The Duke’s Guests Laughed as the Maid Fell Into the Lake — She Said, “I’ll Remember Every Face”
Chapter 20
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The door closed behind him. What was said in that room, nobody in the house ever knew.But the next morning at breakfast, the Duke was calm and polite and perfectly normal. He smiled at Lord Vane. He asked Lady Cordelia about the flowers for the church. And when Lord Vane suggested very gently that perhaps the wedding could be moved forward a few more days since everything was ready, the Duke simply nodded."Why not?" he said. "Let's not wait any longer than we must. Saturday, then."Lady Cordelia clapped her hands with delight. Lord Vane smiled his warm, fatherly smile and raised his teacup. The Duke raised his, too.In the village, Clara was getting stronger every day. Annie fed her soup and bread and hot sweet tea. Ned sat with her in the evenings, telling her stories about her father that she had forgotten: how John Doyle once sat up for three nights with a sick foal; how he sang to the horses in a terrible voice that made the whole stable yard laugh.But all the time, Clara was planning. She had the strap. Ned would stand up in court and swear to what he had seen. But they needed the letter. Without the letter, it was only the word of a blacksmith and a disgraced maid against a lord of England.On market day, she waited by the road until she saw a small, thin figure walking into the village with a basket: Toby. Mrs. Pratt always sent him to buy the eggs. The boy nearly dropped his basket when he saw her."Miss Clara! You're alive! Everyone said you'd gone off to London or died in the storm.""Not quite, Toby." She pulled him behind the bakery wall where nobody could see them. "I need your help. It's dangerous. If you say no, I'll understand."Toby lifted his chin. "I'll do anything, miss."She told him about the loose board in Bramble's stall. "Bring me what's behind it. Don't look at it, don't show it to anyone, just bring it to Ned Turner's forge."The boy nodded seriously and ran off.He came back three days later, out of breath, with mud on his knees and a white face. "It's gone, Miss Clara," he whispered. "I looked and looked. The board was lying in the straw, and the hole was empty. Somebody took it."Clara felt the blood drain from her face. Somebody had found the letter. And if it was Lord Vane or Silas, then the only real proof was already ashes in a fireplace.She did not see what Toby did not see, either: as the boy ran back down the road toward Ravensworth Hall, a thin man in a dark coat stepped out from behind the church wall, where he had been standing very still. Silas Crane had been following the scullery boy for three days. He had always thought the boy would lead him somewhere interesting. He watched the blacksmith's forge for a long time. Then he turned and walked back to the hall slowly, as if he had all the time in the world.