"Good," Pa says.
One of the lawyers shifts in his seat. Princeton reaches for the wine.Does he know what's coming?He can't. He walked in here believing this was about money, and he's already reaching for a drink at my father's table.
"Sit down," Pa says.
Princeton had only risen halfway. He sits.
Pa looks down the table. "Mistress Sunfell."
Lissy stands.
She has left the muslin rolled. Instead she lays the original letters across the table one at a time, the way she lays out pattern pieces.Is she frightened?If she is, nobody in this room would know it.
"My shop received an offer in the spring," she says. "So did Arabella's bakery, June's tavern, Noemi's spell shop, the cobbler, the chandlery and the flower stall."
The Duke watches her with mild interest, and the interest stays mild right until she sets the Tanner's Row address down in front of him.
"The offers came from an agent working inside your warehouse."
His gaze sharpens.
"At the same time," she continues, "our suppliers were made to sell their goods at Voss prices or lose the docks. Those costs came down to us." She lays out Arabella's receipts, then June's accounts, then the shipping records. "You made our businesses more expensive to run. Then you offered to buy the buildings for less than they were worth."
The Duke glances at Pa. "You have allowed a dressmaker to conduct your financial inquiry?"
"Dressmaker," Lissy says. "Not seamstress. Thank you."
Princeton makes a quiet, impatient sound. Lissy hears it.
So do I.
"And no," she says. "Lady Brynna conducted the financial inquiry."
She sits. Brynna stands.
Brynna takes them through the dock stamps, the false fees, the shipping records and the property purchases. Every number has a source. Every source has a copy already in Crown hands. The lawyers write until their fingers must ache, and the Duke barely moves.
"The pattern holds across three years," Brynna finishes. "The warehouse accounts connect the pressure at the docks to the property purchases directly." She sets down her final page. "The Crown has the originals."
The Duke allows the silence to stretch.
Then he gives away the money.
"Miscalculated fees. Clerks exceeding their authority. An agent pursuing purchases with regrettable enthusiasm." He waves one hand. "If irregularities occurred, my house will make the injured parties whole. Restitution. Revised schedules." His attention moves to Lissy. "You will find us generous, Miss Sunfell."
"I would rather find you honest."
Ma's mouth twitches. The Duke's does not.
"Money is only money," he says. "It was never worth this theater."
Of course it wasn't, not to him. He'll hand over gold all day long if it keeps us away from Mirelle. Every person at this table knows there is a second matter, and the Duke believes we can't prove it.
At this moment, he's right.
So let him prove it for us.
I stand.
