upstairs to her room, and after taking off her outer cape, knocked on Robert's door, which was ajar.
"Come in?" he said immediately.
She opened the door and was surprised to see Victoria sitting in the easy chair and Robert in his wheelchair, not on the bed. They looked at her eagerly, but there was no tension in them, and their chairs were close together, as though they had been talking earnestly before she knocked. Robert's face was not pale anymore. The late autumn sun and wind had given him color as he had sat out in the garden, and his hair, flopping forward over his brow, was shining. It really was time they had a barber in to cut it.
"What happened?" he asked. Then he frowned. "It wasn't good, was it? I can see it in your face. Come and tell us." He indicated a second bedroom chair. His eyes were full of concern.
She was aware of the warmth of his feeling. Suddenly she was furious that someone she liked so much should be crippled, confined to a chair, almost certainly for the rest of his life, denied the chance of a career, of love and marriage, the things his peers expected as a matter of course. She found herself almost choked with emotion.
"Was it really as bad as that?" Robert said gently. "You'd better sit down. Would you like me to ring for a tray of tea? You look pretty upset."
She tried to force a smile and knew she had failed.
"You don't have to pretend," Robert went on. "Is the verdict in already? It can't be, can it?"
"Did she withdraw?" Victoria asked, puzzled.
"No. No, she didn't withdraw," Hester replied, sitting down. "And the verdict is a long way off yet. Sir Oliver hasn't even started. But I can't see that it will help when he does. It has reached the stage now where Zorah will be fighting to keep from the gallows herself..."
They both stared at her.
"Zorah?" Robert said aghast. "But Zorah didn't kill him! If she had, she would be the last person to mention murder. She'd be only too happy they all thought it was accidental. That doesn't make any sense!"
"Perhaps they don't think she is sensible," Victoria pointed out. "They may think she's a fanatic, or hysterical. I know that they are saying she is very eccentric, and that she dresses in men's clothes and has been to all sorts of unsuitable and indecent places. And of course they are suggesting that her morals are appalling."
Hester was startled that Victoria should be aware of such things. How on earth did she know? Then she remembered Victoria's drastically altered circumstances. She must have come down so far in the world that she no longer had anything like the life of the young lady she had been before her family's disgrace, and no doubt now also financial dependency upon relatives. She was probably far better acquainted with the harsher side of life and its realities than Robert was.
He was staring at Victoria, and she colored unhappily.
"Who is saying that?" he asked her. "That's totally unjust"
"When people are angry, justice has very little part in it," she replied quietly.
"Why should they be angry?" He frowned. "She may have injured Gisela, but the verdict isn't in yet. And if it was murder, then they should be grateful to her, whoever is guilty. At least she has brought the truth about that to light. It seems to me they are doing exactly what they are blaming her for... jumping to conclusions without hearing the facts, and condemning people without evidence. That's totally hypocritical."
Victoria smiled. "Of course it is," she agreed gently. Her eyes were soft and bright as she looked at him.
Robert turned to Hester. "What about your friend, Sir Oliver? How is he? He must be feeling very badly that he cannot help, especially if it is as serious for her as you say."
"I don't think he has any idea what to do for the best,"
Hester said frankly. "He has to prove it was someone else to save the Countess, and we haven't any proof."
"I'm sorry."
Victoria rose to her feet, moving with great awkwardness as the pain caught her, then straightening again and hiding it so Robert should not see. "It is getting late, and I should leave. I am sure you must be tired after the disasters of the day. I shall leave you to talk. Perhaps some idea may come to you." She looked at Robert, hesitating a moment,