My Lady Vixen (22 page)

Once inside the large room the crowd did not diminish as people surged in behind Alexa, jostling for a good seat from which to view the proceedings. Alexa’s trial promised to be even more spectacular than Fox’s for the simple reason that Alexa was a beautiful woman as well as one accused of treason. Then, too, the previous trial for Fox proved a great disappointment to the Tories. There was nothing romantic or flamboyant about the thin, weak shell of a man carried into the courtroom on a litter. Truth to tell, the entire proceedings proved a gigantic farce.

Therefore, the whole of Savannah looked forward with great relish to Alexa’s trial, especially since it was learned that her husband, Lord Penwell, was finally returned from a secret mission and had verbally condemned her actions, refusing to come to her aid or even to see her. As if to verify gossip, Adam immediately began seeing Lady Gwen, whom everyone knew had been very close to being Lady Penwell, until Lady Alexa came out of nowhere to claim that title. When Alexa grew large with child in a disgustingly short time the reason for their hasty marriage became common knowledge. Some went so far as to say the little slut received no more than she deserved.

From one of their own brave men. Captain Charles Whitlaw, came the indisputable information that Lady Alexa had been disowned by her illustrious father, Sir John Ashley: that the lady had done something so
despicable that the very sight of her sickened the poor man. And who should know better than Charles who revealed he was engaged to the notorious Lady Alexa at one time. Disgusted by her conduct, he had broken his engagement and married a woman worthy of his good name.

All this Adam heard in a roundabout way from Gwen, refusing to comment, only nodding sagely. He truly wished he could go to Alexa, to offer comfort, but under the circumstances he was forced to cool his heels until the time was ripe, meanwhile feigning indignation at his wife’s activities as well as disinterest in her fate.

From Lance Barrington Adam learned where Alexa was being imprisoned and that she was being well-treated and in no immediate need. But seeing Alexa now, Adam realized that Barrington had greatly distorted the truth. God only knows what his lovely wife was forced to endure those weeks she spent in the dungeon-like cell below the Governor’s mansion.

It had been less than a week since Adam’s return from his prolonged mission for General Prevost and he had not known about Mac or Alexa before then. He returned just in time to attend Mac’s trial and was told all the grisly details by General Prevost. Circumstances beyond his control forced Adam to renounce his wife and reaffirm his loyalty to the crown despite his wife’s avowed sympathy for the colonists. Governor Wright took Adam at his word and immediately offered him a place to stay until the trials were concluded; an offer Adam gratefully accepted although it placed him conveniently in reach of Gwen’s waiting arms.

It was only natural that he should squire Gwen about while he awaited the trials. Certainly he could not be blamed if Gwen made too much of his attentions. He deliberately chose to play at Gwen’s game for it suited
his purpose. Adam knew that Gwen assumed they had a future together once Alexa was conveniently done away with.

Alexa sat in a chair facing her jury, her spine rigid, her head held high. Only Adam, sensitive to her every mood, noticed the slight trembling of her chin. Her stern-faced judges were before her, seated at a long table. General Prevost held the center position. Ranged on either side of him were Governor Wright. Lance Barrington. Charles Whitlaw and two other officers she did not know. Alexa’s heart plummeted. She hadn’t one chance in a thousand of escaping with her life and she well knew it. In her mind’s eyes she saw herself mounting the scaffold beside Mac.

Suddenly the room quieted as General Prevost cleared his throat and glared down at Alexa. “Lady Foxworth, you are brought to trial today to answer to charges of treason. What say you, guilty or not guilty?”

“Not guilty, General,” Alexa proclaimed in a low but clear voice. “I have done nothing that can be construed as treasonous but perhaps speak out of turn.”

“You are charged with lending aid and succor to a known criminal with a price on his head. The Fox was apprehended in your home while you stoutly defended him,” the General accused.

“Mac is not the Fox. You have tried and condemned the wrong man.”

A humorous snicker rippled through the room and grew into a wave of laughter. “So you say,” sighed the General dryly. “It would save us all a lot of trouble, milady, if you would confess.”

“I confess to nothing,” persisted Alexa doggedly. “Mac is not the Fox. Ask my husband. He can attest to the truth of my words.”

