"What did you hear?"
"Well, first I heard the Major basically call Mrs. Gaines a whore. I thought that was pretty out of line, since she said she was engaged to the Colonel, ‘‘scuze me, the General."
"Yes. Then what, Trooper?"
"He said a lot of pretty insulting things about the General. I thought Mrs. Gaines would get up and leave, or have a hissy on him, but she did not. She just kept listening. Finally, she snapped back at him."
"Snapped back at him?"
"Yes, sir. She told him she understood he was a man who enjoyed watching women being raped. Then the Major really blew up at her. I remember exactly what he said."
"And that was?"
"He said, ‘‘you cannot prove anything, you greedy little whore. It is my word as an officer and a gentleman against the word of that little lying, Bible quoting bitch’."
Howard’s Presbyterian soul was offended already, and he knew it was going to get worse. "Did he say anything else, Trooper?"
Franklin grew pale and entirely embarrassed. He stared at the floor and twisted his forage cap in his hands. "Yes, sir." In a strangled voice he went on. "He described what he wanted to do to Mrs. Gaines and told her she would like it just like Mrs. Adams had. He even told her that after three men had had their way with Mrs. Adams, he had committed sodomy on Mrs. Adams because the more natural way was too messy."
"What did Mrs. Gaines do then, Trooper?"
"I have to say, sir, Mrs. Gaines did better than I would have right then. I would have simply hit him. She got him to say he had participated in the rape of Constance Adams. He told her that no one would believe her over him. But by then, both the Colonel and I had heard him."
"The Colonel was there?"
"Yes, sir. The Colonel, um, General Redmond, you know? He had come up while they were talking, before Mrs. Gaines snapped at the Major. We both heard him."
"Thank you, Trooper. Your witness, Colonel McCauley."
McCauley looked at Montgomery for a moment, hoping for some thread to help him. Montgomery just smiled back at him, a smug, arrogant look.
McCauley turned away from Franklin and walked over to stand beside the clerk. He spoke in a reasonably low tone of voice, and further muffled his words by putting his hand over his mouth. "Trooper Franklin, is it possible you misheard any of the conversation?" The members of the panel strained to hear his words. McCauley was trying to demonstrate that Franklin was not able to clearly hear the conversation between Rebecca and Montgomery through a partially closed door.
Franklin answered promptly. "No, sir. I heard him quite clearly. They were not keeping their voices down and I have always had pretty good hearing. I used to be able to find the squirrels’ nests in my da’s pecan grove by listening for their chattering."
"Thank you, Trooper." McCauley’s shoulders slumped. Everything he could think of was failing.
Montgomery looked bored. McCauley was frustrated. He was honor bound to provide a reasonable defense, but without Montgomery’s cooperation and with the evidence against him building apace, he was unsure as to where to go next.
Howard called Charlie to the stand next. His testimony was almost exactly the same as Franklin’s. It was obvious it was difficult for Charlie to present his testimony calmly, since having heard his fiancéée called a whore and threatened with vicious rape was not an event that any gentleman could discuss calmly.
Finally, Howard called Rebecca.
"Mrs. Gaines, I know this must be very difficult for you. We shall make this as brief as possible. You have heard the testimony of Trooper Franklin and General Redmond. Do you have anything you would like to add?"
Rebecca twisted one of Charlie's handkerchiefs in her hands until she was sure she could feel the threads snapping. Finally she looked up at the man before her. "He knew what he was doing."
"Do you mean he knew he was confessing to a heinous crime?"
"Yes. He knew what he was saying. He was deliberately trying to offend and insult me, by telling me what happened that night."
"The night he and his colleagues raped Mrs. Adams?"
"Yes."
"How do you know this, Mrs. Gaines?"
"He said, ‘‘I dare you to attempt to prove any of it, slut. My word against yours, and my confession, as you call it, is pure hearsay that no court in the country would accept.’"
"Thank you, Mrs. Gaines. Your witness, Colonel McCauley."
McCauley knew when he was defeated. "No questions, thank you."
Sheridan looked at his fellow panel members. "We shall take a short break, then the counsels will have an opportunity to present their summations."
Howard stood. "Gentlemen of the panel, the prosecution waves any need for summation. I feel the testimony speaks for itself."
McCauley stood with him. "The defense, sirs, throws itself on the mercy of the Court. Major Montgomery experienced extreme stress and anguish as a result of the devastation of battles such as The Wilderness. That terrible experience has warped this man’s judgment and instilled an unreasoned anger and desire for revenge, a logical response to that terrible experience. It is unfortunate that his anger and pain have been so inappropriately expressed."
"Very well then. The court will adjourn until after lunch, at which time we will render our decision."
Charlie escorted Rebecca and Elizabeth out of the door. Polk was waiting in the hall for them to emerge, where he took Elizabeth’s arm. The two men escorted their respective ladies to the rear parlor, where a warm fire was burning and Beulah had tea and a light lunch already waiting for them.
Rebecca, still slightly shaken, allowed Charlie to help her to the davenport. She looked up at him, trying to hold back her tears. "Do you think they will want to talk with Constance?"
"No, dear. You and Franklin have done all that was needed about that. And Elizabeth made it clear he was not insane." Charlie gently put his arm around her shoulders and held her close. "You did wonderfully well, my brave girl."
"It certainly did not feel like it. I could feel him looking at me. I could not even meet his eyes. He is truly an evil man."
"He is, dear. You and Elizabeth stood up to him gallantly."
Richard had been standing behind Elizabeth, gently sheltering her in his arms as she warmed herself before the fire.
Elizabeth looked back at her own gentleman and whispered, "Did I do the right thing Richard?"
He leaned over, holding her close and whispering in her ear. "Elizabeth, you did the only thing an honorable person could do. I, for one, am very proud of you for it."
"It is amazing how I know intellectually that it is the right thing, but still feel so horrible that it had to be done. I am a doctor; I am supposed to guard and preserve life, not make it possible to take it. Yet, I know a monster like that has to be stopped. He would only hurt other women."
"Think, Elizabeth. This is a man who enjoyed watching Constance being raped repeatedly, and then sodomized her. The man who will be responsible, by his acts, for taking Constance’s life and changing Em’s and the unborn baby’s lives forever. Those children will be deprived of their mother’s love because of Montgomery. How many other women and children suffer the same fate if he was allowed to go free?"
"I know. I know it had to be done. It is just that, for me personally, it was a very bitter pill."
"I know, my lovely doctor. But I will remind you of what happens in the field. You have to make hard decisions –– to treat those who have a chance of surviving and leave those who have none to their God. In this case, you have done the same thing –– you have made a choice to protect the lives of women and children you will probably never meet."
There was a rap on the door. Lizbet pushed it open, holding Em's hand as she toddled into the room and directly to Charlie. "Papa." She managed to start the climb on her own only to be assisted into Charlie's lap by Rebecca, who smiled and gave the girl a kiss.
Richard and Elizabeth turned at the sound of Em’s happy cry. Elizabeth watched the little girl as she clung to these two people who had come into her life when it looked so bleak and given her love. "Yes, Richard. You are exactly right. My first priority is to protect them as much as I can."