dress whispering over the paving stones. At the third she turned her left shoulder and brought her foil across her body in defense, its tip stopping several inches from his sleeve. The motion was swift but controlled. A few spectators applauded before remembering that they were not meant to approve. Helena lowered her blade. "My father came home with a deep wound on this arm," she said, touching her left forearm. "The story told to the old earl was that he attacked from the opposite side. Show me, if you please, how a man already moving backward could make the thrust described in the testimony."
Lucian hesitated. He moved once, awkwardly, and the gentlemen nearest him murmured. A trained swordsman could certainly feint, he said. Helena agreed that he could. "But a man cannot put his feet in two places at the same instant. The version recorded by Mr. Bell's father requires Father to have been standing against the doors. He told me he was driven toward the balustrade." She turned to Sir Edmund. "Which was it?" The baronet's smile faded. "You are relying on the confused recollections of an accused man." "Perhaps," Helena said. "That is why I am asking you."
Sir Edmund's impatience overcame his caution. "He was beside the third paving seam when I raised my arm. Your father twisted away and caught the blade along his sleeve. Any fool could have mistaken the movement for an attack." The remark hung in the summer air. Helena did not answer immediately. She looked at the earl, whose expression had become unreadable. "Sir Edmund," she said at last, "the statement you gave the magistrate says that you did not enter the terrace until you heard the quarrel. You claimed not to have seen the first exchange at all. How, then, do you know precisely where my father stood?"
Sir Edmund opened his mouth. Behind him, Lucian went white. The baronet recovered quickly, saying he had only repeated what the other witnesses told him afterward. But the earl was no longer looking at Helena as an inconvenient guest. He had turned toward the old man with the attention he might have given to an unfamiliar crack in a foundation. "I have read those statements," Lord Larchmere said. "No witness mentioned a third paving seam." Sir Edmund stiffened. "Nathaniel, I do not intend to be interrogated by a girl who has contrived a dramatic little performance."
Helena felt anger rise hot behind her ribs, but it was the earl who answered. "Then do not mistake my question for hers. Did you see Jonathan Vale retreat or did you not?" The crowd held its breath. Sir Edmund lifted his chin and said