Delancy shrugged. “I meant no offense.”
Catherine gave him a reproachful look. “You must forgive my husband, Honor. He tends to be outspoken.”
Something unspoken passed between the Delancys and Nevada, leaving Honor feeling excluded from their shared history.
Damon scanned the dock. “Where are the police? I expected them to be waiting for us the minute we stepped on shore.”
“I’m sure the Harbor Police spotted you the moment your yacht arrived, and you’ll be arrested as you go through customs,” Honor said, tugging at her locket.
“Then what will happen to us?” Delancy demanded. He was obviously a man who took control of every situation and wanted to know his options.
“Since it’s after four o’clock and no magistrates are holding court to set your bail, you’ll have to spend the night in jail. Tomorrow morning you’ll appear before a magistrate for a bail hearing. I can try to get you out on bail, if you like.”
Delancy scowled at her. “Try? What do you mean, try? I don’t want to rot in the Tombs. I want us free on bail, is that clear?”
Honor fought down her rising temper and reminded herself that these were Nevada’s friends. “What you want is immaterial. The magistrate will decide whether you remain in jail or are freed on bail. Since you have already fled the country once, he may fear that you’ll run again and deny you bail.”
Delancy glared at her out of gray eyes quick to go cold. He did not like being thwarted. “That’s absurd. We wouldn’t have come back if we planned to leave again.”
“I will point that out at your hearing, but I can’t guarantee the magistrate will accept that argument.”
“If that’s the case, I’d just as soon return to my ship and get out of here while the getting’s good.”
Catherine placed a hand on his arm. “Please, Damon. Before we left London, you agreed that we would accept the consequences of returning, no matter what they were.”
He touched her cheek, his eyes warming with love for her. “I’m having second thoughts. We left New York to keep you out of prison, and I didn’t return just to put you there. You’re not a criminal.”
Catherine turned to Honor. “What will they do to Damon?”
“He’s an accessory. He’ll be tried separately.”
Damon said, “If I’m convicted, how long will I spend in jail?”
“That will depend on the judge.”
He took his wife’s hand, his harsh expression softening with tenderness. “I don’t care what they do to me. I just want Catherine to be free.”
He looked at Honor with an intensity that made her shiver. “All right. You can represent us at our bail hearing.”
Catherine squeezed her husband’s hand. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
As Honor had predicted, when the Delancys went through customs, they were detained until the police came to arrest them.
Hours later, after watching the Delancys being led away to their jail cells in the Tombs, Honor and Nevada returned to the Fifth Avenue mansion.
The moment Nevada entered the library, he poured himself two fingers of bourbon and downed it in one swallow. Too preoccupied to offer Honor anything, he strode over to the fireplace and leaned heavily against the mantel.
She stared at his back, debating whether to go to him. She decided not to. Ever since the Delancys’ arrival, she had sensed a profound change in Nevada. His old friends now filled his life, leaving Honor to feel like an interloper.
Don’t be absurd, she chided herself. He is your lover. There will always be room in his life for you.
“Did the police really have to lead them off in handcuffs?” he muttered bitterly. “I thought Delancy was going to go hog-wild when they put them on the doc.”
“I know it’s humiliating, but they have to do that,” she said gently.
He turned to her, his blue eyes tired and troubled. “What if their bail is denied tomorrow?”
“I don’t think that will happen. After all, Catherine isn’t a murderess. Despite what Anthony Comstock thinks, she poses no real threat to society, and no judge wants to lock up a woman for any length of time, especially one who has just lost her child.” Honor walked over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “They did return to New York of their own volition. That should count in their favor when I see the district attorney about dropping the other charges.”
“I hope so.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll plan my strategy very carefully.”
He covered her hand with his own and managed a wan smile. “I know you’ll do your best.”
“I may not have tried a criminal case, but I excelled in criminal law in school and assisted other lawyers when I was a clerk in Boston.”
“I wasn’t doubting you.”
Honor took a deep breath. “I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, but I don’t think your friend Delancy shares your view.”
Nevada’s expression changed to one of bewilderment. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t think he likes me.”
Instead of disputing. Honor’s assertion, Nevada said, “He’ll come around once he gets to know you better. You have to understand that he’s always been protective of the doc. When she’s threatened, he gets as ornery as a sidewinder that’s just been stepped on.”
“Quite frankly, I found him arrogant and overbearing.” The moment the words popped out of her mouth, Honor realized she should have kept her opinion of Damon Delancy to herself.
Nevada’s brows rose in surprise, and he stared at Honor for what seemed like an eternity. “Are you saying you don’t like him?”
Honor tugged at her locket. “He reminds me of the man who swindled my father.”
He grew very still. “Delancy’s not like that. He has his faults, but he’s a good man.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help the way I feel.”
“Damon and Catherine are more than friends. They’re my family. I hoped you would like them.”
And if I don’t?
She shrugged helplessly. “I like Catherine, but I sense that Damon disapproves of me.”
Placing his hand beneath her elbow, Nevada said, “Let’s talk,” and guided her over to the sofa.
Once they were seated, he turned his body so that he was facing her. “Damon is used to being the boss. I suppose I’m used to his ways, so I don’t notice it.” He shrugged. “That’s just the way he is, and I accept it.”
She stared at a row of books lining one of the shelves on the opposite wall. “I’ve fought against male prejudice for most of my professional life, and I resent his implication that I must somehow be incompetent because I am a female.”
“He didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he said gently. “His own wife’s a doctor. He respects professional women.”
