Page 56 of Cruel Shame

“What’s going on?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Just a bit of nonsense. Everything will work itself out.”

The boys turned to me as if asking permission. I smiled and mouthed at them to go. Even if Mr. Burgh wouldn’t be in the room, and Mrs. Campbell was powerless against Lady Liddell, I still had the truth on my side. That was more powerful than all that family’s toxic bullshit.

Mrs. Campbell and I stood in the hallway as the students darted in and out of classrooms before the first bell. Orlando and Maxwell disappeared into a door that led down the stairwell.

“You’ve made some rather influential friends,” she said.

“Their families?” I asked.

“And the boys themselves.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Between them, I’m sure they’ll come up with a way to put a certain young madam in her place.”

When the first bell sounded, the students disappeared into their classrooms, and Lady Liddell strode out of the dining hall with her nose in the air. Her steps faltered to find us both standing in the hallway, but she gathered herself and sauntered toward us like this was some sort of catwalk. Elizabeth jogged after her at her heels.

“Come along,” said Lady Liddell. “This hearing won’t start without either of you.”

The woman click-clacked down the hallway with a feline gait she’d probably practiced in the mirror. She wore red-soled Manolo Blahnik stilettos with seamed stockings with a bodycon skirt that hugged an ass that sagged like two bags of flour.

Mrs. Campbell’s eyes blazed with loathing, and the corners of her lips turned down with disgust. She curled her hands into fists and inhaled a deep breath through her flared nostrils, looking like she was ready to spew out a few home truths.

I placed my hand on the woman’s arm and shook my head. Mr. Burgh needed her in place, where she could keep an eye on the Liddells.

We turned the corner and followed the scent of freshly brewed coffee into the same boardroom from my last hearing. About twenty people gathered at the far end around a long table containing a breakfast buffet and insulated carafes of coffee, tea, and hot water.

I turned to Mrs. Campbell. “Are these all governors?”

She inclined her head. “We hardly ever get all of them in the same room, but recent events…”

Right. I gulped, wishing I’d brought a bottle of water. It was one thing battling Lady Liddell and a few sycophants, but it was me against a legion.

Lady Liddell made a show of adding cream to a coffee cup and handing it to the archbishop. Father Neapolitan stood beside the pair, trying and failing to engage them in conversation. Today, he wore a tweed suit with a white shirt and nondescript tie. It had been years since I last saw The Matrix, but I’m sure Neo wore that outfit before taking the red pill.

I clenched my teeth. The only person missing was Camden Liddell, who probably had real police business to do instead of framing teenaged girls and threatening them in their hospital beds. Every time I thought about how that man protected Elizabeth, I became more and more convinced that he was her real father.

“Thank you all for coming at such short notice.” Lady Liddell crossed the room and sat at the head of the table with the archbishop taking the seat to her right. “The allegations facing Headmaster Burgh are very serious indeed and require thorough investigation before allowing him near any of the precious children within the academy.”

The people around the buffet hurried to take their places closest to the head of the table. Father Neapolitan shouldered his way to Lady Liddell’s left and sat with his back straighter than a teacher’s pet.

Mrs. Campbell placed a hand on my shoulder. “Take a seat, Lilah.”

I trudged to the chair directly opposite the blonde harpy and sat with the deputy head on my left.

Lady Liddell pressed her lips together in a Deloris Umbridge smile. All that was missing from the ensemble was the abundance of pink. “Before we question Mr. Burgh, I thought it best to speak with Miss Lilah Hancock, a young woman who he helped to bypass the recruitment process to offer her both a luxurious guest room within the academy and a bedroom within his private quarters.”

Before I could speak up in his defense, Mrs. Campbell said, “Headmaster Burgh was taking advantage of a benefit offered to all members of staff. Your own daughter also bypassed the recruitment process, yes?”

The archbishop patted Lady Liddell’s hand. “Shall we continue the subject of the meeting, chairwoman?”

Lady Liddell cleared her throat. “Could you tell us in your own words your relationship with the headmaster?”

Resentment seared through my veins. Why the hell should I be talking about my life to a room full of hostile strangers who weren’t even the police? I sucked in a deep, calming breath, reminding myself that this was for Mr. Burgh. I had to do everything possible to discredit that collagen-riddled hag.

“Mr. Burgh is my mother’s father,” I said in a loud, clear voice, making eye contact with everyone, including Father Neapolitan. “I discovered this when Elizabeth—”

“Thank you,” said Lady Liddell with a tight smile. “You have answered the question to the governors’ satisfaction.”

“Elizabeth uncovered the information and told everyone,” I blurted. “After that, Mr. Burgh confirmed we were related.”