The Glittering Court
Page 90
It was something we’d discussed frequently: The more time Warren was in Cape Triumph, the more time he had to perfect his story and muster support from his powerful friends.
“One other thing . . .” The doctor looked a bit uneasy and cast a nervous glance my way. “Mister Garrett said to tell you that his partner had arrived in Cape Triumph and that he had your portrait—that it was a match. My—my lady.”
I held up a hand. “Please. There’s no need. Adelaide is fine.”
The doctor gave some advice to Cedric before leaving, as well as various medicines to help with the healing. When he was gone, I leaned my head on Cedric’s shoulder. “Well, that’s that. The secret’s out.”
“Exactly which of our many secrets are you referring to?”
“You know which. My identity. Er, my old one.” I sighed. “But if Silas’s partner authenticated it, then maybe my word will have greater weight. Except that now I’ve opened myself up to anyone hoping to cash in on Grandmother’s reward.”
“Do not tell anyone we’re married,” Cedric said in a low voice, guessing what I was about to say next.
“But that was the whole point! To give me protection if I was outed as a runaway countess. And I have been.”
He shook his head. “You’re key in this case—Silas will protect you now. And our backup plan was created before I was outed as a heretic. They’re going to put me on trial for that. If you’re identified as my legal wife, they’re going to cast you as Alanzan by association. I’m not going to have you hanged with me.”
“And I’m not going to have you hanged at all,” I growled. “Or let Warren go unpunished.”
But when we sailed back to Cape Triumph the next morning, I wasn’t nearly so confident. As a fledgling colony, Hadisen had no court capable of handling a major case like this, so it was being dealt with in Denham. Warren had a lot of connections there. And the Alanzan faith was illegal in both colonies.
We docked in Cape Triumph in early evening and were promptly separated. Cedric had to stay in custody throughout his trial, and it was only a small comfort that Warren and his henchmen were also in custody.
“I’m not completely insensitive, my lady,” Silas told me. I didn’t bother correcting him. If my title could strengthen our case, I’d let it be used. “I’ll make sure he’s looked after. And I’ll have a doctor check in.”
“Thank you,” I said. He gave us a moment of privacy to say goodbye, and I clasped Cedric’s hand. It was about as much as I could do, given his injuries.
“We’ll get through this,” I said. “I’ll find a way.”
“You always do.”
The old bravado was in his voice, but I caught a glint of uncertainty in his eyes. I kissed him fiercely, uncaring of any passersby who saw. And when Silas’s men led him away, I stared after them until Cedric had been swallowed by the bustling crowd on Cape Triumph’s docks.
“Miss,” said one of the hired lawmen. “Mister Garrett said we’re to escort you wherever you want to go.”
I had no idea where I wanted to go. I’d thought little beyond Cedric’s fate and now found myself in an odd situation. After years of feeling constricted and defined by the rules of others, I had no limitations now. I could move and go freely—except I had no place to go. No home, no money, no family.
But I still had friends.
“Take me to Wisteria Hollow.”
Unsurprisingly, my reception wasn’t that warm. Jasper came striding out of his office as soon as Mistress Culpepper announced me in the foyer. He pointed an accusing finger at me.
“No. No. I don’t care who you are or what titles you allegedly have. You cannot come crawling back here after everything you’ve done to us. You chose to walk away from this life. Don’t try to get it back.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I just . . . well . . . that is . . . I don’t have anywhere to stay.”
We’d gathered an audience of my beautifully styled peers, making me self-conscious about my bedraggled appearance. Charles was among them. His return to Osfrid to help recruit the next batch of girls had been delayed after all the recent developments. “Jasper, the girl was one of our own, and she may very well be one of our family once this business with Cedric is settled.”
Jasper turned on his brother incredulously. “‘This business?’ He’s being tried for heresy and assault! There’s only one way that can be settled.”
“Assault?” I asked in surprise. “Have you seen him?”
“That’s the story going around,” Jasper said. “That you two got desperate when it became clear you weren’t going to be able to pay off your debt to Warren Doyle. So you staged an attack to make it look like raiders had come after him—only his men got there in time to save him.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor. “Is that what they’ve come up with? It’s a lie! Come on. You must know Cedric better than that.”
