“Mrs. Edwards, I believe you attended abirthday party at the beginning of September for Miss Eliza Baldwinout at Spadina?”
“I did,” Beth said, certain now where thiswas going. She braced herself.
“Did the defendant, Mr. Seamus Baldwin, makean appearance at that party?”
“Yes.”
“Describe the nature and course of thatappearance for the members of the jury.”
Beth hesitated.
“Begin with his arrival, please, and go fromthere.”
“Mr. Baldwin arrived doin’ a jig and playin’an Irish fife. He was dressed like an elf or a leprechaun.”
“This child-like behaviour was intended toentertain the children?”
“Yes. And it did. They laughed and prancedaround him.”
“What else did he do to entertain them?”
Marc suddenly realized that the reasonCambridge had not bothered to interview Beth was that someone elseat that party had already filled in the details. But who? Therewere no outsiders that day. Surely not Fabian Cobb. But it couldhave been Edie. From Cobb’s report of his interview with her, Marcgot the impression that she had a love-hate relationship with theold man. If he had, in his recent depression, not paid hersufficient attention, then she might have tattled to spite him. Shecame into St. James cathedral every Sunday with the family. Therewould be ample time for her to slip away and make a statement. Heturned his attention back to the witness-stand, where Beth hadstarted to answer Cambridge’s question.
“He played Blind Man’s Buff with the childrenat the party.”
“And he was the blind man?”
“Yes.”
“Who else joined in the game?”
“The two housemaids, Betsy Thurgood and EdieBarr.”
Cambridge paused, glanced meaningfully at thejurors, and said, “And who invited them to join?”
Beth sighed, but she had little choice: shewould tell the truth, if she was compelled to. “They asked if theycould join, and when Miss Partridge objected, Mr. Baldwin gave thempermission. And they joined in.”
“Mr Seamus Baldwin?” Cambridge said asif he were introducing that name for the first time.
“Yes. He wanted them to enjoy themselves,too.” It was the best she could do.
“In the course of this children’s game, theBlind Man tries to capture one of the participants, who taunt andtease him. Am I correct?”
“You are. But whenever Mr. Baldwin came closeto catching a child, he’d pretend to stumble and lose his hold. Thechildren roared with laughter. They were having a wonderfultime.”
“I’m sure they were. There’s a little childin all of us. But at some point did Mr. Baldwin actually catch aparticipant?”
“Yes. He caught Edie Barr, one of thehousemaids.”
“I see. No stumbling there, I take it?”
Marc grimaced but kept quiet. Beth took thequestion as rhetorical and waited, apprehensively.
“One variation of this game, as I understandit, is that when someone is captured, the children cry out, ‘Who isit? You’ve got to tell us who you’ve caught!’ Did that happen onthis occasion?”
“Yes. The children ordered him to name theperson he’d captured.”
“Describe, as precisely as you can recall,how he went about it.”
“Well, first of all, I’m sure he knew whohe’d caught. I was told he could actually see through the scarf heused for a mask. That was so he could pretend to stumble andstagger and play ignorant so he could entertain the children withhis pratfalls. So as she stood stock still, he moved his hands upand down her figure, keeping them deliberately away from touchingher. Again, the children howled at his exaggeratin’.”
“Then what happened?”
“I think Edie lost her balance and then -fell against . . . Mr. Baldwin.”
“Fell into his hands so that he was graspingher? Where?”
Beth waited as long as she could beforesaying, “Around the hips.”
“And how can you be sure it was Miss Barr whofell into those hands and not the hands that moved most improperlyagainst her?”
“I can’t. But it looked to me like she losther balance. Like it was an accident.”
“Did he remove his hands right away? Sort ofjump back startled? After all, you say he could see everything thatwas happening through the scarf.”
“No. He seemed surprised, but wecouldn’t see his eyes. He just kind of held her for a moment,perhaps to stop her from tippin’ over. Then he went back to hispretend business.”
“So whatever did happen, the result wasimproper, wouldn’t you say? A mature gentleman is running his handsup and down a sixteen-year-old’s female figure in a sort of obscenepantomime and the next thing you know, he’s got both hands on herhaunches – ”
“Milord!” Marc had sprung to his feet, eyesblazing.
“Mr. Cambridge, that’s quite enough of that.The jury will ignore those latter remarks.”
Not only had the jury heard the remarks,Cambridge had left the dramatic raising of his voice until the verylast minute of the morning’s testimony. And it was doublyeffective. Now, rebuked, he spoke in a very soft, almost seductivetone as he said to Beth, “Tell us, Mrs. Edwards, how you felt asyou observed this incident. Not what you thought later, but whatfeeling ran through you as you witnessed these sexualintimacies.”
Beth dropped her head, looking down and wellaway from Marc as she spoke the truth: “I felt a kind of revulsion,like I was about to be sick to my stomach.”
ELEVEN
Marc did his best to undo the damage that Beth’stestimony had wrought. All he could do was have her describe thejoy the children found in Uncle Seamus’s antics and his obviouspleasure in it. He had her describe the old man’s gentlemanlydemeanour upon their arrival and his courtesy on their leaving whenhe had fetched Beth’s shawl in the butler’s momentary absence. Bethlooked shaken – surprised perhaps by her own sudden candour – butshe kept her composure, as was her wont in trying circumstances.Thankfully, the court broke for the noon recess.
In the chambers of Baldwin House the morningsession was mulled over by Marc, Robert, Hincks and Dr. Baldwin.Beth joined Brodie and Diana Ramsay for luncheon, and planned tosit with them behind Marc in the afternoon session.
“Well,” Hincks began, “Neville Cambridge hastaken the Tory gloves off for this one.”
“In his sly sort of way,” Robert said.
“Imagine, calling those two old farts you hadthe misfortune to invite to Spadina last August,” Hincks said. “Butyour cross was brilliant, Marc.”
“Thank you. But having my Beth come on rightafter didn’t help, did it?”
“Cambridge knew you couldn’t bring yourselfto make your own wife look foolish or mistaken.”
“Yes,” Dr. Baldwin agreed. “And you werewise, Marc, not to go directly at her evidence. At least the juryleft with images of happiness and courtesy in their heads.”
“We’re just getting started,” Marc said. “Wehaven’t even got close to the rape charge.”
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Dr. Baldwin said.“They’re holding Seamus in a cell next door to the court. They’rebeing very solicitous, but I must go to him soon.”
The room went silent as the full weight ofthe situation struck each man, and none more than Marc Edwards.
***
The Crown surprised everyone but Marc in callingAuleen Thurgood to the stand. Marc had a pretty good idea why shehad been included, and it was not to corroborate her husband’stestimony, for she was more likely to muddy it and blunt the effectit had already had.
“Mrs. Thurgood, when Constable Cobb came tointerview you after the inquest into your daughter’s death severalweeks ago, he asked to look over your daughter’s room, did henot?”
Auleen twisted a cotton hanky in her fingersand answered in a tiny, strained voice, “Yes, sir, he did. And Isaid he could.”
“Milord, on that occasion Constable Cobbfound a note in the girl’s room that pertains directly to thiscase. I’d like to enter it as exhibit A along with the constable’ssigned attestation as to the circumstances in which it wasfound.”