“I have seen Grandmama two times,” George said, holding up his stubby thumb and forefinger. “Once with my lord and another occasion with Auntie Iris.”
Lucan’s gaze followed Effie’sto his sister.
“He’s been closely looked after,” Iris commented quietly, and Lucan’s love for his sister grew even more.
His guilt,also, expanded.
“But that’s no matter now,” George Thomas piped up. “For on the morrow, you will meet with my lord again and then we might all go home to the Warren. Isn’t that right, Mama?” He placed his little hand against Effie’s cheek to gain her full attention. “Is father here, as well? To carry us home to Northumberland?”
Effie turned her face haltingly toward Lucan, George’s palm still splayed across her skin.
Lucan drew a deep breath. “The king’s secretary told me just now that Henry will most likely hear us on the morrow. But, there is a problem.” He raised his face to look at each of the company in turn—he owed them that much. “The satchel containing Iris’s portfolio was stolen on our return to London.”
No one around the table said anything for several moments, and Lucan’s announcement hung in the air like anoxious stench.
At last, Iris spoke. “How?”
And then he told them all he could—the journey, their suspicions, the cold reception they’d received at the houseon the Strand.
“Lady Margaret Stanhope?” Padraig interjected.
“Yes,” Lucan said.
Padraig looked around the table with a frown. “She’s been to see the king,” he said. “Yesterday, in fact.”
“What did she say?” Lucan asked.
Padraig shook his head. “I don’t know. Whatever it was caused a stir, though. She swept from the hall as if all the hounds of hell were after her.”
“I don’t understand it,” Lucan said, reluctantly. He hated the unsure feeling knotting his stomach. “Margaret was already gone when I returned to London. What could she possibly have to do with any of this? She couldn’t bearme any grudge.”
“Perhaps she was bought by Caris Hargrave,” Lachlan suggested. “It wouldna be the first time Darlyrede’s money hasbeen ill-used.”
Lucan shook his head. “Margaret is beyond wealthy. Caris Hargrave could have nothing she wants.”
Then James spoke up. “Perhaps it’s not something she wants, but something she’s seeking to keep hidden.”
The table stilled and Lucan could feel the weight of the anxious stares upon him.
“No,” he said quietly. And then, louder, “No. Margaret wouldn’t have anything to do with the likes of the Hargravesor the Pagets.”
“Her husband, then,” Effie suggested.
Lucan shook his head again. “No.No, I don’t believe it. He was too well respected.”
“That’s regardless. Just because you are fond of someone,” Iris said gently, “doesn’t mean you know their true nature. I nearly found thatout too late.”
“But she’s been in Greece, Iris!” Lucan exclaimed. “She left right after Tommy was sentenced. Completely removed from all of this!” He rubbed his brow.
“Did she know why you surrendered Thomas the first time?” Glenna Douglas asked calmly.
Lucan’s gaze went to her. “I don’t know,” he said in irritation and then thought. “Yes,she did. Yes.”
“And shortly after Tommy escaped his execution,” Lachlan said, “Margaret Stanhope fled England for Greece—or wherever it was she actually went, if she even went anywhere at all. She knew something she wasn’t telling you, Lucan.”
Lucan’s head ached. “She wouldn’t betray me,” he said. “She couldn’t have. At that point, my only duty was to alert you all to Thomas Annesley’s existence.”
“Whatdidyou tell her, exactly?” Effie asked him, and her voice held none of the previous animosity, although he could hear the tension in her words and he wondered stupidly if she was imagining bedtime secrets shared between lovers; if she was jealous.
