“It would have been a bad thing for Monk,” he said frankly. “Everyone would have said he had made a second mistake, gone after the wrong man because he had a personal vendetta against Ballinger over the Phillips affair. He might even have lost his job. I’m glad that didn’t happen.” Surprisingly, he meant that. He had not thought he would; the void inside himself was too big to allow much thought for anyone else.

Hester gave a slight shrug. “That’s true, and I thank you for it. But it’s past now. What about you?”

“I doubt I’ll lose any clients over it. No one wins every case.”

“For heaven’s sake, I know that!” she said impulsively. “Most people know perfectly well you only took the case because he was family and you had no choice! No one else would have managed a defense at all. And you nearly won.”

He looked at her steadily. “Did Monk persuade Rupert Cardew to speak?”

“No.” She did not evade his gaze. “I did. Not for William—at least, not only for him. It was for Scuff, and all the boys like him.”

“That won’t put an end to the trade, Hester.” The moment the words were out of his mouth, he regretted saying them.

“I know,” she conceded softly. “But it will stop some of it. Maybe quite a lot, at least for a while. People will know that we’re prepared to fight, and those who get caught will pay for it. Above all, Scuff will know.”

For a moment he could not speak, his throat was so tight, so choked and aching.

She put out her hand across the desk. She did not touch him, but she left it where, if he moved even a few inches, he could reach her.

“I’m sorry, Oliver. I really am sorry.”

“I know.”

She said nothing more for several moments.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come!” Rathbone answered.

The clerk came in. “Sir Oliver—”

“Ah, yes,” Rathbone said quickly. “Please bring some tea, and a few cookies, if you can find some.”

“Yes, sir.” The clerk withdrew obediently, his face calm with understanding, perhaps even a touch of relief.

Hester smiled. “Thank you. I’d like tea.”

He had asked for tea without thinking, but now he realized how much he wanted her to stay. He did not know how to begin, but the confusion inside him was an almost overwhelming pain. In a matter of months all the certainties he had begun to take for granted had gone.

“How is Margaret?” she said quietly. “I thought of going to see her, even though I have no idea what to say. Sometimes just being there is worth something. But I don’t think she would receive me. We … parted on bad terms.”