Chapter 26
A/N: Those who have read my fanfic Breaking Point will know that I am also a fan of Law & Order UK. I therefore thought it would be rather fun to call the Prosecutor at Gregson's trial James Steel – since he is one of my favourites in Law & Order UK - but this is not a crossover because, obviously, Law & Order UK is not set in the same time period as Downton.
Anthony Strallan lay in his wife's arms enjoying the sensation of her hands caressing his back and her warm body pressed close to him. It was warm despite being fairly early in the morning. They were slicked with sweat after making love. She looked into his eyes.
"I feel close to you right now," she whispered, "I know I can get through anything with you beside me and the fact that Mary and I are getting along better makes the world of difference to my mood."
He pulled her close.
"I really can't wait to take you on the most romantic honeymoon any couple could have," he murmured into her ear, "There are so many wonderful places in Europe I would like to experience with you."
"I can't wait to experience them with you either," she whispered as she brushed the hollow of his neck with her lips.
OO
They met up with Robert, Matthew, Mary, Rosamund and Isobel close to the Old Bailey. Robert had spoken to Murray who had clarified that they could discuss the specifics of the case with regard to Mrs Gregson's murder as Edith would not be giving evidence about this aspect of the case.
They caught sight of DI Grayling and DS Rankin. Edith introduced them to her family. Grayling would be giving evidence that very day.
"I should not really be talking to you at all by rights," he said, "but I just wanted to wish you both luck."
"I feel a lot calmer about things at the moment," Edith said, "but I daresay that will change as the day draws nearer."
Anthony slipped his arm around her waist.
"You will be fine, Lady Strallan," Grayling said, "I have every faith in you."
Anthony offered Grayling his good hand.
"Best of luck to you too," he said.
OO
After another bowl of inedible prison slop for breakfast two guards came into Gregson's cell with his clothes. He was forced to endure the humiliation of a strip search; that is they watched him remove his prison issue garments, before he was allowed to dress in his own clothes. Gregson smirked as he realised that, for all his heroism, Edith's husband was not even able to dress himself without help.
He was led outside cuffed between two officers who were taking no chances. He was hustled into a prison van and made to sit for the short drive to the Old Bailey. He soon found himself in a cold dank holding cell in the bowels of the building which epitomised the British legal and judicial system.
No one spoke to him but he could feel the hostility all around. He recalled the letters he had received following the newspaper reporting of the day he had killed Hancock. The letters stated that he would be dead in no uncertain terms should he somehow manage to escape the noose and walk free. For the very first time since his arrest Michael Gregson began to feel afraid.
He was led up to the number one court. He saw the twelve men in the jury box looking impassive and sensed that those expressions would change over the course of the coming days. He saw Lord Grantham in the public gallery along with Lady Mary and Mr Matthew Crawley and two women he had not met in Scotland; namely Isobel and Rosamund. The way Lady Mary looked at him had the same force of hatred as a hurricane and he felt a cold blast from her direction chillier than a wind from Siberia.
"Will the prisoner at the bar please stand?" the judge said.
Gregson stood.
The clerk of the court said, "Would you please confirm your full name for court records?"
"Michael John Gregson."
"Michael Gregson you are charged that, on the evening of July third in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and twenty two you did wilfully murder Mrs Maureen Gregson. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty,"
A tall man, whom Gregson estimated to be in his late thirties, stood. He had sandy blond hair and an air of intelligence. This was the Prosecutor, Mr James Steel.
"The Prosecution will prove beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Gregson did indeed visit Mrs Maureen Gregson on the evening in question at the psychiatric institution in which she resided for the express purpose of giving her an overdose of her medication which you knew would prove fatal. Furthermore I will prove motive in that Mrs Gregson's mental condition prevented you from divorcing her legally to enable you to marry Lady Edith Crawley, now Lady Edith Strallan, who had been your mistress for a number of months."
"Please call your first witness, Mr Steel," the judge said.
"The Crown calls Detective Inspector James Grayling of Scotland Yard, Your Worship"
OO
"I wonder what is happening," Edith mused.
She and Anthony were in a room where witnesses waited to be called. They were alone. Anthony drew her close to him.
"Perhaps it is better we don't know my darling,"
She held and caressed his injured hand. She knew he could not feel it but he smiled as he looked down and saw what she was doing.
"I love you," she whispered, "more than I could ever love anyone."
"I know," he kissed her cheek, "I really do love you so much too; not just because you are the best wife anyone could ask for and because you help me with things I can't physically manage but because you make me feel years younger and complete for the first time in years. You make me feel good about myself for the first time in I don't know how long,"
"You are a good decent man with so much to offer," she rubbed his back lightly, "I truly want for nothing as your wife because you give me all the love I have ever needed and you let me be myself and love me for that," she kissed him and whispered, "maybe this is not the time to be talking about such matters but I would love to hold your baby in my arms, that is the only thing I don't have right now and that would truly make me complete. We have the rest of our lives together to realise that dream."
"Oh Edith," he whispered, "You really have no idea what becoming a father would mean to me,"
"I think I do, Anthony darling because I want the same thing."
He nuzzled her neck, "Then I suggest we spend the evenings we are down here waiting as an opportunity to work towards realising this dream. I want to see your stomach swollen with my child and I will take the best care of you."
"Let's get started tonight," she whispered.
OO
"So what did you find in Mrs Gregson's room, Inspector Grayling?" Steel asked.
"We found a medication bottle," Grayling replied, "It was sent for analysis and found to bear Mr Gregson's fingerprints and those of the prescribing physician who attended her before she was sectioned. He confirmed that he last prescribed these particular drugs for Mrs Gregson about a month before she was admitted to the institution and the doctor at the institution confirmed that the drugs Mrs Gregson has been taking since she was admitted are not the same type."
Gregson rubbed his temples; it was very warm in the courtroom and his head was throbbing but he forced himself to concentrate.
"So what conclusion do you draw from this Inspector Grayling?" Steel asked.
"My colleague, Detective Sergeant Rankin and myself, conclude that Mr Gregson took the medication with him that evening to visit his wife; something which incidentally he had not done for some time according to visiting records, with the express intention of administering a fatal overdose."