Page 105 of The Knight's Pledge
“Let him pass,” Henry said. “If I know Sir Lucan, he has something urgent to say. I can suppose already the matter it entails.”
Lucan came to a halt some ten paces from the countess and, after first paying homage to Henry, he gave Elpis a deep bow. He looked at Effie and tugged on her hand as if prompting her, but Effie would not bow—not yet. She pulled her hand free and took two steps toward the woman.
Is this what her mother would have looked likehad she lived?
“Countess,” Effie said. “My name if Effie Annesley. I am Cordelia’s daughter.”
The two women stared at each other a long moment, and then Countess Elpis extended a pale hand draped in black lace toward Effie.Effie took it.
“You are not only Chordileia’s daughter,” Elpis said.
“Your Grace,” Lucan said, interrupting the woman’s enigmatic statement. “I posit to you now that the judgment handed down cannot stand. Thomas Annesley is not simply innocent of the charges against him from this vile creature, he is in position to bring his own case against theCrown itself.”
“Barrister now, are you, Sir Lucan?” Henry smirked. “I suppose you’ll be wanting your lands back, after all.”
Effie turned to find Lucan. He had given up Castle Dare for her andGeorge Thomas?
“Caris Hargrave must face judgement in England, Countess,” Henry continued. “If what you say is true, she is culpable in the deaths of English nobility, and scores, at least, of false accusations against a peer.”
“Greece’s charges are older, and take precedence,” Elpis argued.
“She is in England,now,” Henry said with a frown. “I will not have her stolen from under my nose if she has made a farce of my court.”
“I beg your pardon, Henry,” Elpis said coolly, “But your inability to detect a mercenary liar is not Greece’s concern. You’ve had more than enough time to bring this woman to justice. I would not have had to come all this way to see itserved myself.”
“Elpis,” Lady Margaret warned quietly as the occupants of the royal box bristled and murmured. “You arenot in Greece.”
Effie took a moment to recognize the handsome beauty of the woman whose home had given the family shelter. The woman who had sought to aid them, strangers. The woman who ruled her own domain. Effie wondered if she and Margaret Stanhope were actually very much alike, even down to the fact that each woman had been Lucan Montague’s lover.
“But very well,” Elpis said suddenly. “As I have only just landed, I shall be content to remain in London while you carry out the formalities. As long as it is understood that, ultimately, Caris Hargravebelongs to me.”
Henry gave a single nod. “I find those terms agreeable. The trial shall commence on the morrow. With”—Henry produced the old leather satchel—“the evidence to be heard fully in defense of Lord Thomas Annesley. Lord Annesley, you are freed to go where you would pending the hearing—I have no doubt of your eager attendance. Guards, take Lady Hargrave and Lady Paget into custody.” The king stood and departed at once withhis entourage.
Around the New Palace Yard, the crowd erupted in shouts and rowdy murmurings—they’d been denied their execution, at leastfor that day.
Elpis’s fingers, still wrapped around Effie’s, squeezed as Thomas appeared at Lucan’s side, in the midst of Effie’s brothers. He embraced Lucan with tears in his eyes, and then pulled away to give thecountess a bow.
Effie noticed that James, in his hangman’s hood, was nowhere to be seen.
“M’lady,” Thomas said. “I thank you for your timelyintervention.”
“Thomas Annesley,” Elpis mused. “Atlast, we meet.”
Lady Margaret sighed. “For the love of all that is holy, might wepleasecontinue the introductions at my home? I’ve never had a more trying year in all my life, and it’s only March! My steward has threatened to resign!”
Thegroup laughed.
“What a marvelous idea, Margaret,” the countess said. “I have long anticipated seeing yourLondon house.”
“To the Strand, then?” Lucan askedthose gathered.
“To the Strand,” Thomas agreed. “Perhaps this time, they’ll let me in.”
Everyone laughed again, and Elpis took Thomas’s offered arm. “Won’t you ride with me, Lord Annesley?” she asked as she steered him toward the litter. “I would hear about the young woman my sistergrew up to be.”
“Gladly, m’lady,” Thomas said with his cheeky Scot’s smile. “There’s nae been a day passed that Cordelia’s nae been with me. It would be my honor to share her with her kin.” He looked back at Effie and gave her a wink. “I’ll see you at the house, lass.”
Effie turned and watched the litter depart, surrounded by her brothers and sisters-in-law, Lucan at her side.
