Page 73 of A Lady Most Wayward
Olivia felt the hot tears tracking down her cheeks, but she didn’t care. ‘I love Philippa with a depth and purity you will never know. The only thing twisted and depraved in this room is you.’ She faced the Queen, desperate to convince the monarch of the truth. ‘You cannot believe him, Your Highness. Philippa is the most loyal, courageous, honourable person I know. She would never betray your trust. She would never stoop so low as to hurt an innocent.’
Queen Victoria stared at Olivia without blinking. She felt like a bug on a pin and forced herself not to shrink away from such an intense inspection. The Queen’s face gave away nothing. She turned slowly to Philippa.
‘And what say you, Lady Winterbourne? Serious charges have been laid at your feet. Have you any words to defend yourself?’
Philippa carefully placed the pistol on a side table. She smoothed her hand over her skirt. ‘Lord High Chancellor Hardgrave has put forth dire accusations against me, indeed. I wonder if you had to choose between his word and mine, with no other proof than our divergent accounts, which would sway you.’
Tension pulled tight between the Queen and the duchess. Philippa was confronting Victoria more boldly than anyone should dare. Olivia felt certain her lungs would seize, and she would collapse on the spot. It would save the hangman the cost of a rope.
Philippa stretched her mouth into a smile, something wicked sparking in her eyes. ‘Thankfully, it won’t come to that as I have actual evidence, not the terrified scribblings of a girl in distress.’ Turning to look at Millie, the buxom redhead elbowed the guard holding her in his solar plexus. The poor man doubled over, wheezing for breath. Before another guard could take his place, a blade appeared in her hand. She flicked it in the air, catching it by the hilt and waving it at the approaching man like a naughty child trying to steal a piece of candy. ‘I would stay where you are, good sir.’
The guard looked to the Queen, who shook her head. He stepped back as Drake struggled against the three men holding him and growled something foul enough to have his captors turning the same colour as their coats.
‘Billy, dear. You can come out now,’ Millie called sweetly.
There was a scuffling sound as the gold-and-white settee, big enough to comfortably fit three men larger than Drake, shifted, teetered, and screeched on the marble floor before a scruffy boy appeared from under the skirting.
‘Cor blimey! It was right dusty under there. For a palace, you thinks the maids would be a little more careful with their mop an’ broom.’ The dirty lad with a cherub’s smile walked right up to the Queen as if she were a street monger in Whitechapel selling sweet meats. ‘’ere you go, yer greatness.’ He held out a leather diary.
Millie cleared her throat. ‘It’s Your Highness, dear. And one bows when they are addressing the Queen of England.’
Billy doffed an imaginary hat and bent nearly double before popping back up again with a cheeky wink.
Queen Victoria’s lip twitched. ‘You are a very grubby child,’ she said, taking a silk handkerchief from her own pocket and using it to retrieve the diary.
‘What the bloody hell is this?’ Cedric thundered. His eyes had gone wide and wild at the sight of the journal. He wheeled on Olivia. ‘You little bitch!’ He lunged for her. Before Philippa could step in front of her, Olivia fisted her hand tight, pulled back her arm the way she had been taught, and punched Cedric as hard as she could. She was aiming for his nose, but her fist landed smack in the middle of his neck.
Cedric stalled in his attack, both hands that were reaching for Olivia clasped instead around his throat as he gasped for breath. His face turned bright red, then dark crimson, then purple. He fell heavily on his arse.
As he writhed on the floor, Queen Victoria flipped open the diary. ‘I require my spectacles.’ She looked to the guards standing around her parlour. ‘You might as well release these people and make yourselves useful.’
The guard holding Hannah quickly let her go and began ferociously searching. His fellow brethren followed suit, upturning every drawer, table, hearth, and desktop until one man held up a pair of glasses with a cry of triumph. He cleared his throat, blushed furiously, and hurried to the Queen, bowing as he handed her the glasses.
‘Oi, I see ’ow it’s done now. Nice and fancy like.’ Billy mimicked the young man’s bow.
Millie quickly strode to the boy and pushed him behind her, the sumptuous copper gown nearly hiding him entirely.
‘That’s lovely, dear, but mayhap we’ll practise your courtly manners later.’
Drake joined his wife and cuffed Billy on the head. ‘You did well, lad.’ He winked at the boy.
The Queen raised a judgemental brow at the trio before returning her focus to the diary in her hands. ‘The Lord High Chancellor has sent me many letters during our work together. I noted early in our acquaintance his peculiar habit of adding an extra flourish to his “i”s. It is mirrored perfectly here.’ Victoria tapped her finger on the page.
‘Because it was written by his hand.’ Philippa spoke quietly.
Victoria speared her with a glance. ‘That is yet to be determined, Lady Winterbourne. I would remind you, I make the final decisions.’
Philippa bowed her head, but a smile played about her lips.
‘If your guard were to search Hardgrave’s offices and private rooms, I’m certain they would find other diaries,’ Commissioner Worthington added as he strode to Ivy and held her hand. He leaned close, murmuring something in her ear.
‘I’m perfectly well, Edward.’ Ivy smiled up at her husband. While she looked demure and delicate in her simple gown of ice blue, Olivia knew she held more courage in her little toe than the entire Queen’s guard combined.
Killian stepped forward. ‘As investigators for the Prime Minister, Drake and I would happily go ourselves to search Lord Hardgrave’s home and offices.’
‘But we wouldn’t want there to be any suspicion about planted evidence,’ Hannah added.
A small cough from the corner of the room shifted everyone’s focus as Hyacinth wiped tears from her cheeks and strode forward. ‘I can tell you where they are. He showed me. He made me read some of them out loud.’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘He promised worse would happen to me if I didn’t write those terrible things…’ Her voice trailed off as a sob choked her.
