Page 54 of Stolen By the Cruel Duke
Still, the waiting was interminable. And every minute that Violet was alone in the house with her father was another minute that her safety was at risk. At last, Anna departed for Carfield House, and Iris and her mother sat together in the parlor, trying to talk about anything else.
When they’d run out of small talk, Lady Carfield fidgeted on the sofa, then fixed Iris with a serious expression.
“I have to ask. How did you convince your father that you’d rather trade the letter for his help than let me use it to arrest him?”
Iris bit her lip, then looked away. “I told him you knew having a murderer for a father would ruin your daughters’ reputations.That you were trying to protect us. But mostly… I told him I was afraid it would implicate you in the murder. ThatIwas protectingyou.”
“And he believed that?”
“I don’t know. But…” Iris looked back at her mother, and to her surprise, she realized there were tears in her eyes. “It’s true, Mother. I would protect you if that’s what you wanted.”
Lady Carfield stood up and crossed the room to her daughter, kneeling down in front of her and taking both her hands in her own.
“You don’t have to protect me, Iris,” she murmured. “In fact, I should have been the one there, protecting you. I know, after everything that’s happened these past few days, that forgiving me is the last thing on your mind. But I hope you know that from now on, you don’t need to take care of your sisters anymore. I will do that. And you don’t need to take care of yourself either.”
“You’ll take care of me?” Iris asked, a little taken aback.
Her mother smiled. “No, darling. Your husband will.”
Iris swallowed past the lump in her throat. “If he ever forgives me,” she whispered.
“He will,” her mother assured her, and the conviction in her voice gave Iris just an ounce of hope. “Because he loves you.”
“Not anymore.”
“Yes,” Lady Carfield murmured, smoothing back a curl that had fallen loose from Iris’s coiffure. “He still does. How could he not? You are brave and kind. Far braver than I ever was. And I have no doubt that he will realize he’s made a grave mistake and come begging for your forgiveness.”
“Perhaps…”
Iris couldn’t let herself get her hopes too high. She had to focus on the task at hand: making sure her sister got them the information that would lead to their father’s arrest. Then, and only then, could she consider how it might allow her to win back her husband…
At last, the doorbell rang, and Iris and her mother both stood up so quickly that Iris gave herself a head rush. Moments later, the door to the parlor burst open, and Anna practically fell through it. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes were very bright.
“I’ve got it!” she cried, before Iris even had a chance to ask her. “Miss Violet got it!”
And then she started babbling. Something about a statue of an eagle, Violet hidden behind the curtain, and a clandestine meeting with Violet in the scullery, where she had handed over the document. Iris didn’t follow all of it, but she got the gist: they had succeeded. Violet had discovered where Lord Carfield kept his safe’s key, she’d stolen the key, and she’d opened the safe to find the letter inside.
And as Iris took the faded, tattered papers from her lady’s maid, her heart soared with more hope than she had dared let herself feel since the moment Phineas had turned on her. Then she realized the paper was thicker than she had thought it would be. Suddenly curious, she opened it.
“Does Lord Carfield suspect anything?” Lady Carfield asked as Iris read over the contents of the papers in her hands.
“He wasn’t sure what Her Grace was up to and knew she didn’t have the real letter,” Anna said, “but I told him I didn’t know anything about it. I’m not sure he believed me, but what could he do? He needs me here to keep an eye on you. And Miss Violet said she returned to the key to its original hiding spot, with him none the wiser.”
Iris looked up, her heart hammering in her chest. “Violet is brilliant!” she whispered.
Both her mother and Anna turned to look at her.
Iris could barely contain herself, and she grinned at both of them. “She didn’t just get the letter and the bill of sale! She also got this—look!”
She thrust the piece of paper at her mother, and Lady Carfield bent to read it.
“What is this?” she asked, her brow furrowed. “A report on the safety of your father’s mines?”
“It’s proof that it didn’t pass the inspections!” Iris said gleefully. “He was lying when he told Phineas and me that it did. And the papers he gave us were forged. Violet didn’t just steal the documents, she actually read through them, looking for more evidence! She’s… well, she’s always been too smart for her own good.”
“How will it help you?” her mother asked, still confused. “You’ll already have him arrested.”
“Yes, but this way we can also make sure the mines are shut down, not sold off to someone worse, while the legal documents go through to ensure the lands are returned to Phineas.”
