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

“You are indicating the defendant, Mr. d’Autremont?”


“Mrs. Treadwell, I have to ask you why you waited until now to come forward with your story? This trial has been well publicized in the papers and on television. Surely you must have seen the defendant’s picture in them.”


“Well, I only read the religion section in the paper, and I never watch the TV news, it’s too depressing. All that horrible sex and violence coming right into your living room—it’s enough to make a Christian woman blush. Yesterday evening, though, I was over at my friend Agnes’ house, and she had the news on. Agnes is a dear friend, but she just doesn’t know to shut off the TV when she has a visitor, so I sat and watched the news with her. That’s when I saw his picture.”


“Yes, Sir. They were doing a story about this trial, and they showed his picture.”


Chapter 94