Lies and Misdemeanours by Rebecca King Page B

so of course he found us bloody guilty,” Charlie sighed in disgust.
    Hetty had to force herself to release him when Simon stepped forward for a hug.
    “We sent the letters off within the hour of leaving here the other day,” she assured them. “We have been trying to get to see you again, but were given various reasons why we couldn’t. Wally threatened to fetch another magistrate from out of the county if we didn’t get in today.”
    “Yes, we have been busy: going through that bloody farce of a trial,” Simon snarled. “We were tried, judged, and sentenced to execution within ten minutes. That’s all it bloody took; ten sodding minutes.”
    Charlie stared down at his boots.
    Hetty studied the reluctance on his face, and looked at Simon. There was something neither man was telling them. She looked over at the partly dug graves and felt her stomach drop to her knees.
    “When is it scheduled to take place?” She asked, desperately hoping that neither man would tell her. Thankfully she hadn’t seen any sign of the gallows out front of the jail where the hangings usually took place, but she had no idea how long it would take for them to be built.
    She watched Charlie share a look with Simon, who shifted uncomfortably.
    “The day after tomorrow,” Simon whispered. “The scaffold is due to start to go up later today, and will be finished tomorrow night. There is to be a notice of the executions in the broadsheet tomorrow morning. The jailer told us.”
    “What about them?” Wally growled, and nodded toward the other two prisoners.
    “They are in the cell with us. They refused to pay Meldrew’s ransom too, and have been brought here on trumped up charges that none of them are guilty of,” Simon sighed.
    Hetty stared at Charlie. Their eyes met and held. Tears stung her eyes but she refused to let them fall. They both knew that even though the letter had gone to London, it would have taken a couple of days to get there. It should arrive today at the earliest. Even if Sir Hugo read on the day it arrived, and left London straight away, he wouldn’t get to Derby in time to meet with Meldrew, or halt the executions.
    “They are hanging us quickly so that we don’t get the chance to find someone to defend you properly,” Wally snapped. His voice trembled with the force of emotion that swept through him, and he shuddered in horror at the hopelessness of the situation.
    Nobody spoke for a moment.
    “We have got your things,” Wally said to Charlie, for want of anything else to say.
    What was it that he could say? I hope that you are alright? Keep yourself safe? Goodbye and good luck? How can I get you out now? Nothing seemed appropriate. No words seemed good enough to offer any kind of solace in a hopeless situation like this, and everyone knew it.
    “Time’s up,” the jailer called.
    “Look, I want you to make sure that Hetty is looked after,” Charlie growled.
    “I will do.”
    “No,” Charlie growled. “Listen to me. If Meldrew is this desperate to convict people who block his path, there is nothing he won’t do. I don’t want Hetty going through this.”
    “I will be fine, Charlie,” Hetty whispered.
    A sense of urgency hung in the air. Time was short, and it was suddenly imperative that he do everything within his power to make sure that she was safe once he wasn’t there to protect her personally.
    He was unlikely to be there to look after her personally, but he could damned well do what he could.
    “All I can do is what I can do. We can make sure she doesn’t go out at night, but I have a business to run,” Wally growled. “What do you want me to do?”
    “Let me marry her,” Charlie reasoned. He heard Hetty’s gasp but didn’t look at her. He shifted closer to Hetty’s brother. “Listen to me. I work with the War Office. If the hangings take place, then Hetty will be my next of kin. Not only will they make sure that she is provided for, but they will protect you and your business