“We intend to, milady, if you force us to continue, and I can see you are determined to have your name besmirched in court.”

“I have faith that all will be explained to your satisfaction and I will be judged innocent,” declared Alexa with more conviction than she felt. Everyone, including herself, knew she was being made an example of and likely to hang beside the man wrongly assumed to be the Fox.

“Have it your way, Lady Foxworth,” the General signalled wearily. “I will now call upon Captain Barrington to tell how he and his men followed Fox’s bloody trail to your house.”

Captain Barrington told his story convincingly of how he saw the Fox go overboard after he was wounded in the fierce fighting aboard
The Gray Ghost
. Following in a longboat, the search party spent hours trailing the wounded man to the Foxworth plantation.

“What did you find when you arrived and demanded entrance?” asked the General.

“At first Lady Foxworth refused to let us in, insisting she knew nothing about the Fox.”

“Did you believe her?”

“No, sir,” smiled Barrington wryly. “Not when I was standing in a pool of blood that proclaimed her guilt more clearly than words.”

Barrington went on to describe how he found a wounded man in a bedroom and the mask worn by Fox in a trunk in the attic. When he finished he glanced triumphantly at Alexa and sat down with a flourish. Adam cursed beneath his breath, frowning darkly.

“What is your response. Lady Foxworth?” General Prevost inquired.

“General, you have to believe me,” Alexa insisted urgently. “The man Captain Barrington found in my
house is not the Fox. His name is Logan MacHugh, a friend to my husband.”

“How do you explain his wound?”

Alexa flushed. He certainly had her there. Mac was still a privateer even though he was not the Fox. “I … I didn’t ask,” she supplied lamely.

“You didn’t ask, I see,” mocked the General, throwing up his arms in disgust. The room buzzed with amused laughter until the General raised his hand for silence.

“And the mask found hidden in the attic? Perhaps next you’ll tell me it belongs to Lord Penwell and that he is the Fox.” Raucous laughter met the General’s well-placed jest and Alexa glanced quickly at Adam but he steadfastly refused to meet her eyes.

“I have no idea how that mask found its way into the attic. Perhaps it was meant for a masquerade,” suggested Alexa amid hoots of amusement. “And I would be the last person on earth to accuse my husband, Lord Penwell, of being the Fox, for no one knows better than I that he is not.” Adam exhaled softly, unaware that he had been holding his breath.

“You are correct, Lady Foxworth, we have already tried and convicted the Fox and he certainly isn’t Lord Penwell.”

After that Charles was asked to testify as to her character, since he was the person present who had known her the longest. As Alexa had expected, Charles painted a bleak picture indeed of her tarnished reputation. Alexa flinched when Charles launched headlong into the details of how she became Adam’s mistress in England, conveniently omitting the important fact that Alexa had not done so willingly. What Charles did stress was that he and Alexa were to be married when she succumbed to Lord Penwell’s persuasive charm and was subsequently disowned by her father when Adam tired of her and returned her to her father pregnant.

Shock and disbelief registered on the faces of those present, but surprisingly none of it was directed at Adam. When asked to respond to Charles’s charges. Alexa bit her lip and shook her head, declining. What could she say that was not already said? At any moment she expected Adam to jump up to defend her honor but to her acute embarrassment he remained seated, seemingly unmoved. Rage and hate combined to lend her courage when she heard General Prevost call Adam to testify next.

“Lord Penwell.” General Prevost asked, “were you aware of your wife’s seditious sentiment when you married her?”

Turning to face Alexa. Adam’s silver-gray eyes bore relentlessly into her violet ones. To many of the spectators they appeared to, reflect his contempt for his wife. But to Alexa they told another story. Was he trying to convey to her that she should take courage? That he had not abandoned her no matter how it might appear? But his cold words and stern visage soon disabused her of that notion.

“Though reluctantly, I must admit, General, that my wife championed the American cause many times in my hearing,” Adam said slowly.

Alexa gasped, and whispered softly, “Oh, Adam, how could you?”

Adam turned a deaf ear on her softly spoken words as he continued with cruel deliberation. “As you are well aware, I was necessarily gone from my home for long periods of time and had little or no knowledge of what went on in my absence.”

