There was nothing much left except the summation of the facts. The prosecutor proceeded to lay them

out again. Knightridge would not have been allowed to refute them anyway, so his absence could not

affect the outcome now.

Pen's dread increased anyway. It was as if Knightridge did not want to be present when his friend was condemned, and had let Julian stand alone up there against these accusations.

As the summation wound down, a rumble of voices interrupted. It began in the back of the courtroom

and billowed forward until it drowned out the prosecutor.

The judge called for silence, to no avail. He glared at the source of the disturbance. His mouth pursed and his lids lowered.

Knightridge was squeezing through the court functionaries. He strode to the judge. "I must ask your

indulgence, but important matters delayed me."

"Your presence was not missed, sir. You may think you are essential to all you engage, but we are capable of completing the trial without your help."

"Of course. However, the trial is not completed. A person came to me this morning and expressed the desire to lay down information. It is a story that must be heard."

"We have all that we need already."

Knightridge looked affronted. Wounded. Perplexed. "Would you deny sworn testimony that could shed further light on the events? If you require precedents before allowing such late developments, I can give them to you."

The judge peered at him with extreme displeasure. Knightridge responded with a mixture of innocence

and hauteur.

It was the spectators who made a difference. Shouts called out for the new evidence to be heard. Other voices agreed. The din grew.

Faced with exercising his prerogatives or retreating from the threat of pandemonium, the judge chose the latter.

Knightridge turned to face the door of the chamber. He gestured to someone. Every head turned.

A woman walked into the courtroom.

Senora. Perez.

"My goodness, what is this?" Sophia whispered.

Pen had no idea. She was as stunned as everyone else.

Senora Perez walked down to the judge. Her demure ivory dress contrasted with her almond skin. Her

hat was very sedate. Only her shawl appeared exotic. Long and silken, dark blue with a green pattern, it

flowed over her like water, and its rivulets hinted at the curves obscured by garments. The light from a window illuminated her face. Pen's breath caught. In the theater she had not been able to clearly distinguish this woman's features, but now the morning light revealed her unusual and alluring beauty.

With great skepticism, the judge addressed her. "You have information regarding this crime, madame?"

"I have information that should be heard. I know nothing of the crime."

"Really, this is a waste"

"I know that Mr. Hampton could not have been with the earl that night," she continued. "You see, he

was with me."

Pen's breath left her. So did Sophia's and Dante's. So did everyone's. After a five count, the entire courtroom audibly inhaled. Pen stared at the woman facing the judge. There was something about her expression something in the manner she had donned for this role "Indeed, madame? Are you saying that you are Mr. Hampton's mistress? One wonders how many the man requires." The judge seemed delighted with his little joke. No one laughed. "He is not my lover. He came to advise me. My husband was about to embark on an investment that worried me as potentially ruinous. I asked Mr. Hampton to visit when I knew Raoul would not be home, so that I could consult with him and my husband would not know. He arrived at midnight and left two hours later."

"And were you satisfied with his advice?" the judge asked with a smirk. "Contented with his services'?"

The audience did not pick up the cue. The drama was more compelling than the judge's insinuating

attempts at wit. Senora Perez pretended not to notice the double meanings. She assumed the demeanor of a virtuous woman incapable of understanding such things. "His advice was most welcome and sound, thank you. I was able to convince my husband to retreat from this risky business affair." "Why did you not come forward before?" the prosecutor snapped. "This looks most suspicious to me. Perhaps he is your lover, and now you lie to save him."

"I did not speak, because I feared my husband would misunderstand that meeting. However, Raoul saw my growing distress and, upon learning the secret I had, insisted I seek out Mr. Knightridge." She lowered her eyes submissively, as if a husband's command was law with her.

"You husband actually believed the innocence of this midnight assignation?"

"My maid and a manservant were able to attest to my innocence. They were in the drawing room the whole time. I would never meet with a man alone, even on a matter of business. Where I come from, that is not done by ladies." She turned to the judge. "If you want to speak with the servants, they will explain how it was."

"Oh, yes, I am sure they will." The prosecutor threw up his hands to express his exasperation and disbelief.

"I do not think that this new evidence is worth weighing heavily," the judge said to the jury. "Someone killed the Earl of Glasbury, and the woman's very delayed story does not tell us who did or did not."

Julian's face had turned to stone. Pen knew the reason for his anger. If Senora Perez's story was believed and Julian was exonerated, the police had another person they could accuse very easily.

"If I may speak," Mr. Knightridge said very politely.

"I think we have heard you speak enough already, sir."

"Please, indulge me. The lady has indeed told us who did not kill the earl, and I may be able to shed some light on who did."

That certainly got everyone's attention. Julian's frown deepened.

Center stage again, Knightridge spoke lowly, as if confiding to the judge. His words carried to most of the spectators, however. Pen certainly heard them.

"Sir, very early this morning, before dawn, I accompanied members of the Metropolitan Police back to Glasbury's house. I had been told that a more thorough search of his chambers might prove interesting."

He paused and glanced up at the spectators. He gave the judge a meaningful look that indicated continuing could be very awkward.

The judge eyed him like a man who knew the game, but had no choice but to be the pawn. "Go on."

"Well, in his wardrobe, hidden by garments, we found certain uh, objects that suggest that his secret visitors came to, um shall we say they came at his bidding and to do his bidding, as it were." He looked positively distraught that his duty required he broach the indelicate subject.

The judge's face reddened with embarrassment. And anger.

"The police have those objects in their possession now. Perhaps you should request they be brought forth, so that you can ascertain whether"

"That will not be necessary."

"No? Do we agree, then, that their existence indicates that the earl's murderer should be sought in less elevated circles than heretofore?"

"Oh, my, he is good at this," Sophia whispered.

Yes, he was. Very good.

The judge looked like a man who had been backed into a corner. Having gotten him there, Knightridge pressed forward. "Do we agree that this lady's testimony exonerates Mr. Hampton, and that the earl's visitor was a person unknown to the police and not associated with Mr. Hampton?"

This cue was not missed. Spectators yelled their agreement and called for an answer. The judge's cheeks puffed as he debated.

Finally he exhaled, and nodded.

The gallery went wild.

Pen looked at Julian while the din swelled around her. She wanted to grab him and embrace him and cry with relief.

He looked back. His comportment did not change,but fires burned in his eyes. Lights of life and hope blazed in them.

Others did, too. Private fires, that only she would recognize.

The love and passion of a lifetime now waited for her, if she was brave enough to accept it.

Chapter Twenty-nine.

"You told Mr. Knightridge about the wardrobe," Pen said.

She stood with Charlotte outside the Old Bailey, waiting for Julian. The crowds had dispersed, but some people still milled around. Down the street she could hear a new yell, as a boy offered fresh broadsides describing the suspenseful conclusion of the trial.

The judge had recommended the jury to vote to acquit, and they had quickly done so. Formalities were being attended to, but Julian would come through the door soon.

She could not wait to see him. Hold him. There were other people she needed to see, too, but that would come later, after she had Julian back.

"Of course I told him. When they first examined those chambers they were not looking for evidence of Glasbury's character. Your revelations came after that. Now, with the particulars of your marriage well

known, I realized Knightridge needed only to allude to them to open other possibilities in the jury's mind."