Chapter 8 #2
“With all due respect, Your Honor, to return the defendant to prison would serve neither this child nor society at large,” argued Mr. Pollock.
“Her best hope of understanding her error and to subsequently be rehabilitated is to send her home to her mother and father, where she can be taught by the example of a loving and law-abiding family.”
“The so-called law-abiding family is comprised entirely of thieves and urchins, Mr. and Mrs. Blake themselves notwithstanding,” interjected Mr. Fenton scornfully.
“The children are attended to by two women and a man who have all been imprisoned for stealing. It is scarcely a model of lawfulness and propriety, and clearly not a fitting environment for the accused, who has demonstrated her inability to control her innate criminal tendencies.”
“She doesn’t have innate criminal tendencies,” objected Genevieve fiercely, trying to seize the opportunity to say something on Charlotte’s behalf. “She’s just a child who made a mistake—”
“Mrs. Blake, I fear I must remind you that you are only permitted to answer questions that are directly asked of you by either counsel or myself,” interrupted the sheriff.
“Then someone should ask me something!” she flared hotly.
The sheriff blinked, clearly astonished by her belligerent tone. “Mr. Pollock, do you have any questions for your witness?”
The defense counsel consulted his notes for a moment. “Mrs. Blake, would you kindly tell the court why you believe that Charlotte should be returned to your custody?”
“When Charlotte came to live with me a year ago, she barely spoke to anyone,” Genevieve began. “Her life with her father had been a misery. He was a drunken brute who beat her and forced her to assist him with his stealing, which was how she came to stand before the court in the first place—”
“And how did she change while living with you?” prodded Mr. Pollock, sensing that the sheriff ’s attention was growing severely strained. Tales of children being neglected and abused by their parents or guardians were commonplace, and scarcely grounds for leniency when it came to the law.
“She became a different girl,” Genevieve replied.
“Once she finally realized that no one in her new home was ever going to raise a hand to her, she slowly permitted herself to be the child she was. She began to talk a little, and then smile, and then she even started to laugh. Now she participates in her studies extremely well, and has learned how to read and write with amazing speed. She performs her household chores with cheer and grace, and she attends church with the entire family every Sunday. She is a serious, studious child who shows an enormous capacity for love and devotion. I know she has made a grave error in judgment, Your Honor,” she said, looking at the sheriff, “but I implore you to demonstrate compassion and return her to me. I can promise you that nothing like this will ever happen again.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Blake.” Mr. Pollock nodded with satisfaction. “I have no further questions, Your Honor.”
The sheriff stifled a yawn. “Does the prosecuting counsel have any questions for this witness?”
“Actually, yes.” He sauntered over to Genevieve and scratched his scalp beneath the edge of his wig.
“Mrs. Blake, I must confess that I am somewhat confused. If the home that you have provided for the accused is such a paradigm of virtue and stability, in which everything she could possibly need has been duly provided, why then was she caught in the act of stealing from Mr. Ingram’s shop? ”
Genevieve hesitated. She sensed she was being led into a trap, and she wanted to answer in a way that would not assist the prosecutor’s case.
“Was there something she desperately needed that you refused to provide for her?” he prodded.
“No, of course not—”
“Then what caused her to behave in such a supposedly uncharacteristic manner?”
Haydon watched with concern as Genevieve struggled to formulate a response.
If she confessed that she was in dire financial trouble and that her children had been trying to help, it would open the door for the court to examine her ability to maintain and support all of the children in her custody.
But if she said she didn’t know why Charlotte had participated in the raid upon Mr. Ingram, it would suggest that there was something inherently wicked about Charlotte, especially in light of the evidence that Charlotte had been well cared for and permitted to want for nothing.
“Charlotte believed she was helping me,” Genevieve began hesitantly.
“By stealing?”
“She didn’t actually steal anything—”
“Come now, Mrs. Blake, let us not dally with words. The accused was part of a gang of thieves who worked together to steal several precious pieces of jewelry from Mr. Ingram, and in the process did hundreds of pounds worth of damage to the contents of his shop. The fact that she did not actually have the stolen goods on her person at the time of her arrest is scarcely relevant. Are you saying she was trying to help you by stealing this jewelry?”
Genevieve paused. “I believe so,” she finally allowed.
“I see. Forgive me, Mrs. Blake, if this question seems impertinent, but it seems to me the court must know if you are suffering some sort of financial crisis. Are you?”
“I have every ability to support my household, Mr. Fenton,” she assured him evenly.
“Then you must agree that the accused had no compelling reason to rob Mr. Ingram’s shop, and therefore must have been driven by her own immoral tendencies, which you, despite your very best efforts, have not been able to curtail,” summarized the prosecutor.
“That’s not true!”
“I have no further questions, Your Honor.”
“But what he said was a lie—”
“Mrs. Blake, your testimony is finished,” said the sheriff. “You may return to your seat.”
Genevieve forced herself to regain control of her emotions. She did not want Charlotte to think that all was lost, and surely she would if she saw Genevieve ranting or weeping before the court. She gave Charlotte an encouraging smile before slowly making her way back to her place beside Haydon.
The sheriff studied the papers laid out before him for barely an instant before rendering his verdict.
“As there seems to be no dispute regarding the accused’s participation in the aforementioned robbery, I have no option other than to find her guilty of the charges against her.
What remains to be decided is her sentence.
It seems clear that despite Mrs. Blake’s best efforts to keep her upon a path of good and lawful conduct, the accused has been unable to overcome her inherent tendencies toward thievery and her lack of respect for the law.
Therefore, for her own betterment and to give her the opportunity to correct her apparent lack of moral fortitude, I hereby sentence Charlotte McCallum to sixty days imprisonment, to be followed by four years in a reformatory school in Glasgow. ”
“No!” cried Genevieve, stunned. “Please, you must listen to me—”
“The accused will step down so that we may begin the next case,” said the sheriff, pushing the papers concerning the case aside. He was most anxious to get on with things so he could have his tea.
Charlotte stared at Genevieve, her enormous hazel eyes sparkling with fear. “Genevieve?”
“It’s all right, Charlotte,” Genevieve called, desperately trying to be reassuring in the midst of her own terror. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Charlotte gave her a single, silent nod, filled with love and sorrow and a haunting courage.
And then she turned and permitted herself to be led away, leaving Genevieve clutching Haydon’s arm for support as she stared in agony after her.