“Actually,” said Jasper, face grim, “I really don’t feel like I know my son at all. What I do know is that before you came along, he wasn’t abducting noblewomen, practicing heresy, or assaulting government leaders. So you’ll understand when I say politely as I can: Get out of my house.”
“She can stay with me.” Aiana strode forward from those gathered, as cool and confident as ever. “And don’t look at me like that, Mister Jasper. I rent my own home and can do as I like. Come on, Adelaide.”
What else could I do? There was no home for me here. I had to take whatever allies I could get—though I was surprised to find that my two biggest ones hadn’t been in the foyer.
“Where are Tamsin and Mira?” I asked, once I was inside Aiana’s home. It was a surprisingly spacious suite of rooms above a tavern in the city’s busy entertainment district. The soundproofing was good, but I could still make out the faint tinkling of piano music from below.
Aiana had been putting a teakettle on her large stove and turned to me in surprise. “You don’t know? About Tamsin?”
“What is there to know? Did she get married or something?”
“Sit down,” Aiana ordered.
I obeyed, settling into a chair covered by a blanket with an intricately colored turtle design. I wondered if it was Balanquan, but the look on Aiana’s face made me forget all about art. “Where is Tamsin?”
Aiana pulled up a stool and sat across from me. “Adelaide, Tamsin was lost on the day of the storm a couple of weeks ago—the tempest? Part of it hit you too, right?”
I almost thought I was mishearing, that we were somehow talking about our initial sea voyage. “Lost . . . what do you mean, lost in the tempest?”
“She was in Mister Doyle’s party—going back to Hadisen. They were practically engaged, and he was going to show her around. They were approaching the bay as the storm was rolling in, and they say she panicked and . . . well, left. No one knows what happened to her.”
“Panicked? Tamsin’s never panicked in her life!”
“I don’t know anything firsthand, only what they tell me.” Aiana’s calm was impressive. “She didn’t want to get on the boat during the storm. She ran away from the party. They tried to find her, but it was too late—especially in those conditions. They searched for her the next day, but there was nothing.”
“One other thing . . .” The doctor looked a bit uneasy and cast a nervous glance my way. “Mister Garrett said to tell you that his partner had arrived in Cape Triumph and that he had your portrait—that it was a match. My—my lady.”
I held up a hand. “Please. There’s no need. Adelaide is fine.”
The doctor gave some advice to Cedric before leaving, as well as various medicines to help with the healing. When he was gone, I leaned my head on Cedric’s shoulder. “Well, that’s that. The secret’s out.”
“Exactly which of our many secrets are you referring to?”
“You know which. My identity. Er, my old one.” I sighed. “But if Silas’s partner authenticated it, then maybe my word will have greater weight. Except that now I’ve opened myself up to anyone hoping to cash in on Grandmother’s reward.”
“Do not tell anyone we’re married,” Cedric said in a low voice, guessing what I was about to say next.
“But that was the whole point! To give me protection if I was outed as a runaway countess. And I have been.”
He shook his head. “You’re key in this case—Silas will protect you now. And our backup plan was created before I was outed as a heretic. They’re going to put me on trial for that. If you’re identified as my legal wife, they’re going to cast you as Alanzan by association. I’m not going to have you hanged with me.”
“And I’m not going to have you hanged at all,” I growled. “Or let Warren go unpunished.”
But when we sailed back to Cape Triumph the next morning, I wasn’t nearly so confident. As a fledgling colony, Hadisen had no court capable of handling a major case like this, so it was being dealt with in Denham. Warren had a lot of connections there. And the Alanzan faith was illegal in both colonies.
We docked in Cape Triumph in early evening and were promptly separated. Cedric had to stay in custody throughout his trial, and it was only a small comfort that Warren and his henchmen were also in custody.
“I’m not completely insensitive, my lady,” Silas told me. I didn’t bother correcting him. If my title could strengthen our case, I’d let it be used. “I’ll make sure he’s looked after. And I’ll have a doctor check in.”
“Thank you,” I said. He gave us a moment of privacy to say goodbye, and I clasped Cedric’s hand. It was about as much as I could do, given his injuries.
