William Monk 06 - Cain His Brother

seekers of sensation in particular, was something no decent man wouldwish, and to one like Milo Ravensbrook it was like facing enemy fire. But if there was to be justice it was unavoidable, not only punishment for Caleb, but a decent acknowledgment for Genevieve and her children. “Would you give the court an example of any evidences of these you can recall? Instances of behavior, resentments, quarrels …”
    Ravensbrook looked somewhere over the heads of the crowd.
    “I should prefer not to.”
    “Naturally,” Rathbone commiserated. “No one wishes to recall such events, but I am afraid it is necessary if we are to discover what is the truth of this present tragedy. I am sure you wish that.” He was not perfectly sure. Perhaps Ravensbrook would rather it went unknown, and could fade from memory as a mystery. But he could not say so.
    There were several minutes of silence. One of the jurors coughed and produced a large handkerchief. Another shifted his weight as though embarrassed. The judge stared at Ravensbrook. Ebenezer Goode looked first at Ravensbrook, then at Rathbone, his face expectant.
    But it was Caleb who broke the tension.
    “Forgotten, have you?” he called down, his lips drawn back in something close to a snarl. “Forgotten how Angus was afraid of that damn black horse of yours—but I rode it! Forgotten how angry you were—”
    “Silence!” The judge banged his gavel, but Caleb ignored him, leaning forward over the railing of the dock, his beautiful, manacled hands gripping the railing. His eyes glaring. His expression was one of such blazing hatred it struck a note of fear, even though he was imprisoned by the height of the dock above the floor of the court and had warders on either side of him. There was a power and a rage in him which could be felt across the space as though it might actually touch and darken the mind.
    “… because I could make it behave, and you couldn’t?” Caleb finished, ignoring the judge. It was as if no one existed in the room but himself and Ravensbrook. “Rememberhow you beat me because I took the peaches from the conservatory?”
    Goode was on his feet, but powerless.
    “That was seven years earlier,” Ravensbrook replied, not looking at Caleb, but staring straight ahead of him still. “You took every peach. You deserved punishment.”
    The judge banged his gavel again.
    “Mr. Goode, either keep your client’s behavior appropriate to this court or I shall have him removed and continue the case in his absence. Make that plain to him, sir.”
    Caleb swung around, his face twisted with fury. “Don’t talk to me through a third party, as if I weren’t here, damn you! I can hear what you’re saying and I can understand you. What bloody difference does it make whether I’m here or not anyway? You say what you want about me. Believe what you want. You’ll believe what suits your idea of the way you want things to be!” His voice rose even more. “What does the truth matter? What do you care who killed whom, as long as your world stays the same, with the same comfortable, reassuring lies? Cover it all up! Bury it! Put a white cross over it and say a prayer to your God that he’ll forgive you, then go away and forget. I’ll see you all in hell, be sure of it! I’ll be there and waiting for you!”
    The judge looked tired and sad. “Take the prisoner down,” he instructed the warders.
    Caleb sank down suddenly, his head in his hands.
    Ebenezer Goode rose and walked at least halfway towards the bench.
    “My lord, may we have a brief adjournment so I may advise my client? I believe I can persuade him to keep silence.”
    “There’s no need,” Caleb interrupted, jerking his head up. “I shan’t speak again. There’s nothing else to say.”
    The judge glanced at Rathbone.
    “I am ready to proceed, my lord,” Rathbone replied. He had no desire to break the mood by an adjournment.
    “Another outburst and I will act,” the judge warned.
    “Yes, my lord.” Goode returned to his seat without looking towards the dock.
    Rathbone faced Lord Ravensbrook again.
    “I think part of my question has already been answered, but if you could mention one or two other instances, it would give the court a fuller picture. For example, how did the two brothers fare in their academic studies?”
    Ravensbrook’s body was as rigid as if he were in a military parade.
    “Angus was excellent at his work, especially mathematics, history and geography,” he