“Perhaps he respects her profession because she is his wife and he loves her.”
“You’re wrong about him.”
Honor smiled. “We’ll see.”
Nevada didn’t return her smile, just stared at her as if she had turned into a stranger.
Feeling suddenly awkward, Honor rose. “I really should be going. I have to prepare for their bail hearing tomorrow.” When Nevada rose, she said, “Unless you want me to stay.”
“I have some things to see to before Delancy is released,” he said. “Now that he’s back, he’ll be taking the reins of Delancy and LaRouche again.”
Honor nodded. “Of course.”
He walked her to the front door and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll have the carriage take you home.”
She managed a smile. “I’ll see you in court tomorrow.” He smiled back, but his eyes remained remote. “Until then.”
After handing her into the carriage, he returned to the house.
The moment Honor walked into her dark, empty apartment, she felt frustrated tears sting her eyes. She never should have told Nevada what she really thought of Damon Delancy.
She turned on the light in the sitting room and removed her coat and hat. Though Nevada hadn’t said anything, she could tell that he was disturbed and disappointed by her reaction to his friend.
When Nevada had told her that the Delancys were returning, Honor had expected to fit right in and turn their close trio into a quartet. She hadn’t expected to find that Damon Delancy reminded her of the man who had swindled her father. She hadn’t expected that he would dislike her. It certainly made matters awkward, if not downright impossible.
And what of Nevada? Though he didn’t show it, he had been upset by the apparent friction between his lover and his best friend.
Honor recalled the meeting on the dock, when Nevada had defended her to Damon. Yet tonight, when Honor offered to stay with him, he had rebuffed her with the excuse that he had to prepare for Damon’s return. If Nevada chose his friends over her, there was nothing she could do about it.
Honor went to her desk and retrieved her tablet, then sat down and started planning her strategy for freeing the Delancys.
The following morning Honor faced a grim-faced magistrate at the Delancys’ bail hearing.
Honor handed the magistrate a letter. “Because the Delancys returned willingly to stand trial, and because of their high standing in the community,” she began, “District Attorney Rampling has agreed to drop the charges of jumping bail against Dr. Delancy, and the obstruction of justice charge against Damon Delancy. However, the previous charge against Dr. Delancy for violating the Comstock Act still stands.”
The magistrate frowned as he read the letter. He sighed. “Very well. The charge against Damon Delancy is dismissed.”
Honor sighed in relief.
The magistrate said, “Do you know of any reason why I should grant Dr. Delancy bail, Mrs. Davis? She left the country once before. What makes you think she won’t do it again?”
“Sir,” she began, “Mr. and Dr. Delancy returned to New York City of their own volition, knowing full well that they would be arrested as soon as they docked. If they intended to jump bail again, why wouldn’t they just remain in England? Why return to this country at all?”
She paused and strolled around the table where the Delancys sat, watching her. She tried not to think of Nevada sitting right behind her, and how they hadn’t said two words to each other before the bail hearing began.
“My clients pose no threat of flight. Dr. Delancy returned to stand trial for the charges against her, and stand trial she will.”
Honor studied the magistrate’s stone face for any sign of how he might rule. Nothing. “Let us also consider the severity of the charges. Dr. Delancy is not a murderess or a thief. She has been accused of violating the Comstock Act by receiving anti-conception information through the mail, a misdemeanor, not a felony.” She turned and shook her head in exaggerated bewilderment at the absurdity and insignificance of such charges. “Need I remind you that many have been released on bail despite far more serious charges?”
“No, Mrs. Davis,” the magistrate said with some asperity, “you don’t need to remind us of anything.”
“Before you deny my client bail,” Honor continued, “I would also ask you to consider the great loss to society if Dr. Delancy were to be jailed until her trial.”
“And what great loss to society would that be, counselor?” the magistrate said.
Honor raised her brows. “Catherine Delancy is a physician dedicated to providing free medical care for the poor. She has volunteered her services at the Women’s Dispensary on the Lower East Side. She will be visiting squalid, overcrowded tenements not fit for animals, caring for women who are going to have babies, and treating their ill children—all at great risk to her own personal health and safety, I might add. Her humanitarian efforts would be lost if she were jailed for even a day.”
Honor took a few steps toward the bench and spread her hands beseechingly. “And finally I appeal to your sense of compassion. Several months ago the Delancys’ only child, a four-year-old son, died.” She paused for effect. “Grant Dr. Delancy bail. Let her and her husband enjoy what little time they may have together.”
She thanked him, sat down, and prayed.
After a minute of deliberation the magistrate said, “You have made a most convincing argument, Mrs. Davis. Bail is set at five thousand dollars.” He slammed his gavel down with a crack.
Honor let out the breath she had been holding, rose, and turned to the Delancys with a gloating smile. “You’re free
—
for now.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Catherine said.
Damon extended his hand, his gray eyes cool. “You did well, but this was only a bail hearing.”
“I kept you out of jail, didn’t I?” Honor snapped. “Now if you’ll come with me to sign some papers, we’ll have you out of here as quickly as possible.”
Turning to leave the courtroom, Honor saw Nevada waiting for them. His remote blue eyes rested on her in puzzlement for an instant. Then he was grinning and stepping forward to congratulate his friends while Honor stood by in silence. When they were ready to leave, she turned and headed for the door to avoid saying anything to Nevada.
She hadn’t taken four steps when she felt a restraining hand on her arm. She turned to find him staring down at her.