“We’ll get through this,” I said. “I’ll find a way.”
“You always do.”
The old bravado was in his voice, but I caught a glint of uncertainty in his eyes. I kissed him fiercely, uncaring of any passersby who saw. And when Silas’s men led him away, I stared after them until Cedric had been swallowed by the bustling crowd on Cape Triumph’s docks.
“Miss,” said one of the hired lawmen. “Mister Garrett said we’re to escort you wherever you want to go.”
I had no idea where I wanted to go. I’d thought little beyond Cedric’s fate and now found myself in an odd situation. After years of feeling constricted and defined by the rules of others, I had no limitations now. I could move and go freely—except I had no place to go. No home, no money, no family.
But I still had friends.
“Take me to Wisteria Hollow.”
Unsurprisingly, my reception wasn’t that warm. Jasper came striding out of his office as soon as Mistress Culpepper announced me in the foyer. He pointed an accusing finger at me.
“No. No. I don’t care who you are or what titles you allegedly have. You cannot come crawling back here after everything you’ve done to us. You chose to walk away from this life. Don’t try to get it back.”
“I’m not,” I said. “I just . . . well . . . that is . . . I don’t have anywhere to stay.”
We’d gathered an audience of my beautifully styled peers, making me self-conscious about my bedraggled appearance. Charles was among them. His return to Osfrid to help recruit the next batch of girls had been delayed after all the recent developments. “Jasper, the girl was one of our own, and she may very well be one of our family once this business with Cedric is settled.”
Jasper turned on his brother incredulously. “‘This business?’ He’s being tried for heresy and assault! There’s only one way that can be settled.”
“Assault?” I asked in surprise. “Have you seen him?”
“That’s the story going around,” Jasper said. “That you two got desperate when it became clear you weren’t going to be able to pay off your debt to Warren Doyle. So you staged an attack to make it look like raiders had come after him—only his men got there in time to save him.”
My jaw nearly hit the floor. “Is that what they’ve come up with? It’s a lie! Come on. You must know Cedric better than that.”
“Actually,” said Jasper, face grim, “I really don’t feel like I know my son at all. What I do know is that before you came along, he wasn’t abducting noblewomen, practicing heresy, or assaulting government leaders. So you’ll understand when I say politely as I can: Get out of my house.”
“She can stay with me.” Aiana strode forward from those gathered, as cool and confident as ever. “And don’t look at me like that, Mister Jasper. I rent my own home and can do as I like. Come on, Adelaide.”
What else could I do? There was no home for me here. I had to take whatever allies I could get—though I was surprised to find that my two biggest ones hadn’t been in the foyer.
“Where are Tamsin and Mira?” I asked, once I was inside Aiana’s home. It was a surprisingly spacious suite of rooms above a tavern in the city’s busy entertainment district. The soundproofing was good, but I could still make out the faint tinkling of piano music from below.
Aiana had been putting a teakettle on her large stove and turned to me in surprise. “You don’t know? About Tamsin?”
“What is there to know? Did she get married or something?”
“Sit down,” Aiana ordered.
I obeyed, settling into a chair covered by a blanket with an intricately colored turtle design. I wondered if it was Balanquan, but the look on Aiana’s face made me forget all about art. “Where is Tamsin?”
Aiana pulled up a stool and sat across from me. “Adelaide, Tamsin was lost on the day of the storm a couple of weeks ago—the tempest? Part of it hit you too, right?”
I almost thought I was mishearing, that we were somehow talking about our initial sea voyage. “Lost . . . what do you mean, lost in the tempest?”
“She was in Mister Doyle’s party—going back to Hadisen. They were practically engaged, and he was going to show her around. They were approaching the bay as the storm was rolling in, and they say she panicked and . . . well, left. No one knows what happened to her.”
“Panicked? Tamsin’s never panicked in her life!”
“I don’t know anything firsthand, only what they tell me.” Aiana’s calm was impressive. “She didn’t want to get on the boat during the storm. She ran away from the party. They tried to find her, but it was too late—especially in those conditions. They searched for her the next day, but there was nothing.”
