A sudden, fearful death - Anne Perry [73]
Marianne flushed hotly and Julia’s eyes glittered with fury.
“She was raped.” She used the word deliberately, with all its violence and crudeness, refusing any euphemism. “She is with child as a result of it.” She stopped, her breath choking in her throat.
“Indeed,” Sir Herbert said with neither skepticism nor pity in his face. He gave no indication whether he believed her or not.
Julia took his lack of horror or sympathy as disbelief.
“If you need proof of it, Sir Herbert,” she said icily, “I shall call upon the private inquiry agent who conducted the investigation, and he will confirm what I say.”
“You did not report the matter to the police?” Again Sir Herbert’s fine pale eyebrows rose. “It is a very serious crime, Mrs. Penrose. One of the most heinous.”
Julia’s face was ashen. “I am aware of that. It is also one in which the victim may be as seriously punished as the offender, both by public opinion and by having to relive the experience for the courts and for the judiciary, to be stared at and speculated over by everyone with the price of a newspaper in his pocket!” She drew in her breath; her hands, in front of her, were shaking. “Would you subject your wife or daughter to such an ordeal, sir? And do not tell me they would not find themselves in such a position. My sister was in her own garden, painting in the summerhouse, quite alone, when she was molested by someone she had every cause to trust.”
“The more so is it a crime, my dear lady,” Sir Herbert replied gravely. “To abuse trust is more despicable than simply to enact a violence upon a stranger.”
Julia was white. Standing in the alcove, Hester was afraid she was going to faint. She moved to intervene, to offer a glass of water, or even some physical support, and suddenly Sir Herbert glanced at her and motioned her to remain where she was.
“I am aware of the enormity of it, Sir Herbert,” she said so quietly that he leaned forward, screwing up his eyes, in his concentration. “It is my husband who committed the offense. You must surely appreciate why I do not wish to bring the police into the matter. And my sister is sensible of my feelings, for which I am profoundly grateful. She is also aware that it would do no good. He would naturally deny it. But even if it could be proved, which it cannot, we are both dependent upon him. We should all be ruined, to no purpose.”
“You have my sympathies, ma’am,” he said with more gentleness. “It is a truly tragic situation. But I fail to see how I can be of any assistance to you. To be with child is not an illness. Your regular physician will give you all the aid that you require, and a midwife will attend you during your confinement.”
Marianne spoke for the first time, her voice low and clear. “I do not wish to bear the child, Sir Herbert. It is conceived as a result of an event which I shall spend the rest of my life trying to forget. And its birth would ruin us all.”
“I well understand your situation, Miss Gillespie.” He sat back in his chair, looking at her gravely. “But I am afraid that it is not a matter in which you have a choice. Once a child is conceived, there is no other course except to await its birth.” The ghost of a smile touched his neat mouth. “I sympathize with you profoundly, but all I can suggest is that you counsel with your parson and gain what comfort you may from him.”
Marianne blinked, her face painfully hot, her eyes downcast.
“Of course there is an alternative,” Julia said hastily. “There is abortion.”
“My dear lady, your sister appears to be a healthy young woman. There is no question of her life being in jeopardy, and indeed no reason to suppose she will not deliver a fine child in due course.” He folded his fine sensitive hands. “I could not possibly perform an abortion. It would be a criminal act, as perhaps you are not aware?”
“The rape was a criminal act!” Julia protested desperately, leaning far forward, her hands, white-knuckled, on the edge of his desk.
“You have already explained very clearly why you have brought no charge regarding that,” Sir Herbert said patiently. “But