Page 90 of How the Earl Entices

“I know what you’ve heard, those accusations and baseless rumors that have permeated London, claiming that I committed treason and murder.” His eyes moved deliberately from peer to peer now, daring each of them to make eye contact with him and challenging them to believe him. “I was unable to be here to defend myself against them because I was still making my way back to English soil from France. But these pages show my innocence. They prove without doubt who is responsible for the real acts of treason that have occurred.” Now going on the attack, he swung his gaze to Wentworth. As the man’s face turned white, a sweet vindication cascaded through Ross. The swirling emotions of grief and overwhelming relief stung at his eyes. “And for the murder of Sir Henry Jacobs.”

At that announcement, the chamber filled with new shouts and arguments, including among the solicitors and barristers. The Lord High Steward gave up trying to enforce order and slammed down his white shaft on the table, ordering that the session be dismissed and the chamber emptied. In the confusion, the guards stood uncertainly at the sides of the room, not knowing what to do.

The Marquess of Ellsworth picked up the Lord High Steward’s staff and snapped it in two, symbolically ending the trial.

“Take him out!” the Lord High Steward ordered the guards to remove Ross from the dock. Then he gestured at the entire room. “Clear out the chamber! We’ll sort through this in peace and quiet. Clear them out!”

The guards came forward through the confusion and took Ross’s arms. He caught a last glimpse of Grace as they pulled him from the chamber, her eyes meeting his through the crowd. The joy that filled him was immeasurable.

Not moving,Grace watched until Ross stepped from the chamber, and the crowd closed in around her. Curious stares came from the men, who whispered to each other about her, all of them frowning and scowling in turns. Despite the Lord High Steward’s orders to clear the chamber, even more men pushed in though the wide-open doors, to find out what had happened and why the trial had been stopped. MPs from the Commons, more guards, secretaries, assistants—the room had become a crush, with even more stares and whispers, now joined by pointing and loud calls that brought her to the attention of the room.

She rubbed her clammy palms against her skirt as the metallic taste of uneasiness grew on her tongue. She needed to leave, to find space and air, to hide from the unwanted attention. Slowly, barely able to shuffle forward through the press of bodies, she started toward the doors.

A flash of blond hair caught her attention, the line of a familiar jaw, narrowed eyes—

Vincent.

A shoulder slammed into her from behind. The force of the blow shoved her forward, and she stumbled, nearly falling. The gentleman grabbed her arm to catch her and muttered his apologies for not seeing her, then released her and pushed his way forward.

Panic roiled in her stomach. Her gaze darted back—

He’d turned away in the crowd as he made his way toward the door, his back turned to her and his face hidden.Turn around so I can see you, so I can be certain…An icy fear slithered up her spine. If Vincent had seen her, if he knew she was there—Oh God.

“Grace!”

Christopher shoved his way through the crowd to her side, but when he reached for her, she pushed him back. She couldn’t look away, not until she knew.Turn around, damn you!

Sensing her distress, he took her arm, not letting her dismiss him a second time. He demanded with concern, “What’s the matter?”

“I thought—” The knot of fear in her throat choked her. She started again, breathlessly, “I thought I saw someone I used to know…”

“Who?” He craned his neck to see where she was staring.

“Lockwood.” The single word was nearly lost beneath the cacophony around them.

“Who?”

The man turned. Finally she had a clear view of his face—

Not Vincent.

Relief poured from her. She clutched at Kit’s arm to steady herself as she saw the blonde gentleman laugh at something the other men with him had said, a wide smile beaming from a face that had to be ten years younger than her brother-in-law would have been now. A man who wasn’t nearly as tall, not nearly as wide or solid as Vincent.

Her shoulders dropped as she let out a harsh exhalation, expelling the fear that had attacked her. She corrected, “A ghost.”

Kit frowned in confusion, unable to fathom what she’d meant by that or who she’d been looking at. But deciding that there was no threat after all, the tension drained out of him as he grinned down at her. “A ghost would never be foolish enough to haunt such a formidable woman.”

She smiled, half at the flattery of his compliment, half with relief. A ghost, that was all. Just like the other ghosts she’d seen of Vincent along the road from Sea Haven. How foolish she was to think she’d seen him! They’d both changed over the years, certainly—would she even recognize him now if she saw him, or him her? Would he even consider that she could be here, when he thought she’d died a decade ago? She nearly laughed at herself that she’d let her past conjure up specters when her future with Ross now spread out so gloriously in front of her.

When Kit led her forward through the crowd, she craned her neck around for one more glimpse of the door that the guards had led Ross through. It led into the depths of Parliament, surely only accessed by MPs. But the longing to prove that he was finally safe was too much to quash. “Can I see Ross?”

“Not until tonight, I’m afraid.” He grimaced, not looking down at her, his attention on the crowd around them. “We’re likely to be questioned for hours.”

She tensed. “We?”

“They’ll want to speak to me, too, to find out what we knew and when. I’ll take you to Spalding House, then come straight back here.” He frowned down at her in stern warning. “Don’trun away this time.” He grumbled, “I don’t fancy another chase through the streets of London after you.”

Placing a reassuring hand to his upper arm, she laughed. The worry and fear eased away completely as they stepped through the chamber door and into the far less crowded outer hall. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath and relished in it.