The Guinea Thief - Chapter 15 - Crime and Punishment

The jury filed back into the courtroom. Jack tried to read the verdict from the expression on the foreman’s face. He seemed quite relaxed. The judge banged his gavel a number of times.
“Order! Order! Could we please have some order in the court!”
Those in the gallery took their seats, and the noise dropped to low hum, but it was clear that the crowd could not be totally silent.
“Gentleman of the jury have you reached your verdict?”
“We have sir.”
“Please pass it to the clerk.”
“Mr Bell went across to the foreman of the jury took the folded paper from him and walked swiftly to the judge. Sir Toby opened the piece of paper, scanned it briefly and asked,
“And is this verdict you have reached with the unanimous consent of all members of the jury?”
“It is Your Honour. “
“Good. And would you please now inform the court of your verdict? “
“Not guilty.”
“Let the prisoner come forward. Mr Robert Goody, do you wish to say anything for yourself?”
“No Sir, nothing at all.”
Jasper scratched his ear and yawned.
“If it had not been that the laws of this country will not suffer the life of a man to be taken away without a close examination of all the circumstances of the case, in all probability Robert Goody, today your life might have been forfeited, and I don't know whether it would have been much to be lamented or not if that had so happened. In the course of the evidence presented before me it has been made abundantly clear to me that you and your associates while not murderers, are breaking the laws of this country by indulging in the act of evading taxes and smuggling contraband goods. Though you may hold the view raised by Mr Williams that your trade does not impinge on the people of this country, I have to state I heartily disagree. Over the last number of years England has been at war, firstly with America and more recently with France. His Majesty’s Services rely largely on the public exchequer for their funding and the way this funding is generated is through taxation. Ever since the Magna Carta this is how it has been. Tax evasion in all its forms is a pernicious rot which deprives this great country of the money it needs to defend its people. Therefore though you may have escaped the hangman’s noose, I will be asking the constable to seek the immediate arrest of Mr Wilson, Mr Williams and yourself for the crime of tax evasion. Mr Bell I want to have all three of these men before myself and a jury this afternoon, I will waste no time. Such blatant disregard for the sovereign laws of this kingdom offends me deeply.”
The gallery erupted with boos. Robert’s face remained unchanged.
“Take the prisoner away and hold him until we are ready to see him again. Mr Bell I do not believe it will require a long slot in today’s proceedings. Please make it so. Mr Fielding, I imagine you have no issue in being the prosecuting counsel on this matter? And Mr Ashurst, I suggest you consider your position. You have done an excellent job today, I would suggest you consider whether or not it is worth your while defending the prisoner on this other matter. I will leave it to your conscience to decide. In the meantime, I would like to see you and Miss Cadoudal in my chambers immediately. ”
Delphine was shocked. She had not expected this. Jack ran his hand though her hair.
“I know what you are thinking. I know you too well. If the judge says you must go with him, you have no choice. You have to do it. So please go. And do not antagonise him. Keep yourself safe above all else. Don’t do anything foolish so that you end up being condemned along with us. Do you hear me? If you say anything which will lead to you being arrested too, I shall not forgive you and I shall refuse to see you again. I must know you will be safe.”
“Jack! Why do this to me?”
“You must promise me.”
“Je te promets. I promise. “
Mr Ashurst approached Jack and Delphine.
“I am so sorry Jack. I had not expected it to turn out this way. I thought he would see that the wrong man was in the dock and that would be an end to it. Another judge might not have done this. Most people are quite tolerant towards smugglers. ”
“Mr Ashurst it’s not your fault. You’ve saved Robert’s life and that was what we were all here to do. Make sure Delphine here does not speak unless she absolutely has to. She is not a smuggler and has done nothing wrong, so don’t let the judge think anything different. ”
“Delphine, are you ready to come now or do you need a moment to refresh yourself?”
“A moment would be good.”
“Don’t take too long.”
“Jack come with me.”
“I’m not sure if I can?”
“I think Mr Bell will give you a moment before the officer will take you down. But Jack, you can’t leave the building. If for one minute you think you can escape, forget it. The judge will have the county turned upside down to find you.”
Jack and Delphine walked back out of the court and into the ante-chamber. Jack saw Eliza sitting on the gallery steps crying.
“Eliza!”
“Oh Jack. What are we going to do?”
Jack gave her a big hug. “I wish I knew. Eliza, I don’t know what to say. Thank-you for being such a great Mother to me.”
Eliza stood up stiffly and kissed Jack on each cheek holding his head between her hands.
