to find Cabeto, Charlotte! I have to find a way to help him. I thought if I could just get to America . . . Oh, why did this all have to happen now, just when everything is finally ready?"
Tears flooded Grace's eyes and her shoulders trembled.
"An entire year has already gone by," Grace sobbed. "Unless I can do something very soon . . . Oh, Charlotte, Cabeto needs me now!"
"Tell me about the silk purse," Lady Charlotte said. "Tell me about the shillings they found."
"When I came to London from Africa, just before I got off the ship, Captain Ross gave me that purse with fifteen silver shillings in it. Missus Peete can tell you as much. I had to spend most of the shillings. But Nurse Cunningham paid me one shilling each week for my work at the Foundling Hospital, and whatever of it I could save went into that purse."
Lady Charlotte nodded thoughtfully.
"Charlotte, everything your husband says I stole was already mine!"
Before Lady Charlotte took her leave, she gave Grace a bundle that contained a cloth to clean herself with, a comb for her hair, and a clean dress. She also gave Grace a fresh meat pie and a crisp apple. And she slipped two shillings into Grace's hand. "For the jailer," Lady Charlotte said.
Two shillings bought Grace a clean space on the floor, water for washing, two ladles full of clean drinking water, and a blanket for the night. And the next morning, it was not the rough jailer who called out her name, but a man of a most respectable appearance. Dressed in a black suit of clothes and a broad-brimmed hat, he could have been taken for a clergyman come to comfort those on their way to the gallows, rather than the turnkey who ran the jail, were it not for the jangle of keys he wore at his waist.
The turnkey personally led Grace outside the prison doors.He walked her across Newgate Street, where they passed directly under the gallows. She followed the somber man in black all the way back to the courtroom where, just the day before, Lord Judge Aaron North had sentenced her to death.
"Grace Winslow?"
Lord Judge North started in surprise when he saw the young woman who stepped up into the dock.
Clean and combed and dressed in Charlotte's green silk frock, Grace did indeed look to be an entirely different person.
The courtroom was not nearly as full as it had been the day before for her trial. Lady Charlotte was there. She smiled encouragingly at Grace as she entered. To Grace's delight Missus Peete was also in attendance, seated in self-conscious discomfort on Lady Charlotte's left. Nurse Cunningham sat on the opposite side, to Lady Charlotte's right.
Lord Reginald Witherham had reclaimed his seat nearest the judge, but now the chairs around him sat empty. Lord Reginald crossed his legs, then he uncrossed them. He folded his arms, then he unfolded them. Nervously he laid his hands in his lap, one on top of the other. Lord Reginald cast a vicious stare across the witness box to his wife. He turned to Grace and glowered at her as she stood in the dock.
In the back of the courtroom, out of Lord Reginald's sight, Joseph Winslow crept in and sank down in a back-row seat.Grace didn't see her father enter.
"I have before me a declaration of evidence that concerns the conviction of Grace Winslow, who yesterday in this court was sentenced to death by hanging," said Lord Judge North.He glanced up at Lord Reginald, but only for an instant.Quickly he recovered himself and proceeded to read aloud Charlotte's written explanation for each of the charges made against Grace.
As Lord Judge North read the final words, Lord Reginald jumped to his feet.
"Please, Your Lordship, if I may prevail upon the Crown to speak!" he demanded. "This document is merely an obvious attempt on the part of a practiced thief to gain the Crown's sympathy. I do not place blame on you, Your Lordship, for mistaking the defendant's word as truth, for her words have even deceived my own wife. But, as I am certain you can see, her explanations
Tears flooded Grace's eyes and her shoulders trembled.
"An entire year has already gone by," Grace sobbed. "Unless I can do something very soon . . . Oh, Charlotte, Cabeto needs me now!"
"Tell me about the silk purse," Lady Charlotte said. "Tell me about the shillings they found."
"When I came to London from Africa, just before I got off the ship, Captain Ross gave me that purse with fifteen silver shillings in it. Missus Peete can tell you as much. I had to spend most of the shillings. But Nurse Cunningham paid me one shilling each week for my work at the Foundling Hospital, and whatever of it I could save went into that purse."
Lady Charlotte nodded thoughtfully.
"Charlotte, everything your husband says I stole was already mine!"
Before Lady Charlotte took her leave, she gave Grace a bundle that contained a cloth to clean herself with, a comb for her hair, and a clean dress. She also gave Grace a fresh meat pie and a crisp apple. And she slipped two shillings into Grace's hand. "For the jailer," Lady Charlotte said.
Two shillings bought Grace a clean space on the floor, water for washing, two ladles full of clean drinking water, and a blanket for the night. And the next morning, it was not the rough jailer who called out her name, but a man of a most respectable appearance. Dressed in a black suit of clothes and a broad-brimmed hat, he could have been taken for a clergyman come to comfort those on their way to the gallows, rather than the turnkey who ran the jail, were it not for the jangle of keys he wore at his waist.
The turnkey personally led Grace outside the prison doors.He walked her across Newgate Street, where they passed directly under the gallows. She followed the somber man in black all the way back to the courtroom where, just the day before, Lord Judge Aaron North had sentenced her to death.
"Grace Winslow?"
Lord Judge North started in surprise when he saw the young woman who stepped up into the dock.
Clean and combed and dressed in Charlotte's green silk frock, Grace did indeed look to be an entirely different person.
The courtroom was not nearly as full as it had been the day before for her trial. Lady Charlotte was there. She smiled encouragingly at Grace as she entered. To Grace's delight Missus Peete was also in attendance, seated in self-conscious discomfort on Lady Charlotte's left. Nurse Cunningham sat on the opposite side, to Lady Charlotte's right.
Lord Reginald Witherham had reclaimed his seat nearest the judge, but now the chairs around him sat empty. Lord Reginald crossed his legs, then he uncrossed them. He folded his arms, then he unfolded them. Nervously he laid his hands in his lap, one on top of the other. Lord Reginald cast a vicious stare across the witness box to his wife. He turned to Grace and glowered at her as she stood in the dock.
In the back of the courtroom, out of Lord Reginald's sight, Joseph Winslow crept in and sank down in a back-row seat.Grace didn't see her father enter.
"I have before me a declaration of evidence that concerns the conviction of Grace Winslow, who yesterday in this court was sentenced to death by hanging," said Lord Judge North.He glanced up at Lord Reginald, but only for an instant.Quickly he recovered himself and proceeded to read aloud Charlotte's written explanation for each of the charges made against Grace.
As Lord Judge North read the final words, Lord Reginald jumped to his feet.
"Please, Your Lordship, if I may prevail upon the Crown to speak!" he demanded. "This document is merely an obvious attempt on the part of a practiced thief to gain the Crown's sympathy. I do not place blame on you, Your Lordship, for mistaking the defendant's word as truth, for her words have even deceived my own wife. But, as I am certain you can see, her explanations
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