Katie Rose by Courting Trouble

it.”
    Winifred stared at him, then smiled more genuinely. “I appreciate the offer, but I am sure there is nothing to be concerned about. Thank you.”
    Walking past the clerk, she shook her head in wonder. Miles Witherspoon offering to help her. It was an odd world, indeed.
    But why did Charles want to see her? Uneasy doubt swept through her as she pictured them entwined together the previous night. What if he wanted to continue the new state of affairs between them? What if he got angry? What if he felt she had used him …?
    She could not think of all that now. She would just have to try and explain her feelings to him, calmly and logically. After all, he was a gentleman and, as such, would have to respect her wishes. He might even be relieved.
    When she got within a few yards of his office, she heard shouting. The door was open, and she could hear heated words from Jared Marton. Knocking timidly on the door, she waited for Charles’s gruff, “Come in!” then entered with considerable trepidation.
    “You called for me, Mr. Howe?”
    His face was flushed with annoyance, but upon seeing her, he calmed somewhat. He started to respond to Jared, then his face turned quickly back toher, as if suddenly seeing her dour outfit and prim hairstyle. “Mr. Marton and I are just finishing up,” Charles said, his brows coming together in disapproval at her appearance. He turned back to his colleague. “Jared, I do not want this case. Find the time.”
    “I am sorry.” Jared stood before Charles’s desk, holding a file of papers. “You know you are the only man here who can handle it. Not only do I not have the time, it would ruin me.” At Charles’s questioning look, Jared shrugged. “I cannot prosecute a woman. No girl in New York would be seen with me after that.”
    “So that is the real truth,” Charles said sarcastically. “You are afraid to convict a woman of attempted murder because it would ruin your social life.”
    “Yes,” Jared admitted. “Ask one of the married lawyers to take it. It cannot possibly harm them.”
    “Are you joking?” Charles asked incredulously. “Their wives would kill them. Oh, leave it here. I will do it.”
    His voice with thick with disgust and resignation. Jared slapped the file down on his desk, gave Winifred a jaunty look, then strode out of the office, whistling.
    “What was that all about?” Winifred asked, puzzled.
    Charles handed her the file. “The Black case. The woman accused of trying to poison her husband.”
    “I was just reading about that!” Winifred said in excitement. “That was the complaint I had researched. The woman was arrested before they could even prove there was poison—just on her husband’s word.”
    “There is no question now.” Charles’s voice had an odd, disapproving note. “The tests came back positive for arsenic. Mrs. Black undoubtedly tried to murder her husband.”
    Winifred frowned, then began looking through the documents. “Does she have a lawyer?”
    “Horace Shane,” Charles replied. “She just hired him this morning.”
    “Shane,” Winifred repeated. “Well, that’s good. He is known to help women.” Putting the file down, she faced him directly. “Charles, you cannot possibly mean to prosecute this woman. She was arrested without due cause, the evidence seems inconclusive, and her husband sounds like a wretch!”
    Charles gazed at her in outrage. “Winnie, I have to prosecute her. No one else here wants the case. And how can you say the evidence is inconclusive? The man comes home, the woman gives him his tea, and within an hour, he becomes sick. They test the tea, and it is full of arsenic! How much more conclusive would you like?”
    Despite his anger, Winifred locked eyes with him. “This woman will never get a fair trial. How can she? Where is a jury of her peers, when the entire jury is male? No one will see her side. Poor Mrs. Black!” His face turned an interesting shade of purple. “Winifred, there is