Page 55 of Stolen By the Cruel Duke
Iris was beaming, and briefly, she felt a deep pang in her heart that Phineas wasn’t there. He would have understood her excitement at the prospect of being able to ensure the miners’ safety. This document would save lives. Then, eventually, when Phineas got his land back, he could reopen the mines if he wanted to and make them safer. But in the meantime, there would be no more ten-year-old children working in them.
“Well then,” Iris said, feeling a rush of pleasure at having hoodwinked her father, “I think it’s time we get these to a notary as quickly as possible. I will need sworn statements from both of you saying exactly what you know. That, along with the letter and the bill of sale, should prove once and for all that Father isn’t just a thief, but a murderer.”
Within an hour, the three of them had arrived at the Duke of Eavestone’s solicitor’s office. Iris hadn’t known where else to take them, as this was the only solicitor’s office she had ever been to before, but she assumed it was as good as any. It took Mr. Hargrove several minutes to realize what was happening. Iris suspected that three scared and exuberant women had never burst into his office before demanding that he notarize documents of a sensitive nature.
“This looks legitimate to me,” he said after she had shoved the forged bill of sale under his nose. “But you want me to notarize a statement saying it is false?”
“Itisfalse,” Lady Carfield insisted, stepping forward. “My husband had me sign it many years ago after telling me that the new Duke of Eavestone had signed it. But even then, I knew something wasn’t right. If I was the witness to the sale, why was I not asked to witness the Duke’s signature? It’s taken me many years to realize that my husband lied to me, that the sale never went through, and that he had forged the young Duke’s signature.”
“That,” Mr. Hargrove said, a shocked look on his face, “is a very serious accusation.”
“There’s more as well,” Lady Carfield added. “As you will hear in my statement.”
The solicitor still looked uncertain, but at last, he took out a sheaf of paper and dipped his quill in the inkpot.
“All right, My Lady, what would you like to say?”
Slowly and deliberately, Lady Carfield recited everything she had told Iris and Phineas about the bill of sale. The solicitor wrote everything down diligently. He only paused when she got to the part about finding out that her husband had paid for the Duke and Duchess of Eavestone to be murdered.
And hearing the story again, Iris couldn’t blame the man for his shock. It was a chilling tale, and even she felt slightly sick to her stomach. It was unbelievable that someone could do such heinous things, but it had to be believed because it was real.
Anna was a rapt audience member as well. She gasped and cried out at all the right moments, and even Mr. Hargrove, who had surely heard many ghastly tales over the years, looked pale by the end of it.
At last, when Lady Carfield was done, she looked as if a huge weight had lifted from her shoulders. She sighed and smiled—Iris could have sworn she had lost at least five years from her face.
“I-is that everything?” Mr. Hargrove asked, looking up at her with a slightly pained expression on his face.
“That’s everything,” the Viscountess replied. “And we have the documents to prove it, which we would like notarized.”
“Very well.” He pushed the piece of parchment across the desk towards her. “The only thing left to do, then, is to sign it.”
Lady Carfield picked up the quill and bent over the parchment. She was about to sign it when the solicitor cleared his throat. She looked up at him, and he reddened and fidgeted.
“There is one other thing to consider,” he began slowly. “Which is that if you sign an affidavit to the effect that you signed this original bill of sale under false pretenses, then you are also making yourself liable to legal action. I’m not sure I can recommend that a woman of your position put herself in such a vulnerable position… you might be arrested for falsifying a legal document and for assisting in the theft of a serious piece of property.”
Lady Carfield’s eyes glittered as she stared down at him. “That is a risk I am willing to take.”
“Mother—” Iris began, but her mother cut her off.
“No, Iris, this is on me to fix now,” Lady Carfield insisted, shaking her head fervently. “I won’t let anyone else suffer for the mistakes I made.”
“Couldn’t she get leniency because she is coming forward now?” Iris asked Mr. Hargrove.
“It’s possible, but it will depend on the judge who hears the case.”
“Mother…” Iris turned to Lady Carfield and took her hands in her own. “After all these years, I only just got you back. Violet and Rose are finally getting to know you, to spend time with you. I can’t let you get arrested and taken from us again. I won’t let it!”
“What good will it be to get to know you if your father remains free?” Lady Carfield whispered. She rested her forehead against Iris’s. “This is how I protect the three of you, after ten years of letting you down.”
“But… the letter proving he had the late Duke murdered should be evidence enough to put him away,” Iris argued. “You don’t need to risk your own freedom.”
“If your father is arrested, his lands will pass to his heir. It will not revert to your husband. If you want to get this land back for Phineas—and prove to him once and for all that you have always been on his side—then this is the only way.”
“But Phineas isn’t more important to me than y?—”
“But he is,” Lady Carfield murmured. She stepped back, and the look on her face was fierce. “As he should be. He has been there for you when I couldn’t be. And I want you to choose him over me, Iris. He is the one who hasn’t let you down.”
She turned toward Mr. Hargrove and nodded. She looked so determined that Iris felt a surge of pride. Her mother, at long last, was protecting her—sacrificing herself for her. She hadn’t realized how much she needed it until this moment.
