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
“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
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