Betina Krahn

Betina Krahn by The Unlikely Angel Read Free Book Online Page B

Book: Betina Krahn by The Unlikely Angel Read Free Book Online
Authors: The Unlikely Angel
decision.”
    The court stared in shock and staggered to its feet as thejustice gathered up his papers, rose, and hobbled from the bench.
    Ecklesbery, Townshend, and Dunwoody erupted all at once as Sir William cleared the door.
    “This is unheard of—unconscionable—unthinkable!”
    “He hasn’t read a single brief!”
    “It’s an outrage, it is!”
    Cole was as surprised as the defendants by his uncle’s abrupt declaration. Watching Farnsworth try to calm his clients, he couldn’t help enjoying their outrage. Clearly, they had counted on the legal process not only for a verdict, but also for a substantial delay. Chancery courts were generally known to move at the pace of a snail on hot pavement. Despite recent reform attempts, it was common for an inheritance case to take a year or two to complete. Madeline Duncan’s solicitors had obviously been counting on frustration and endless continuances to wear down her enthusiasm for her absurd plan.
    As he watched the plaintiff conferring with her barrister, it struck him how surprisingly intriguing her wretched case was. Her petition was a legal lost cause, of that he had no doubt. Trusteeships were established to prevent precisely the sort of ruinous tangent Miss Duncan seemed hell-bent on pursuing. They were held to be nearly inviolate by the courts.
    People who inherited fortunes were prone to spend the money on things they would almost certainly later regret. Most went on buying sprees and socialized recklessly, some drank to excess, gambled, and took up with flashy companions who tried to relieve them of the burden of their newfound wealth. An ill-fated few acquired a taste for even deeper vices—games and manipulations, an endless quest for sensation, a descent into the world of the flesh.
    Miss Duncan, on the other hand, suffered not from hedonism, but from idealism run amok. From all appearances she was a true believer, convinced of the goodness and redemptive possibilities in humankind.
    Cole’s jaw tensed as he studied her with that unsettling thought in mind. In the end, he realized, her devotion to her own impossible ideals would likely prove more dangerous to her than a bout of self-indulgence. Like most idealists, she would refuse to see the world as it really was—the rampant disease, decay, and avarice all around her. She would wear herself down to bare bones, doggedly pursuing her vision of mankind’s “nobility,” until her fellow humans drained every last drop of substance from her and left her as destitute and disillusioned as they were.
    Ridiculous female,
he thought, staring at her with new eyes.
Why don’t you just do as they say?
    Get a corset
.
    Find a man
.
    Have a brood of red-haired brats.…

3

    With each moment that passed, the suspense thickened and the atmosphere in the courtroom became more charged. Ecklesbery, Townshend, and Dunwoody conferred with barrister Farnsworth in jealously guarded whispers, casting glowers Madeline’s way while she sat primly by her dozing lawyer, refusing to look at her opponents and seeming confident she would soon receive the court’s approbation and her money.
    Inwardly, however, she was far from certain that her suit would succeed. From the start she had understood that her fate would depend primarily upon the justice assigned to hear her case. And she’d had either the fortune or the misfortune to come before crotchety old Sir William Rayburn. Protected by judicial privilege, reputation, and seniority, he took liberties with courtroom decorum, the barristers appearing before him, and social propriety. He was gouty and rude and impatient with both man and God. And he might just be the answer to her prayers. Who else but a cantankerous old eccentric would dare deliver ajudgment against the cream of London’s legal establishment? Who else but an aging man with plenty of regrets, misspent years, and long-dead ambitions would dare give legal sanction to her headlong pursuit of a dream?
    Her nervous

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