“Whatever happens I love you very much. And so did your mother and father. God be with you Jack. You were as much a son to me as my own born. Do you think they will let me go and say a few words to Robert?”
“I know I’m going to have to go back soon or they will start to worry. Ask Mr Ashurst. He’ll know if you can or not.”
“I will. Delphine I’ll see you up in the gallery, don’t leave without me.” Eliza left the two of them. They were surrounded by people, but it felt as if they were quite alone.
“Jack what do you think they will do to you?”
“It’s really hard to say. I’ve heard of some smugglers being sentenced to three years hard labour. Smuggling’s not a hanging offense. If it was hard labour then I would not be so far away, I’d probably be in Portsmouth working on the docks. We could still see each other every now and then.”
“Will they keep you on the hulk like Robert? You saw how ill he is, he’s half the man he used to be. Is there anything we can do to stop this?”
“No. I really don’t think there is. The wheels of Justice are in motion already.”
“What?”
“The wheel of fortune has already turned, the dice are cast, our fate is sealed.”
“You English! So many ways to say the same thing.”
“Well all of them are true.”
“Could Le Comte help?”
“No, not this time. This is the risk we all ran. Maybe you weren’t aware of it, but I think in his heart Robert felt that his luck had run out. When we saw him on the hulk, he seemed so resigned. Like he had put the thought of living his old life well and truly behind him. I didn’t understand, but I do now. The hulk is his new life.”
Bell the clerk came out of the courtroom accompanied a constable.
“Miss Cadoudal, the judge awaits you in his chamber.” he said.
“Mr Wilson, if you’d be so kind, you are to come with me to the cells.” said the constable.
Jack kissed Delphine, and turned to the constable with his hands held out.
The constable bound them with the practised air of a man who had done this a thousand times, and led Jack towards the stairs that would take them to the cells below the main chamber .
Delphine walked back into the court with Mr Bell, found Mr Ashurst waiting patiently for her. They walked across the open court to the side door which led to the judge’s private chambers. Sir Toby and Jasper were waiting for them.
“Please take a seat Miss Cadoudal.”
“Thank you Your Honour.”
“My wig is off, for the moment at least. I find it get’s quite hot and I have an overwhelming desire to itch it. So in between sessions I take it off. Which means you can address me as Sir Toby. It’s only in the courtroom itself that I become Mr Justice Johnson and you have to call me Your Honour.”
Delphine dipped her head. “Sir Toby.”
“Now let’s get straight to the point Mistress Cadoudal. Your brother has committed the most fellenous of crimes, and seems to think that he is perfectly able to evade justice. I tell you he shan’t . I take matters of justice most seriously, she may be blind but she can still smell a rat. So to speak.”
Mr Ashurst spoke up. “Sir Toby. Miss Cadoudal is keenly aware that her brother should have been the man in the dock today. She has told me and I believe her that she travelled to London expressly to persuade him to return to Portsmouth and face up to his crime. But he refuses.”
“And is your brother still in London? For if he is I shall set every constable and every watchman in London to apprehend him and bring him before me.”
“We are not entirely certain of his whereabouts. The French here in exile are quite a tight bunch. Georges Cadoudal is a very senior member of the anti-revolutionaries, he was leader of the Chouans, a Breton Royalist army. I am lead to believe by those I have spoken to that Mr Cadoudal and his fellow émigrés believe themselves to be answerable only to the King of France, and our English courts have no power over them.” answered Mr Ashurst.
Sir Toby looked shocked.
“Not answerable to our English courts! How dare he? While he is on our sovereign soil, he is answerable to our sovereign and our laws.”
“I believe he and his Royalist associates do not hold quite the same view. There have been a number of instances whereby the French here in exile have claimed immunity from prosecution and for the most part they appear to have impunity in the face of our law. Additionally we believe he may have returned to France. ”
“He has already fled the country?”
“Most probably.”
““Well this is insufferable. ”
“I am told by some friends of mine at Whites, that Cadoudal is even now back in Frnce working on a secret mission that has the blessing of Mr Pitt himself.”
“What has this country come to if we are to ally ourselves with murderers such as him?”
“Indeed these are strange times Sir Toby. Quite revolutionary. ”
Mr Ashurst stood up.
“I know you have a busy day ahead, so if that’s all you need from us.
“Yes, yes. That’ll be all. I’ll ask Bell to put out a warrant for Cadoudal’s arrest. If he steps foot back on English soil he’s a wanted man.”
“Of course Sir Toby. I would have expected nothing less.”
“One more thing Ashurst. Tell Bell, I’m ready for my chop now.”
“Indeed I will Sir.”