The Duke’s Guests Laughed as the Maid Fell Into the Lake — She Said, “I’ll Remember Every Face”
Chapter 24
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For one moment, there was complete silence.Then somebody laughed. It was a young gentleman in the third row. Clara knew him: he was the one who had shouted "Swim, girl, swim!" at the lake. And the moment he laughed, the young lady beside him laughed, too—the lady with the yellow ribbons. Then the fat, red-faced banker. Then the two sisters in matching pink."It's the drowned cat again!" someone called. "She's come back for a second swim!"The laughter rolled through the church like thunder. The same faces, the same cruel laughter, exactly like the lake.But this time, Clara did not look at them. She looked straight down the long aisle, past all the white roses, to the man standing at the altar. The Duke was looking at her. His face had gone completely white.Clara began to walk down the aisle. Her wet shoes left dark footprints on the stone. The laughter grew quieter as she passed. People leaned away from her, holding their noses and their skirts."Stop her!" Lady Cordelia said in a shaking voice. "Somebody stop her! She's ruining everything!"Clara kept walking. When she was halfway down the aisle, she stopped. She raised one muddy, bleeding hand and pointed at the front pew."Your Grace," she said, and her voice rang out through the whole church, "don't marry her! Her father murdered your father!"The church exploded. Ladies screamed. Gentlemen jumped to their feet. The vicar dropped his book. The Dowager Duchess gripped the end of the pew with both hands.Lord Edmund Vane rose slowly from his seat. He did not look angry. He did not look afraid. He looked at Clara with an expression of deep, gentle sadness—the way a doctor looks at a very sick patient."Poor child," he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Poor, poor child. She has lost her mind.""I have proof!" Clara cried. "Your Grace, there was a letter—your father's letter—and a saddle strap!""Where?" Lord Vane said gently. "Where is this letter, my dear? Where is this strap? Show us."Clara opened her mouth and closed it again. The strap was ashes. The letter was gone. She had nothing in her hands except river water and her own blood."You see?" Lord Vane turned to the crowd and spread his hands. "Nothing. She has nothing. Only wild stories. This is the girl who was caught stealing the Ravensworth diamonds two weeks ago. The daughter of John Doyle. The madness runs in the family, I'm afraid." He shook his head sadly. "Silas, please take her outside. Gently, now. She will be cared for; I will see to it personally."Silas Crane stepped forward from the back of the church. Two of the ushers moved with him: big men with strong hands. And Clara saw something then that made her heart stop: one of the ushers had a long, fresh bruise across his forearm, exactly where she had hit the masked man with the fire poker last night.