeframe."

"It is not true! Who said such a thing?" Gills would hunt them down and wring their necks.

"It is—"

"—Immaterial... yes, I know." He sighed. "Must we speak of all of this in open court?"

"I'm afraid we must," said Sir Thomas, "and more besides. We have not yet fully explored your time with Lady Athol in New York."

"Dear God."

"Blasphemy will not be helpful, Lord Joseph." Helpful! It would almost be a relief to move straight to the hanging, except that he desperately wanted a future with Julia.