Page 56 of Never Love a Lord
“And then?” Piers pressed.
Sybilla shrugged. “From what I gather, the king is to pay him quite handsomely for his investigation.”
Everyone at the table was silent for a long moment, staring at Sybilla.
“That brazen son of a bitch,” Piers growled.
“Sybilla,” Cecily said hesitantly, laying her hand on Sybilla’s forearm. “You know this, and yet—are you very sure that youhaven’tkilled him? Perhaps it was . . . an accident?”
“I did not kill Julian Griffin,” Sybilla stated flatly. “As a matter of fact”—she paused, then lifted her chin slightly—“I’m becoming quite . . . fond of him.” She looked at the shocked faces around her. “And his daughter. Her name is Lucy, which isn’t horrid, I don’t think.”
“Sybilla,” Alys whispered, her brown eyes as big as cartwheels, “Julian Griffin is—”
“No.” Sybilla stopped whatever Alys was going to say by shaking her head and holding up a palm. “I don’t have much time, and I came here to tell Cecily something very important. It is a miracle that you are here as well, Alys. It will be so much better that I can tell the both of you at once.”
“But what Alys is trying to say—” Cecily began.
“No, Cee,” Sybilla interrupted again. “It can wait. I don’t want to tell you what I’ve come to tell you, but it can no longer be avoided. After I’ve said it, we may talk about Julian Griffin, if you wish, but not before.” She paused, lowering her voice. “If I wait much longer, I fear I won’t be able to get it out.”
“Wait!” Alys said, sitting up straight on the bench and frowning crossly. “Why were you coming here to tell Cecily and not to Gillwick to tell me?”
“Because Cecily is older than you,” Sybilla said.
Alys’s frown deepened. “So?”
Cecily leaned forward to speak around Sybilla. “And Bellemont is closer than Gillwick.”
“So?” Alys insisted.
“Alys,” Piers finally begged from behind the hands rubbing his face. He looked at her with a pleading expression. “I love you so, my darling. Would you please shut up and let Sybilla tell what she has to tell?”
“Oh!” Alys said, as if just remembering that there was news to be had. “Of course. Yes. Sorry, Sybilla. Go on.”
Sybilla looked at Piers Mallory. “You, sir, are my hero.”
The stocky man shot her a weary grin.
Then Sybilla drew a deep breath and laid both of her hands on the tabletop, palms up. Her sisters immediately took hold.
“You both know that there have been rumors for many years about Mother. And they have grown to the point that the king believes he has grounds to take Fallstowe away from us.” Sybilla swallowed. “Away from me.”
“Yes,” Cecily said gently. “We’ve heard the rumors.”
Alys squeezed Sybilla’s hand. “But it’s just that the king can’t stand the idea of a lady holding so rich a prize as Fallstowe, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter whether the woman was Mother, or you.”
“I don’t think it is entirely that the king was against Mother’s ruling Fallstowe because she was a woman,” Sybilla said. “But because she was never a lady to begin with.”
Chapter 19
It was so silent in the hall immediately following the tale she told of Amicia Foxe’s enormous ruse that Sybilla could hear her own heart beating. And now three of the faces regarding her did so with mouths agape, eyes wide, complexions pallid.
Save Piers Mallory. But Sybilla suspected that the news of her mother’s play to nobility didn’t surprise him in the least after what he’d been put through by his own family.
Alys was the first to break the silence, of course, although the point she chose to touch upon was not what Sybilla expected.
“So I’m only half noble?” she said, her eyes still wide.
Sybilla shrugged. “It would seem so. Yes.”