“We heard your testimony. Lord Penwell, as to your relationship to the man you knew as Mac but who in reality is the Fox. Do you believe Lady Foxworth had an … er … intimate involvement with the Fox?”

Fixing Alexa with an inscrutable look, Adam replied. “I
believe the Fox to be in love with my wife.”

Upon hearing Adam’s damning words, Alexa’s frail shoulders slumped dejectedly. Once again Adam was struck by the fragility of her slim form. He knew her to be near the end of her tether and he dropped his eyes to conceal the extent of the pain he felt at her ordeal. Hang on, Alexa, he silently encouraged. Don’t give up now. There’s too much to lose.

As if receiving his telepathic message, Alexa straightened her spine, glaring defiantly at the avid spectators and her judges so eager to condemn her. “You may sit down, my lord,” the General told Adam. “I know how painful this must be for you but your own loyalty was never suspect.”

Governor Wright was the last person called upon to testify and he but repeated the careless words spoken by Alexa months ago at the General’s reception. When the Governor sat down, General Prevost asked, “Have you anything to say in your own defense, Lady Foxworth?” Alexa shook her head negatively. What good would it do when there was no one to come to her aid? “If not. I am prepared to pass judgment.”

Immediately Alexa came to attention, her breath caught painfully somewhere between her lungs and her windpipe. So soon? How could they come to an agreement so soon? But to the spectators watching with avid anticipation, there was never a doubt as to the final outcome.

“The charge against you is a serious one,” the General drawled tonelessly. “You are the daughter of a nobleman, the wife of an earl, and yet you chose to disregard your upbringing and deliberately set out to betray your country.

“Your high station in life does not absolve you of guilt nor should it sway our judgment in any way. There is
only one sentence I can render, and that is to find you guilty of treason.” Looking to his fellow officers seated beside him, he duly noted and recorded their silent nods of agreement. “As you can see the jury is in complete agreement with my findings.”

Alexa let out her breath slowly as pandemonium reigned in the courtroom. Expecting to be found guilty is one thing, hearing it is another. Inexplicably her eyes found Adam’s, catching him in the odd moment before he had a chance to disguise his feelings. To her dismay she found pity and compassion lurking in their silvery depths, and a hint of something she could not define. And then her attention turned to the General who signalled for silence.

“There can be but one punishment for treason and that is death. Lady Foxworth, you are to be taken at dawn two days hence and hung by the neck until dead! The traitor you took into your home shall hang beside you. May God have mercy upon your souls.”

A great hush fell upon the room as all eyes concentrated on the beautiful, slender woman whose existence was to be terminated in the prime of life. The truth to tell, there were many present who considered it a waste to kill such a lovely creature and Alexa felt grateful for their groans of commiseration. But mostly she was too numb to react. Two days! She had but two days to breathe the air, to dream of the future that would never be, to consider the fickle love of the man who had betrayed her.

Instinctively Alexa knew that had Fox learned what was happening to her things would be different. But she had no way of knowing whether Fox was dead or alive. Imprisoned as she had been these last weeks she had heard nothing of his exploits. Alexa’s thoughts were immediately curtailed when she heard her name spoken
by the General.

“Have you anything to say. Lady Foxworth?”

Alexa was about to shake her head when she thought better of it. Why should she not speak her mind? What more could they do to her? Certainly not hang her twice. Resolutely she stood to her meager height, turning to face her delighted audience. Her face had gone dead white, and she had to clasp her hands tightly together to keep them from shaking, but her voice was strong and steady, laced with a courage that came from somewhere within her soul.

“What you are doing is wrong,” she said in a low but steady tone. “Not only what you are doing to me but to America as a country and her brave people. I freely admit I admire freedom, and courage, and the will to survive against all adversity. But that is the only crime I confess to. Hang me if you will, for I shall become but another martyr to justice and freedom.”

Alexa was startled to hear cheers ring throughout the room and wondered if Adam was one of those encouraging her. He was, but only in his mind and heart. Never had he admired or loved Alexa more. If only there were some way to make her aware of his feelings, Adam reflected miserably. But with Gwen suspicious of his every move there was no safe way to approach Alexa. Against his will he was forced to stand by helplessly as Alexa was roughly hustled from the courtroom and into a waiting carriage.