“Is that why there was no witness to your wedding sheets? No inspection by a midwife before the wedding that we may call upon to prove you a maiden at that time?”
“I held no control over those matters.” Helena tried to keep her voice even. Anger might so simply be considered a sign of guilt. “I was ordered to wed by the king and my brother. The queen herself brushed out my hair. I obeyed.”
Bramford glared at her. “Obeyed? You ran from the king’s will, madam.”
“Enough, Lord Bramford. I have a few questions myself.” Brodick McJames, the Earl of Alcaon, silenced the blustering English lord with one hard look. He was not an easy man to read. When he returned his dark stare to her, she felt the intensity of his gaze.
“Why did ye flee into the night?”
“My brother told me I was to be wed by royal command to Lord Ronchford, but that he would spare me that and sneak me to the country if I braved the three blocks to make it appear that I had fled on my own. Edmund promised me that his carriage would be waiting.”
The earl’s brows lowered, and Helena stared straight at him. She was finally grateful to her parents for teaching her to stand so perfectly. Today, she would not crumple in the face of questions designed to smear her with guilt. The church was lit with hundreds of flickering candles, but she did not feel comforted by their light. For a house of worship, it was tense and filled with dark suspicion. A queen of England had been condemned here, as had other men who had been as guiltless as her husband.
“Ye trusted yer brother to have a carriage waiting for ye when he had used yer dowry for gaming debts?”
Her cheeks colored. She couldn’t help it. It was still a shame, long after becoming happy in her marriage.
“I did not know the details. Edmund told me I was to wed because Raelin and I were out of the queen’s chamber without escort. I knew nothing of the gaming bet.”
“Preposterous.” Lord Bramford scoffed at her.
“I would like to question Lord Ronchford.” Lord Alcaon cut a quick look at the assembled lords. Several of them nodded, but Helena was more concerned with how many of them sat in sullen silence. Their minds were already set. She lowered herself and turned to leave. The aisle was suddenly too long and the sound of her own footsteps piercing.
Keir stood in front of his peers. His patience was thin and that was no lie. His father had spent his entire life berating him, but it appeared that he seemed only to tolerate such from his sire. Today, this group of peers was treading on his last bit of goodwill with their prying questions and dishonorable insinuations.
At least it appeared it was nearing an end. He stood at the front of the church, waiting for their verdict. It was Brodick McJames who stood up to pronounce the lords’ decision.
“We have no verdict.”
“What is that supposed to mean, man?”
The earl maintained his somber expression except for one corner of his mouth that twitched upward. “We are evenly divided on the issue, with the exception of one man who refused to cast a vote. Hence, we have no decision.”
In another time or place Keir might have laughed—chuckled at all the wasted effort, or at the ironic twist of fate. But instead he crossed his arms and stared at the lords in front of him.
So close.
Yet not close enough. He’d failed to do everything he set out to complete in London. That knowledge stung. The stain of this trial would remain on the McQuade name long after he’d departed. It would haunt his children when they came to court.
Brodick tilted his head to one side. “We’ll send our findings to the king for his consideration.”
“Aye. And I’ll be right here awaiting his pleasure. No mistake about it.”
The earl did smile; he just couldn’t help but enjoy Keir’s humor.
Lord Bramford, on the other hand, turned red with rage. “Your humor is quite misplaced, Lord Hurst!”
“Is that a fact?” Keir unfolded his arms and pointed at the man. “I’ll tell ye what is misplaced. I am. Being laird means I’ve people and land to be seeing to. I came to London to find a bride who was educated in the ways of running an estate and she is nae helping a soul locked