Munro decided to forego the apparently daily mutton breakfast at The Mermaid on Monday morning. He’d slept surprisingly well in the tiny room. The brief visit to his relatives might be considered a disaster, but he’d learned a lot about himself, and his father. He also had a clearer idea of the horrendous working conditions endured by too many people.

He paid for his lodging and bade the gruff landlord a hearty farewell.

“You met the Pendrays, then?”

“Aye.”

“You didn’t stay long.”

While Caradoc and Bevan Pendray weren’t relatives to boast about, they were still kin. “Nay. I’ve pressing matters to attend to in Birmingham. I’m getting married.”

A toothless grin split the rugged face. “I don’t suppose you invited your Welsh kin to the nuptials.”

Munro laughed. “Definitely not.”

The landlord joined in the laughter. “Good journey to you, young gentleman, and all the best to your bride.”

Given the clearer skies, Munro took his time following the road back to Shrewsbury. He saw a raw beauty in the barren landscape he hadn’t appreciated in the downpour. He crossed over the border into England, glad Sarah had pushed him to make the journey. He couldn’t wait to tell her about his experiences.

Reining to a halt, he glanced back at the land of his forebears. “Thank you, Grannie Pendray,” he declared to the lonely hills.

After returning Fury to his owner, he arrived back at The Lion in time for a late lunch, checked to make sure he still had a seat on the Birmingham coach and spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around Shrewsbury on foot.

Giles stared in disbelief when Sarah told him of her plan to speak on behalf of Addison and Hogg. He left half a bowl of oatmeal uneaten and stomped back downstairs without a word.

That he’d not finished his breakfast was a measure of his consternation.

She dressed in her most Puritan outfit and was ready to unlock the door when Grove knocked.

His influence proved beneficial at the courthouse. They were taken to the barrister retained by Mr. Addison to defend his son. Sarah had never met the iron magnate but surmised who the agitated man with the barrister must be.

He looked down his long nose when she was introduced. She understood. If it was her child on trial…

It struck her like a bolt of lightning she’d felt the same desperate sense of impending personal loss when Giles was dragged off to the cells. In a very short space of time, the young orphan had insinuated himself into her heart.

Addison’s icy demeanor quickly softened when Grove explained her reason for being there. “You wish to speak on my son’s behalf?”

She nodded, but he seemed to be overlooking something. “For both boys.”

“Excellent,” the barrister exclaimed. “I’ll need your full name and occupation, then we’ll get you seated with the other witnesses so you don’t have to be summoned from the public gallery.”

She stammered out the required information, faltering at the mention of other witnesses. It was unlikely anyone else was there for the defense. However, Grove was despatched to the gallery and she was escorted into the courtroom, relieved to discover she was the only person seated on the witness bench.

The gallery was packed, but a man in the back row gave up his seat for Grove. She smiled weakly at the minister, as much to reassure herself, but quickly looked away when she realized everyone was staring at her. Men exchanged conversation with their neighbors, no doubt speculating on who she was and why she was there.

Her courage faltered when the stern-faced Beadle escorted the school matron into the witness bench. Both sat.

The matron gave her a tight smile. “Poor Mr. Battersby wanted to come, but he’s still too weak. I intend to tell the court how he suffered at the hands of those miscreants. Nigh unto death he was.”

Sarah squirmed. The Beadle would also testify for the prosecution. The desire to flee intensified when the constable who’d assisted with the search of Addison’s rooms joined them.

By the time the magistrate entered, Sarah was sweating and could barely make her legs work as she stood along with everyone else. Her gaze wandered over the crowd in the gallery, the barristers and their clerks, the magistrate, and finally the two boys who were manhandled into the dock. Every face betrayed the conviction Justin Addison and his co-accused were destined for the gallows.

A tremor took hold as she sat, but it had nothing to do with this trial. An inkling of what her father must have felt as he faced his accusers swamped her like a giant wave. Every other surviving regicide had been sentenced to die a gruesome death.

