“That would be an accurate description.”
My father nodded. “You see, the gypsies encamped on my land. I met the fellow who is accused. He seemed a decent sort for a gypsy and his story is that this nephew was trying to rape the girl.”
“It’s very likely,” put in Mr. Barrington.
“Oh! Could I get some information about him? Perhaps from people who have suffered at his hands?”
“I think that might be possible. There was one family up at Martin’s Lane. They were very distressed about one of their girls.”
“Wronged by this charming fellow, I suppose,” said my father.
“No doubt of it. And there were others.”
“Perhaps I could prevail on you to give me the names of these people.”
“We shall be delighted to help.”
I was getting excited. I believed that fate had led us to the Barringtons who were going to prove of inestimable value to us.
It was in a state of euphoria that we said goodnight to the Barringtons and rode back to the inn.
“What a charming family!” said my mother. “I wish they would find a house near us. I should like to see more of them. I thought Mr. and Mrs. Barrington so pleasant, Edward and Irene too. The girl Clare was so quiet. I would say Edward is a very forceful young man.”
“He would have to be if he is running a factory,” said my father.
“Clare was like a poor relation,” I said.
“Poor relations can be a little tiresome because they find it hard to forget it,” added my mother. “Everyone else is prepared to but they seem to get a certain satisfaction in remembering.”
And so we reached the inn, talking of our pleasant evening. Mr. Barrington’s ill fortune on the road had turned out to be very diverting for us.
The next day we all went to the gypsy encampment. I could smell the fires before we reached it, and a savoury smell came from a pot which one of the women was stirring. Other women sat about splitting withy sticks to make into clothes pegs. The caravans were drawn up on a patch of land and the horses tethered to the bushes.
“Is there a Penfold Smith there?” called my father.
A man came out of one of the caravans. He was middle-aged and swarthy; he walked towards us with the panther grace of the gypsy.
“I am Penfold Smith,” he said.
“You know me,” replied my father. “You camped on my land. I have heard that a friend of yours is in trouble and I have come to help.”
“He was betrayed … near your land.”
“No, no!” I cried. “He was not betrayed. I did not know …”
“My daughter wanted to help him. It was not her fault that she was followed. I am here to do what I can for this man. If you will help me we may get somewhere.”
“What could we do … against the squire and his sort? He owns the land here. He’s a powerful man and we are only gypsies.”
“I have some evidence which may prove useful. I can prove that the victim was a man of disreputable character. It is your daughter, is it not, who was attacked by him?”
“It was.”
“May I see her?”
Penfold Smith hesitated. “She has been very upset.”
“She wants to save Romany Jake, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, indeed, she does.”
“Then she must help us.”
“Wicked things are said against her.”
“That is why we must do all we can to prove them false.”
“Who would listen to her?”
“It is possible to make people listen to her.”
“How?”
“May I see her?”
Penfold Smith hesitated a moment longer, then he called: “Leah. Come here, Leah.”
She came out of the caravan. She was very beautiful—a young girl a year or so older than myself, very slim with black hair and dark eyes. I was not surprised that such a creature caught the fancy of the lecherous young man.
My father turned to my mother. “You speak to her. Tell her that we believe her. Tell her we want to do everything to help. Explain to her.”
My mother knew what was expected of her. She laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Leah,” she said, “believe me when I say we have come to help. We have already evidence of the nature of the man who would have attacked you.”
She said gently: “Jake saved me. But for him …” She shivered.
“Yes,” said my mother, “and now we must save Jake. We will do anything to save him. Will you?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I will do anything.”
“What we must do is prove that you are an innocent girl. Will you do that?”
“How? They won’t believe me.”
“There are tests. Not very pleasant but necessary. I mean … they would have to believe you if the evidence was there.”
“Tests?” she asked.
“If the court is told that you are a virgin then all the stories which had been circulating about you would be proved false. We know that the man who died was a rake… a seducer, a rapist. If we could tell the court that you, on the other hand, are a virgin … Do you see?”
She nodded.
“Would you agree to this?” asked my father of Penfold Smith.
“Is it necessary?”
“I think it might be vital to our cause.”
“I would do anything to save him,” said Leah.
We went into the caravan and talked for a while. Leah told us that she had been aware of Ralph Hassett before the attack. He had tried to talk to her and she had run away. Then he had waylaid her and the attempted assault had taken place.
“I think,” said my father, “that we are getting somewhere.”
Penfold Smith, who had at first been suspicious, now accepted the fact that we wanted to help. I think that was due to my mother.
We went back to the inn and we talked continuously about the possibility of saving Romany Jake.
Fortune seemed to go our way. A panel of respectable matrons agreed to make the examination and to our great joy declared Leah to be virgo intacta.
Edward Barrington came to the inn and told us that if he could be of any use he would be delighted. He knew that influential people in Nottingham would be eager to see justice done, and they would see that the evidence in Romany Jake’s favour was brought forward and, what was more important, heard.
“All is going well,” said my father.
I wished I could have seen Romany Jake. I wanted to assure him that it was through no fault of mine that he had been caught. I wanted him to know that I had come to Grasslands to warn him, and that I had no idea that I had been seen.
Then came the day of the trial.
My father attended. My mother and I stayed in the inn. My father was going to say a word in the accused’s favour if possible. He was going to tell the court that he knew the gypsy because he had camped on his land and he was certain that he was not the young man to engage in a brawl without good reason for doing so.
He declared he would make them listen to what he had to say, and of course they could not fail to listen to my father. He was certain that when the evidence of Ralph Hassett’s dissolute behaviour was brought to light and with it the proof of Leah’s virginity, this could not be a hanging case.
My mother and I waited in the inn for my father’s return. The tension was almost unbearable. If in spite of everything they condemned him to death … I could not bear to contemplate that.
We sat at the window of my parents’ bedroom watching for his return.
Edward Barrington was with him. He had also been in court, and I warmed towards him for making our cause his.
As we saw them approaching I tried to judge from their expressions which way the verdict had gone, but I could not do so.
I sprang to the door. My mother was beside me. “Wait here,” she said. “It won’t be long now.”
They came into the room. I stared at my father. He was looking solemn and did not speak for a few seconds. I feared the worst and I cried out: “What? What?”
“They’ve sentenced him.”
“Oh no … no. It’s unfair. It was my fault that he was caught.”