"Sir Oliver is being disingenuous, sir, and I cannot sit here in silence and allow it. He knows as well as I do that a young woman's reputation is precious to her. A man who robs another person of reputation steals one of his, or her, most priceless possessions ... one that can never be got back again." He glanced at the jurors; he did not care about the public. "That is not a false value. It is a very real one."

His expression twisted to undisguised contempt, and he was moving forward from his seat. "Sir Oliver would be one of the first to complain if his good name was compromised. In fact, he may discover after the loss of this case just how painful it can be when people no longer think of you as well as they once did." He was now out in front of the court, not more than a couple of yards from where Rathbone stood. He was a large man and seemed to crowd the area. He moved his hands around, taking up even more space. Everyone was watching him, but the expressions Rathbone could see were very varied, and not all of respect.

"It is natural enough to resent losing a case, especially as dramatically as he lost this one." Sacheverall smiled fleetingly towards Rathbone. "But that was his error of judgment in accepting it and choosing to fight it in the first place. Now he is blaming all the rest of us"—he swung his arms wide to embrace everyone present—"for Melville's misfortune. That is manifestly preposterous. We are not at fault in any way. Keelin Melville chose to behave unnaturally, to deny her womanhood and attempt to follow a masculine profession from which she would, of course, have been excluded had she not practiced such a deception."

There was a rumble from the body of the room, but he ignored it. He also ignored the growing darkness in the coroner's face, the tight pull of his lips and the drawing down of his brows.

"She also deceived Barton Lambert, her friend and benefactor, who had from the very beginning shown her only kindness and a trust she did not honor and did not return." He gestured contemptuously towards Rathbone. "For Sir Oliver to complain now, and accuse society at large, is to show his own shallowness of character and to demonstrate that, far from learning by his error of judgment, he is determined to compound it."

The coroner was so furious he scarcely knew where to begin.