The Sting of Justice Read Online Free PDF

‘do you have any beautiful lady judges like this one in Galway?’
    Too much wine, too much food, too much of everything. Mara sat back in her chair to allow Ulick to converse with the lawyer across her. Her eyes went to Rory who was drinking heavily; he had given up trying to talk to Una and
was concentrating on swallowing as much as he could from every dish and every flagon. Obviously he was a visitor in the house; he had come out of one of the guest chambers on the top floor. If he had been merely employed as a bard, he would probably just have bedded down in the guardroom or in one of the many small cabins that lined the courtyard.
    ‘If you’re sure you won’t have anything else to eat, I’d like to discuss this legal matter with you two learned people,’ said Sorley with an unctuous smile across the table at Mara and Lawyer Bodkin. ‘My apprentice has work to do and the young people can go up to the gallery.’ He addressed Una and she got up immediately.
    ‘You must mean me when you speak of young people,’ said Ulick gaily. He got to his feet, seeming quite unaffected by the amount of wine that he had drunk, went around the table and seized Rory by the arm.
    ‘Come on, Master Bard,’ he said. ‘Let me play the zither to you and teach you how it should be done.’ He guided the scowling bard expertly through the door and Daire followed them with a quick bow in Mara’s direction.
    ‘I’ll get the papers.’ Sorley bustled out after them.
    ‘Mara turned to Lawyer Bodkin. ‘This is where we sing for our supper,’ she said lightly.
    ‘Indeed,’ he murmured. ‘It’s going to be interesting to watch you at work.’
    Then he took a seat on the long bench by the fire and said no more. He had a cautious look on his face and Mara approved of that. They were both going to be put into a difficult position by their host of the evening. She left her own seat and went to sit beside him.

    ‘We neither of us want this to be a court, I should imagine.’ She kept her tone low; Una, Rory and Ulick were above their heads in the wooden gallery.
    He bowed, looking amused. ‘Reconciliation?’ he queried.
    ‘And perhaps a little elucidation,’ she suggested, inclining her head.
    He bowed again. ‘I shall follow your lead, my lady judge,’ he said. ‘Judicially speaking,’ and here he tugged at his grey beard, ‘you are the senior here.’
    Mara eyed him curiously. A man with an excellent mind and a sharp wit; how could he believe in such a flawed and unjust legal system as English law, which dealt so savagely with people and punished with the gallows, or worse, minor crimes such as stealing. Over dinner, he had been unable to convince her of its rectitude and she had been unable to shake him in his prejudices against Brehon law. He had been appalled to learn that they had no prisons in these Gaelic kingdoms.
    ‘We must meet again,’ she said and turned as Sorley came back in holding a scroll in his hand.
    ‘The case is quite simple,’ said Sorley standing up before them, dominating the proceedings, thought Mara. ‘This is the list of the valuable silver candlesticks, goblets, plates, brooches, that were lost when Cathal’s boat sank in the storm in Drumcreehy Bay. He managed to get the boat righted, but my silver was left at the bottom of the ocean. I feel that he should pay me what it was worth.’
    ‘And what does Cathal say?’ enquired Mara cautiously.
    ‘Oh, he has some story that his son might be able to recover the casks in midwinter when the tides are low.’

    ‘And would you be happy to wait?’
    ‘Certainly not! I want the value now.’ Sorley shook his head vigorously.
    ‘What does the sea captain say?’ Lawyer Bodkin responded to Sorley’s enquiring look after a minute.
    ‘He’s complaining that he will be ruined, but that’s not my affair,’ said Sorley impatiently.
    ‘And you have always been satisfied about the arrangements that he made in the past? You were happy with the way