Secrets of Surrender (25 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

H
ayden would not allow Alexia to come. He feared that she would not be able to withstand the excitement in her condition. She sends her love and her prayers, Rose.” Lady Phaedra settled into the chair beside Rose in the Old Bailey.

Lord Elliot took the seat beside her, and offered reassurances that everyone knew were lies.

Tim’s situation was hopeless. The papers had been full of the details of his crimes now that information had been sworn. The names, the amounts, the audacity of it all—she had learned more about her brother’s sins than any sister needed to know, but had also discovered how much the world still did not comprehend.

This trial would go only one way, and quickly at that. If she sat on the jury she would have to convict him too.

Only she did not sit there, but here, bracing herself to watch, waiting to see his sandy head in front of all these people once the current trial was completed.

She could not excuse him or defend him, but her heart cried with grief anyway.

“You were very brave to come,” Lord Elliot said. “I am sure that he will be grateful.”

Who? Timothy? If he saw her, would it give him some comfort? She had not gone to him yet. There would be only one chance for such a visit, and she saved it for what would come after today. He would need her more then, although such a reunion and horrible parting would be hell for both of them.

Her gaze swept the men sitting below. It lit on Kyle. Perhaps Lord Elliot meant him, not Timothy. She doubted Kyle would be grateful, though. They would never be able to pretend he had not spoken today if she actually witnessed his words.

They had slowly, inexorably, stepped toward this day even as they tried to step around its implications. Kyle had become careful again. She had grown cautious once more. Veils of formality had fallen between them day by day, until she had to look hard to see the man who was no longer a stranger.

The last three nights they had slept apart. He had known that her terrible waiting could not be overcome. He had understood when she retired early, claiming exhaustion.

“Ah. There is Hayden,” Lady Phaedra said.

Rose saw Lord Hayden pause by the door, then walk forward. He found a place next to Kyle. The current trial continued winding through its evidence and statements.

Lord Elliot reached over and placed his hand on her gloved fist. “My brother charged me to tell you that he will do what he can to see that your brother is spared. He asked that you understand that his words must be truthful, of course, but that his statement will have that goal.”

“Lord Hayden has always been generous to my family. I would never question his motives now. Thank you, however, for warning me.”

Lord Elliot frowned, and glanced at Phaedra. She shrugged. Rose was not inclined to explain. They would learn the truth soon enough.

There was only one thing that Lord Hayden could say that would mitigate the case against Timothy. He could tell everyone that Timothy had not been alone in taking all that money, and that the whole scheme had not even been his idea.

“Have you ever done this before?” Lord Hayden asked.

“Never,” Kyle said.

“In your statement, speak only the facts. Simply and clearly, so the jury can understand. There may be questions. Answer only what is asked, nothing more.” Lord Hayden glanced over sharply. “In giving that advice, I am assuming of course that you would rather he did not hang.”

“Is there any chance that he won’t?”

“One never knows. This judge has shown mercy before. If given cause, he might again.”

They were not alone in waiting for one trial to end and the next to begin. A makeshift gallery above had been built, and not because of the poor pickpocket now facing justice. The fine hats up there sat on heads that slept on good linen. One perched atop Lady Phaedra’s undressed fiery locks. A neat bonnet hid most of the blond hair and face of Roselyn.

More men arrived and jammed the space where Kyle and Lord Hayden sat. Kyle saw Norbury and the other members of the “Hang Longworth” committee.

“A lot of witnesses,” he said.

“A lot of victims,” Lord Hayden replied.

“Will it help that you paid them back?”

“Restitution is often a condition of mercy. However, the last time this happened, the banker was executed for a single conviction on a forgery. I think, however, that his massive thievery really was the reason for his sentence.”

The sickening irony was not lost on Kyle. “I should have taken your money too. I would not find myself the lone victim who was not repaid.”

“If you had taken it, it would have changed nothing today, I assure you.”

Bodies began shifting. The end of the trial created commotion as people left and others took their place. Lord Hayden tilted his head for some privacy. “Make your statement brief, with no supposition or elaboration. Tell only what you know for certain happened.”

Rose almost wept when they brought Tim in. With his sandy hair ill-groomed, he appeared sickly and pale, and so terribly afraid. Not yet twenty-five years old, he looked too much like the boy he had recently been, and insubstantial in stature compared to the men who would judge him.

He failed to maintain his dignity. He gazed at the assembled witnesses and his jaw quivered. His eyes swept the gallery and he found her. She tried to smile, and raised her hand in a little wave. His expression crumbled. He had to look to the floor while he composed himself.

One by one the victims gave their information. One by one they told of funds disappearing, of dividend payments continued, of Timothy’s confession and offer of repayment. Each one explained that the actual restitution had come from Lord Hayden Rothwell after he married Timothy’s cousin Alexia.

Rose could see that the lack of real loss mattered to the jury, but not enough to absolve Tim. She watched the judge to see his reaction to this litany of financial penance.

“It is going better than I expected,” Lady Phaedra whispered. “Since they were all repaid—”

“Not all of them were,” Rose said. “Kyle was not.”

Lady Phaedra’s face fell. She whispered to her husband. Lord Elliot grew more sober.

Phaedra’s glove came to rest on Rose’s own. “I knew that this would be an ordeal, and that you would grieve, but I did not realize just how terrible this day would be for you, Roselyn.”

Rose accepted the attempt at comfort. Her heart jumped, however, when Kyle’s name rang out in the court.

Kyle’s gaze met hers. She could see his regret, his apology. Then he walked forward and swore his oath.

