'Then you will not go to hell.'
• He shut his eyes. ' I think I would rather tell them anyway.' He refused to look at her.
'I think that is very brave of you,' she said with absolute sincerity. 'I think that is a very manly thing to do.'
He opened his eyes and gazed at her. 'Do you honestly?'
'Yes, I do.'
'They'll be very angry, won't they?'
'Probably.' '
He lifted his chin a little higher and squared his shoulders.
He could have been a French aristocrat about to step into a
tumbril.
'Will you accompany me?' he asked formally, making it sound like an invitation to the dinner table.
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'Of course.' She left the pen and papers lying on the desk and together they walked back to the withdrawing room.
Mortimer Swynford was standing with his back to the hearth, wanning his legs and blocking a good deal of the fire. Emily was nowhere to be seen.
'Oh, there you are, Charlotte,' Callantha said quickly. 'Titus-come in. I do hope he has not been disturbing you.' She turned to Swynford by the fire. 'This is Mrs. Pitt, Lady Ashworth's sister. Charlotte, my dear, I believe you have not met my husband.'
'How do you do, Mr. Swynford,' Charlotte said coolly. She could not bring herself to like this man. Perhaps it was quite unfair of her, but she associated him with the trial and its misery and now it seemed, its unjustice.
'How do you do, Mrs. Pitt.' He inclined his head very slightly, but did not move from the fireplace. 'Your sister has been called away. She went with a Lady Cumming-Gould, but she left her carriage for you. What are you doing, Titus? Should you not be at your studies?'
'I shall return shortly, Papa.' He took a very deep breath, caught Charlotte's eye, then breathed out again and faced his father. 'Papa, I have something to confess to.'
'Indeed? I hardly think this is the time, Titus. I am sure Mrs. Pitt does not wish to be embarrassed by our family misdeeds.'
'She already knows. I have told a lie. At least I did not exactly realize it was a lie, because I did not understand about- about what it really is. But because of what I said, which was not true, maybe someone who was innocent will be hanged.'
Swynford's face darkened and his body grew tight and solid.
'Nobody innocent will be hanged, Titus. I don't know what you are talking about, and I think it is best you forget it!'
'I can't, Papa. I said it in court, and Mr. Jerome will be hanged partly because of what I said. I thought that-'
Swynford swung around to face Charlotte, his eyes blazing, his thick neck red.
'Pitt! I should have known! You're no more Lady Ash-worth's sister than I am! You're married to that damned policeman-aren't you? You've come insinuating your way into my house, lying to my wife, using false pretenses because
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you want to rake up a little scandal! You won't be content until you've found something to ruin us all! Now you've convinced my son he's done something wicked, when all the child has testified to is exactly what happened to him! God damn it, woman, isn't that enough? We've already had death and disease in the family, scandal and heartbreak! Why? What do hyenas like you want that you go picking over other people's griefs? Do you just envy your betters and want to shovel dirt over them? Or was Jerome something to you-your lover, eh?'
'Mortimer!' Callantha was white to
