Attorney Charles Barnett thought it was all over for him and his heart. In the three years since his partner died, he hasn't felt so much as a spark of attraction to another man. That suddenly changes when Charles is assigned a new case and meets his new client.<br><br>Recent widower Philip d'Autremont has been traveling in all the same circles as Charles, but somehow they've never managed to meet. Now that they have, both men find themselves falling hard and fast.<br><br>But there's more than one hurdle to Charles and Philip beginning a love affair, much less maintaining it: Philip is on trial for murder, a politically ambitious and homophobic district attorney is determined to convict him, and Charles is responsible for Philip's defense.

Trial

We spent an enjoyable hour visiting, during which Mrs. Barnett reminisced at length—for my benefit, I suspected—about Charles and Richard as boys and young men. It became apparent from her anecdotes that Richard had spent more time in her home growing up than he’d spent with his own family. From time to time she managed to skillfully draw me into the conversation with questions about Louisiana and my family. I realized finally that without having made an inquisition of the process, she’d managed to gather more information about my history than one would have thought possible. Just in time to prevent us from having a third round of drinks, Goodman appeared in the doorway and announced that dinner was served.


Chapter 51