The Duke’s Guests Laughed as the Maid Fell Into the Lake — She Said, “I’ll Remember Every Face”
Chapter 28
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"I told you all I would remember every face," Clara said. "I meant it. I have always remembered faces; it's a gift I was born with. My father used to say that if I saw a man once, I would know him 20 years later in the dark."She turned slowly and looked at Silas Crane."Fifteen years ago, I was 10 years old. I was hiding in the hay in the Ravensworth stables because I didn't want to go to bed. And I saw a thin man come in with a lantern. He bent over the old Duke's saddle with a knife. I saw his face very clearly in the light; I saw the scar through his eyebrow." She took a breath. "And I saw another man standing in the stable doorway, watching him. A man in a fine gray coat with silver buttons. He said, 'Cut it deep, Silas, but not all the way through.'"She lifted her hand and pointed straight at the front pew."That man was you, Lord Vane. I was a child; nobody listened to me then. But I have never forgotten your face. Not for one single day."Lord Vane went white to the lips. "She's lying! She's a liar and the daughter of a murderer, and nobody will believe—""She's not lying."The voice was flat and cold. It came from Silas Crane. The thin man was staring at his master with an expression of pure hate."Twenty years I served you. Twenty years I did every dirty thing you ever asked. And now you'd let me hang alone to save your own neck?" He turned to Mr. Brody. "Write this down: Lord Edmund Vane paid me £50 to cut the old Duke's saddle strap. He stood in the doorway and watched me do it. He paid the men who broke the blacksmith's hand, and he told me last night to put the girl in the river after the wedding. I'll swear it in any court in England."The church erupted.Lord Vane tried to run. He actually tried, pushing past the Dowager toward the side door. He got three steps before Mr. Brody caught him by the collar of his fine wedding coat and snapped the iron handcuffs onto his wrists."Lord Edmund Vane," said Mr. Brody, "I am arresting you for the murder of the late Duke of Ravensworth."As they dragged him up the aisle, Lord Vane turned to the crowd, looking for help, looking for one friendly face. But every lord and lady he had dined with, laughed with, and lied to for 20 years turned their heads away.Lady Cordelia stood frozen at the altar in her white satin gown. All the color had gone from her face. "I didn't know," she whispered. "I swear I didn't know about any of it! Papa only told me to get rid of the girl!""And so you put my mother's diamonds under her pillow," the Duke said quietly.From somewhere in the crowd, Cordelia's maid, Bess, began to sob: "I'm sorry, Your Grace! She made me keep watch! She said she'd turn me out with no reference if I told!"