However, by all accounts, Henry Marten had not quaked with fear. Indeed, he’d mounted an inspired defense and saved his own neck.

The truth of it gave her courage. She had to try to save the terrified schoolboys from the noose. It was her moral duty. She closed her eyes, listening to the little voice in her head. “I’m proud of thee.”

“Thank you, Mama,” she whispered.

The prosecuting barrister laid out his case. The Beadle was called to give an account of what had happened. The constable supported his testimony. The magistrate nodded several times. He’d been there after all. The matron broke down, sobbing as she recounted at length the dire effects of the mushrooms on Mr. Battersby. Sarah privately thought the proud headmaster wouldn’t want everyone to know he’d babbled inanities while in the throes of hallucinations.

Through it all, she felt strangely calm. When the defense barrister called her name, she walked with purpose to the witness box and took the oath, ignoring the matron’s gasp of disbelief.

“Please state your name and tell the court your interest in this matter.”

“Mrs. Sarah North. I am the apothecary who compounded the remedy for Mr. Battersby.”

She related events as she knew them. The magistrate eventually lost patience with the growing buzz of chatter from the gallery and banged his gavel.

“Therefore,” the barrister declared when quiet was restored, “the defendants are indeed guilty of tampering with the remedy.”

She risked a glance at Mr. Addison who’d managed to get himself a seat in the front row. “Yes, but…”

“Objection,” the prosecuting barrister exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “Even the defense’s witness confirms their guilt. There is no but.”

“Overruled,” the magistrate replied. “Mrs. North evidently has something to say which she feels has a bearing on the case. We must remember these young men face a charge of attempted murder. Proceed.”

Sarah took a deep breath and looked directly at the magistrate. “M’lud, I do not believe Addison and Hogg intended to murder their headmaster.”

She went on to explain her feeling it was highly unlikely they knew the mushrooms were poisonous. “They meant to play a prank, not commit murder. Who but an apothecary like myself, or a cook, would know amanita muscaria are poisonous? To be frank, they should have been stored out of harm’s way. The boys deserve to be punished for what they did, but hanging would be a miscarriage of justice.”

The magistrate expressed the thanks of the court, then called for an immediate adjournment which clearly took both barristers by surprise. She was simply relieved not to be obliged to return to the witness bench.

Grove was waiting on the courthouse steps, the foundry magnate at his side. “Well done,” the minister said.

Addison took her hand and bestowed a kiss on her knuckles. “I cannot thank you enough for your courage. I am more hopeful now. If you ever need anything…”

The Beadle walked by, the matron on his arm, thunder in her malevolent gaze.

“I think I made enemies today,” Sarah said.

“Don’t worry about them,” Addison replied. “I must visit my son. I can’t discuss it now, but you can rely on me.”

Grove linked arms with her and they embarked on the walk home. “It never hurts to have a powerful man in your debt.”

“That’s not the reason I gave testimony,” she retorted.

“I’m aware of that, Sarah. You’re not a conniving woman and, besides, you’re too good-hearted to do such a thing.”

She paused before unlocking the door of the shop. “Giles isn’t happy with me either.”

Grove chuckled. “Understandable, but he’ll come round.”

Her apprentice emerged from the workroom when she entered the shop. “I’m sorry for my rudeness, Mrs. North. It won’t happen again.”

Eyes downcast, he looked sorry, but there was an edge of bitterness to his words. “It’s important you understand why I spoke up for Addison and Hogg.”

He shrugged. “I don’t like either of them. They’re bullies. I suppose I don’t want to see them hanged, even though they would have let me and you take the blame.”

“It’s possible, but just because other people aren’t honorable doesn’t mean we shouldn’t speak up for what we believe is right.”

She thought of her father. For all his faults, that’s exactly what he had done.

Giles nodded slowly.

“You must be hungry,” she said. “We’ll have a quick lunch then open. Let’s hope trade will be brisk to make up for the morning.”