Page 89 of How the Earl Entices

Hoots and howls filled the room as Batten sank down onto his seat.

“But if you feel the need to rob me of my birthright before you have even heard the evidence against me,” Ross continued, shouting out the challenge, “then so be it! Attainder changes not one of the facts, nor does it nullify the sacrifices I have made in service to my country.” Then he drawled distastefully, taking direct aim at most of the peers surrounding him, “While lesser men have sacrificed nothing.”

Duly chastised, the room fell quiet, the jeers and laughter fading to murmurs and whispers. The Lord High Steward gestured with his white staff for the barristers to continue.

Ross straightened his shoulders.Finally.

A commotion went up from the rear of the room as the chamber door was pushed open wide. Shouts from the guards, jostling and confusion—a flash of toffee-colored hair—

Grace.

Unable to believe his eyes as she pushed her way into the chamber, his heart stopped. Then jarred back to life with a painful thud when he saw the papers she clasped in her hands.Christ!The damned woman had disobeyed him, and now, she was putting her own life on the dock next to his. Worse—if she’d brought with her the list of names, she’d sealed both their fates.

Shoving aside the surprised men blocking her way, she stumbled forward, breaking through the hold of the guards and the hands that reached to stop her. An uproar erupted inside the chamber as she rushed toward him, with Kit barely breaking stride as he followed after to keep her safe.

“I have them!” She thrust the papers toward him. Then she turned to shout out to the entire room. “I have documents that prove the Earl of Spalding innocent of treason!”

“They’re not enough,” he rasped out, shaking his head. “Without the journal—”

“I have it!” She held up a small book and smiled at the stunned shock that pulsed over him. She repeated his words to him from the night of the masquerade, “Better late than never.”

Impossible.It simply couldn’t be…Yet he took it from her and flipped through it, scanning the pages for proof that it belonged to Wentworth. That it held the evidence he needed for his own exoneration and for the ambassador’s guilt.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” she asked intensely, her eyes glistening as if she couldn’t believe it herself.

“Yes.” He leapt the low railing and jumped to the floor, then grabbed her into his arms and shouted with joy as he twirled her around in a circle. “Yes!”

Beaming at her, he set her down with a quick kiss, then strode into the middle of the chamber. He held up the papers and journal as he called out to the room. He paused to let them all take a good long look. Exoneration was proving sweeter than he ever imagined.

“My noble lords!” he shouted above the bewildered cacophony as all the peers shot to their feet. “I beg your attention!”

The noise quieted just enough for him to be heard.

“I am innocent!” He shook the pages in the air over his head. “And here is the proof.”

A fresh round of shouts went up, this time followed by calls for more guards. The uniformed men grabbed Ross by the arms and began to drag him from the chamber.

“Silence!” The word reverberated through the chamber as Sebastian Carlisle, Duke of Trent, shouted down the crowd of peers. “Stop this madness!”

“Come to order!” the Duke of Chatham demanded.

Beside Chatham, Edward Westover, Duke of Strathmore, rose slowly to his feet and immediately drew the attention of the chamber, which quieted into muffled whispers beneath his ire.

“Release that woman,” Strathmore ordered the soldiers who had shoved Kit away and were struggling to drag Grace from the chamber, hanging on to her as she fought to remain. Every inch of the duke resonated with the commanding authority of the decorated army officer he’d once been and with the imperial presence of the powerful peer he’d become. “Now.”

The soldiers froze, as if debating whether to carry out their duty as guards or follow the duke’s orders. Thinking better of it, they let her go.

The guards holding Ross loosened their hold. He tore himself away from their grip and rushed back to the center of the room. He faced the guards now, not turning his back on them, because if they changed their minds and dragged him from the chamber, he was as good as dead.

“The Earl of Spalding has always been a well-respected peer of the realm,” Trent called out in the growing calm that was settling over the chamber, now that the shock of Grace’s arrival had worn off. The presence of guards had sobered all of them. “As such, he deserves to be heard.”

With gratitude toward his cousin lightening his chest, Ross seized the opportunity. “I am not a traitor! I have dedicated my life to my country and to my king, first as an officer in His Majesty’s army and then in service to the Court of St James’s. I have served here and on the continent for over a decade, even during those dark days against Napoleon. My brother fought valiantly against the Americans and the French, and my father, the late earl, always sat in service to this House.Always.” A few nods of agreement acknowledged his family’s dedication to their country. He placed his hand over his heart as he turned in a slow circle to face all the peers sitting in judgment of him. “I’ll admit—in my younger days, I was a bit of a handful.” He allowed himself a half grin of arrogance. “I am a Carlisle, after all.”

Uneasy laughter went up at that.

Encouraged, he continued, “Butneverhave I been disloyal or unwilling to serve England and her king to the best of my talents and resolve. And you, my most noble friends, are well aware of that. In your hearts, you know it.”

The soft rise of murmured whispers acknowledged the truth of that. He held up the papers again, like a battle flag.