Matthew took a deep breath, his patience with this woman was starting to wan. "Whether you felt like a prisoner or not is immaterial. It is only the facts that concern the courts, not the feelings of a silly young lady!"

Helen gasped as if he'd trodden on the hem of her dress. "How dare you call me silly!" she cried.

"I will call you as I see you!" Matthew replied his patience having run out. "First you hate him, you even run from him! Now you sit here upset that he is getting the punishment he deserves. It is for this I call you silly!"

Tears welled up in Helen's eyes, and she made for the door to the parlor.

"Helen wait!" Matthew yelled "Please, I'm sorry. It is just that I do not understand."

Helen wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and reached for the doorknob. "What is there to understand?" she asked.

"Why is it that you feel so deeply for someone who has done such harm? Why do you keep blaming yourself? And why for gods sake did I have to stand in that foul smelling place while you fawned over your capture!" Matthew yelled tired of the back and forth nature of woman.

"Because he's not a bad man," Helen sobbed. "He's made poor decisions, but he is gentle!"

((Come, Matthew, show some sensitivity! XD How is Helen going to convince you to break Juan out of prison?))

"Gentle" he began but seeing her face, her sorrow and her pain he stopped. Unsure what to say he simply stared into grief.

Helen, now both sad over Juan's fate and her own wounded pride, sniffled and dabbed at her eyes.

"Helen" Matthew finally said "I am sorry, that was very ungentlmanly of me. Please sit, let us discuss the problem. Perhaps there is a solution to all of this."

"What kind of solution can there be?" Helen whispered, coming to sit on the settee. "He's doomed. Tomorrow, Mr. Suft!"

"Perhaps Mr. Edmund can be of assistance? A stay of execution perhaps." Matthew replied even though he knew that no recourse was to be had.

((WOW! I totally thought I'd replied to this - so sorry!))

"It's no use," said Helen. "Mr. Edmund was the prosecution. People want Juan mur - mur - " She couldn't say the word 'murdered,' so she made a vague gesture with her hands to replace it.

"Then we will have to accept it, Helen. Short of some miraculous event Juan will have to face his sentence." Matthew replied trying to be gentle and understanding this time.

"I foresee no miracle," Helen murmured sadly.

"Perhaps...." Matthew started "Perhaps we could make our own miracle."

Helen stopped mid-sniffle and looked up at Matthew, her eyes red but hopeful. "What...what do you mean, Mr. Suft?" she asked after a moment.

"Of the many things my father has taught me the only we agree on is that money can buy anything you want." smiling to himself he continued "With a little bit of coin I am sure that Juan can be obtained before his death."

"Oh, no," Helen began. "I couldn't possibly ask you to do such a thing...what if it doesn't work?"

"Why wouldn't it work?" he asked "Every man has his price we will simply have to find out Juan's"

"But what shall we do with him after we get him?" Helen asked, getting a little warm at the terrifying yet exciting prospect. "We can hardly prance about London with him."

Matthew thought for a moment "We will return to the neighborhood with him. We can simply tell everyone that he is my acquaintance that has been taken ill."

Helen went to the window, where the cool autumn breezes fanned her hot cheeks. "That couldn't possibly work," she said, all the while staring down the London street to try and catch a glimpse of faraway Newgate.

"But what alternative do we have?"

Helen did not answer at first. But finally, she said, "Who does one bribe, in circumstances like this? The judge? The king?"

"The warden. If we can persuade him to label Juan as deceased and release him to us for burial we might just be able to get him out alive."

She turned to look at Matthew. "And what if the warden turns us over?"

"He won't. But getting us out of the prison with a live person will not be easy."

Helen, burning with anticipation and buzzing with nervousness, put her head on the cool windowpane in thought. Her first idea was to have Juan dress up as a woman and accompany them out as Helen's "maid," but she doubted he would like that very much. Besides, if they came in with two persons and exited with three, it was bound to raise some suspicions. But what if...

"Mr. Suft, do you have a manservant or footman available tonight? One you trust?"

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