'Oh, Beau,' I wailed. 'She's winning. She'll be a terrible grandmother. She doesn't love Pearl. She knows Pearl's not Paul's child.'
'Monsieur Williams?' the judge said.
'No further witnesses or exhibits, Your Honor,' he said confidently.
Monsieur Polk sat back, his hands on his stomach, his face dour. I looked across the courtroom at Gladys, who was preparing to leave in victory. Octavious still had his eyes fixed on the table.
'Call one more witness, Monsieur Polk,' I said in desperation.
'What's that?'
Beau took my hand. We gazed into each other's eyes and he nodded. I turned back to our attorney.
'Call one more witness. I'll tell you just what to ask,' I said. 'Call Octavious Tate to the stand.'
'Do it!' Beau ordered firmly.
Monsieur Polk rose slowly from his seat, unsure, tentative, and reluctant.
'Monsieur Polk?' the judge said.
'We have one more witness, Your Honor,' he said. The judge looked displeased. 'Very well,' he said.
'Let's conclude this matter. Call your final witness,' he added, emphasizing the word 'final.'
'We call Monsieur Tate to the stand.'
A ripple of astonishment moved through the audience. I wrote feverishly on a piece of paper. The judge rapped his gavel and glared at the crowd of people, who immediately grew still. No one wanted to be removed from this courtroom now. Octavious, stunned by the sound of his name, lifted his head slowly and gazed around as if he just realized where he was. Monsieur Williams leaned over to whisper some strategy to him before he stood up. I handed my questions to Monsieur Polk, who perused them quickly and then looked at me sharply.
'Madame,' he warned, 'you could lose any sympathetic ear you might have if this proves untrue.'
'We don't have any sympathy here,' Beau answered for me.
'It's true,' I said softly.
Octavious walked slowly to the witness stand, his head down. When he was sworn in, he repeated the oath very slowly. I saw that the words were heavy on his tongue and on his heart. He sat quickly, falling into his seat like a man who might otherwise crumple to the floor. Monsieur Polk hesitated and then shrugged to himself and stepped forward on our behalf.
'Monsieur Tate, after your son had first proposed marriage to Ruby Dumas, did you visit Ruby Dumas and ask her to refuse?'
Octavious looked toward Gladys and then he looked down.
'Sir?' Monsieur Polk said.
'Yes, I did.'
'Why?'
'I didn't think Paul was ready to marry,' he replied. 'He was just starting his oil business and he had just built this home.'
'That seems like a good time to think of marriage,' Monsieur Polk said. 'Wasn't there another reason for your asking Ruby Dumas to refuse your son's proposal?'
Octavious looked at Gladys again. 'I knew my wife was unhappy about it,' he said.
'But your wife has just testified that she was happy Paul was doing the right thing and she testified that she fully accepted Ruby Dumas into her family. Was that not the case, monsieur?'
'She accepted, yes.'
'But not willingly?' Before Octavious could respond, Monsieur Polk followed quickly. 'Did you believe the baby was your son's baby?'
'I . . . thought it was possible, yes.'
'Yet you went to Ruby Dumas to ask her not to marry your son?'
Octavious didn't reply.
'Did your son tell you Pearl was his child?'
'He . . . said he wanted to provide for Ruby and Pearl.'
'But he never said Pearl was his child? Sir?'
'No, not to me.'
'But to your wife, who then told you? Is that the way it was?'
'Yes. Yes.”
'Then why didn't you think he was doing the right thing?'
'I didn't say he wasn't.'
'Yet you admit you didn't want to see the marriage happen. Really, monsieur, this is very confusing. Wasn't there another reason, a more serious reason?'
