The counsel for the defence rose and immediately went on the attack. He cast doubts on Harald's manhood and sought permission to call witnesses. Henry Knowles was the first to take the stand. He described a frolic in the barn with Harald's wife, Judith. They allegedly made love against a pile of hay while she divulged the secrets of her unhappy marriage.
Sir Hugh swooped like a hawk on its pray.
'How old were you, Master Knowles?'
Henry looked perplexed.
'When you endowed Mistress Gascoigne with your irrepressible charms … how old were you?'
Henry shuffled his feet.
'You were six-years-old, Master Knowles. Are you going to tax the credulity of the honourable members of the jury by claiming that a shrimp could make love to a whale?'
There was laughter in court. People settled down like spectators at a mummers' play, waiting to see what would happen next.
The counsel for the defence jumped up. 'Show proof.'
Sir Hugh opened his document case and produced a slip of paper that was handed to a clerk who conveyed it to the presiding judge.
'Here, my lord, is our proof.'
The judge gave the document a cursory glance and accepted it as genuine.
Harald had been prepared to argue the point but that had not been necessary. He guessed that Hugh had prepared the ground beforehand and wondered if he'd bribed all the justices on the bench.
Jane Etheridge was the next to appear. The smartly dressed woman dissolved in tears when Sir Hugh produced letters to prove she was in France when her alleged conversation with Judith took place. Harald waited for further witnesses to come forward. Alice's cousin, Catherine, would be difficult to refute. But Catherine did not appear. Nor did any of the other witnesses.
The council for the defence pointed an accusing finger.
'Sir Harald Gascoigne has with threats of violence prevented true testimony to the veracity of our case, my lord.'
The judge peered at Harald. 'Do you refute this accusation?'
'I do, my lord,' Harald replied truthfully. 'I have never used violence nor threatened it against anyone.'
'You are well known as a man who eschews such practices?'
'I believe that to be the case, my lord.'
'I accept your rebuttal.'
Harald expected Roger Knowles to argue the point. Instead, he read from a letter, saying it had been written by Harald's mother.
'Madam, I would have you know that I am right worried and offended by the conduct of your daughter Judith who, although married to our son Harald, is displaying unwholesome tendencies towards certain male members of our household while our son is engaged in his studies at Oxford. I would caution and beseech you, Madam, to give mind to the terms of the contract negotiated between our two families.'