His statement was brief. Astonishingly so. It sounded much like the others, a tale of a trust invested in the Funds, discovered to be empty due to embezzlement and forgery.

Missing this time was the part about getting the money back.

The prosecution counsel decided to make that clear. “Mr. Bradwell, was the trust repaid the money lost?”

“Yes, it is fully funded again.”

Kyle’s response caused consternation among the witnesses. Rose could see Norbury seething. Audible mutters of “perjury” erupted from that area of the chamber.

The prosecutor turned severe. “Mr. Bradwell, are you saying that Lord Hayden repaid this trust? I remind you that he will be speaking soon and that if you perjure yourself it will be quickly discovered.”

Kyle faced the man down. “You did not ask me how it was repaid, or by whom, but whether it was at all. I answered truthfully. That trust is now fully funded to the same amount as before the theft.”

“I see that you are a man of precision, sir. I therefore ask you now, precisely how was it refunded?”

“I replaced the money myself.”

“Then you were the one from whom Mr. Longworth stole.”

“The trust was not in my name. Mr. Longworth stole from my aunt and uncle, and they have been repaid. That was your question, and I have answered it. I cannot in good conscience hold him responsible for my reckless generosity in replacing the lost money with my own.”

The jury found that amusing. The judge almost smiled too. The prosecutor all but snarled his next statement. “Whether you hold him responsible does not signify. The law does.”

“Does it? A woman testified at the last trial that the man in the dock took her money. I think it likely that her husband replaced it so she could still buy the family dinner. However, he did not speak, even though the loss was ultimately his. In the case of this trust, I played the same role as that husband, or as Lord Hayden in the other stories that you heard today.”

“He has a point,” Lord Elliot muttered.

Yes, he did. It flustered the prosecuting counsel. “Your opinion of the law is not of interest, Mr. Bradwell. Allow me to ask again, more specifically. Were you repaid, by Lord Hayden or Mr. Longworth or anyone else connected to that family, for your own loss when you refunded that trust after the theft?”

“Yes.”

The prosecutor threw up his hands and appealed to the judge. “My lord, we know he was not. He is lying.”

“Are you lying, Mr. Bradwell?”

“I am answering the question truthfully.”

“Lord Hayden admitted to the magistrate that you did not accept restitution from him.”

“I was not asked if I received restitution. I was asked if anyone from Longworth’s family repaid me. The loss was twenty thousand pounds. I have a lien on Longworth’s property that is worth at least five thousand, for example.”

“And the other fifteen?”

“Mr. Longworth’s sister agreed to marry me. I consider the account balanced.”

Rose had to smile, even if her eyes misted. He was trying hard to help Tim, and holding his own quite well.

The court erupted into talk and buzz. The prosecutor let the crowd have its say, then grinned. “You must think us all fools, sir. You marry a woman of no fortune and you ask us to believe that evens the accounts and her brother’s debt to you?”

Kyle speared the man with a gaze so clear, so guileless, that the courtroom hushed. “Anyone who does not believe it has not met her. She is here, sitting up there two places from Lord Elliot Rothwell. Look at her, then tell me that she is not worth fifteen thousand pounds.”

They looked. All of them. Hundreds of male eyes sought Elliot, then moved left to her. She felt her face flushing.

“Take off that bonnet.
Now,
” Lady Phaedra whispered.

Rose pulled the ribbons and slid the bonnet off. A memory came to her, of other eyes looking and judging her value for other reasons not so long ago.

Her gaze sought Kyle’s, and his hers. She looked only at him so she would not see the others. He did this for her, to help her worthless brother. No matter what happened she would be grateful forever that he had tried.

His expression altered. It stunned her. His gaze did not communicate any acknowledgment of a little trick to save her brother’s life. Instead his eyes were those of a man who truly looked on a woman of incomparable value.

He did not hide his admiration. His warmth. Others probably saw it. This public avowal of his affection and pride moved her. Humbled her. Honored her.

His gaze compelled her to the point where she ceased hearing the noise in the Old Bailey. In the silence that engulfed her she touched her lips in response to an invisible kiss and her heart spoke words of love that were long overdue.

“He does have a point, sir,” the judge said. “A man could do worse with fifteen thousand pounds.”

The jury laughed and nudged each other with knowing nods. The prosecutor was not to be denied his conclusion. “She is most lovely, that is true. However, you were in fact not repaid at all.”

“I disagree,” Kyle said.

“Your agreement is not required. You may go.”

Lord Hayden was sworn in next. He silenced the prosecutor’s first question with a sharp gaze and upheld hand. “Before my statement, I would like to give evidence that bears on the information of the prior witnesses.”

The judge nodded. The prosecutor shrugged.

“As the person who discovered the thefts and who examined all the bank records, I know the date when each theft occurred, and the amount and name of the account. Many of these other witnesses should never have been called because they have no standing in the matter. The losses they suffered happened before Timothy Longworth became a partner in that bank. He stole, that is true, but not from all of these people.”

Shocked silence hung for a five count. Then voices rose in a roar of questions and shouts. The judge took steps to bring the noise down to where the prosecutor could be heard.

“It would be best if you explained yourself, Lord Hayden.”

“When I made restitution last summer, it was not only to the victims of Timothy Longworth. It was also to those of the man from whom he inherited that partnership and learned both his trade and his criminal schemes. His brother, Benjamin. I did not reveal Benjamin’s involvement for several reasons. Once repaid, no one cared who had stolen the money. Benjamin had been my friend, and I confess that sentiment influenced me too. However, if the length and depth of that fraud had become known, the bank would not have survived and many others would have suffered.”