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Sally took up the paper again. Her hands were trembling. She read on with increasing disbelief through several more paragraphs of legal language, and came to a long section headed Particulars.
It was easy to follow, next to impossible to take in. It related the story of a marriage that had never existed; it told how Sally and this Mr Parrishhad married, settled in Clapham, had a child, Harriet (whose birthday, at least, was accurate); how Sally had persistently and wilfully treated her “husband” with cruelty, his business associates with scorn and their guests with contempt, until he found it impossible to bring anyone home and be sure she would receive them in a decent and civil manner; how she had taken to drink, and appeared drunk in public on more than one occasion (details provided, witnesses named); how she had mistreated the servants, forcing three separate maidservants to leave without notice (names and addresses provided); how she had misused the money her “husband” had settled on her, and insisted against his wishes on setting up in business on her own; how he had attempted to reason with her, and live with the situation, and treated her with every consideration; how, shortly after the birth of their child, she had deserted the family home, taking the child with her; how she was not a fit person to have custody of the child, because she was currently associating with persons of doubtful morality, sharing a household with two unmarried men (names provided); and there was more. There were five closely written pages, but she had to push the document away after scanning only two of them.
“I don't believe it,” she said, hardly in control of her voice. She thrust the paper at Sarah-Jane and stood up blindly. While Sarah-Jane looked at it, Sally walked to the end of the orchard, plucked a twig off the apple tree, and shredded it to pieces. She felt as if someone had crept into her life and befouled everything in sight. That anyone could write such a pack of filthy lies about her – but it was impossible. She couldn’t take it in.
There was worse to come. She heard Sarah-Jane gasp, and turned quickly. Sarah-Jane was holding out the last section of the document. It was headed Prayer. Sally took it and sat down. She felt unable to stand.
The page read:
The petitioner therefore prays:
That the said marriage be dissolved.
That the petitioner be granted the custody of the child, Harriet Rosa, with immediate effect.
That –
It was enough. Sally wanted to read no more. Someone, someone unknown, this Parrish, a liar, a madman, wanted to take her child away from her.
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