The Unknown Bridesmaid by Margaret Forster

Author:Margaret Forster [Margaret Forster]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780701188054
Google: OSyPLwEACAAJ
Amazon: B00AFVNXI0
Goodreads: 17254983
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2013-02-27T13:00:00+00:00

VII

THE HARDEST PART of sitting on the bench was, Julia found, the coffee that preceded it. The routine was that she and whoever else was sitting that session met in a small room before going into the court. The idea was that they got to know each other just enough to feel comfortable in each other’s company, but Julia would have preferred to have gone straight into court, keeping her fellow magistrates at a distance. She felt that during the deliberations that would arise, it would be better not to know what the others did, what their lives were like, what state of health and spirits they were in, all subjects that came up during the preliminary chatting. She didn’t like revealing anything about herself either.

But some of those with whom she sat on the bench made determined efforts to be friendly, going so far as to express concern about her pallor. ‘You’re looking pale,’ this woman, a university lecturer, said, staring straight at Julia. ‘I’m fine,’ Julia said, ignoring the implicit request for information. There was then, because of her clipped tone, what her mother would have called ‘an atmosphere’, and afterwards, when they had a particularly tricky case to consider, Julia felt this atmosphere influenced the other woman’s decision to go with the opinion of the third member of their panel and not with hers. It was a nasty business: a woman found with twelve wraps of crack cocaine. She looked weak and ill, gripping the ledge of the witness box tightly to hold herself up. Her clothing was minimal. The shortest possible skirt without it not being a skirt at all, tights with holes and tears all the way up her legs, a scoop-necked T-shirt, showing bruises across her throat. There were bruises on her face too, making her look what she obviously was, a victim as much as a dealer.

The woman was so clearly ill that Julia thought it automatic that she would be treated in some sort of hospital. But she had previous convictions for shoplifting and soliciting and the decision to send her for trial was made by the other two with only Julia wanting her instead to be released from custody into a rehabilitation unit. The chairman said it would not be appropriate, and that if she was committed to serve a sentence she would be treated in prison.

‘She’s had more than a second chance,’ the chairman said. ‘She really has to face up to the penalties of disregarding the law.’

‘But,’ Julia said, ‘she’s never had a chance. Look at her history. Fostered from the age of two, then a children’s home when the fostering failed, then the abuse from the staff member, then—’

The other woman interrupted her. ‘All this is true, and dreadful,’ she said, quite gently, ‘but she could have turned herself round. She made choices, bad ones, which is why she is here, and has been here before.’

They were right, the other two, but losing the argument made Julia despair.

‘Hiya,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.