To The Traitor in My Bed - Chapter 51
Chapter 26. One Step Closer to the Truth
As Deirdre was writing a letter to Dorian in the morning room, she was interrupted by Kingsley’s voice.
“Madam, Lady Rosina Campbell is here to see you.”
Rosina never visited without an appointment. Deirdre immediately went downstairs. As soon as the young lady saw her, she asked,
“Have you heard the news, Lady Rochepolie?”
Deirdre silently shook her head, while Rosina was clearly agitated.
“The other day, the Count and Countess of Holborn were arrested, and the charge is…”
Deirdre quickly escorted her guest to the table. Rosina, in such a hurry, hadn’t even taken off her gloves. It wasn’t until the tea arrived that Rosina noticed and quickly removed them.
She leaned forward over the table.
“They say they hid Viscount Darnell.”
That couldn’t be right.
Deirdre stared at Rosina with her mouth slightly open, and it seemed Rosina had the same thought.
“I thought he had gone to Luska. Was that not the case…”
No, Darnell and the man with the foreign accent had definitely gone to Luska. That must have been why they abandoned the sleigh in Wigmore. Deirdre felt sorry for Rosina, but she no longer wanted to be entangled with Lord Darnell.
“There must be some misunderstanding, Rosina. To get from here to Holborn, you would have to pass through several military police checkpoints along the way.”
“I suppose so…”
Rosina wanted to believe her words for a different reason. Deirdre continued to provide logical reassurances to both the young lady and herself.
“Also, Holborn is right next to Upper Island. Lord of the Upper Island severed ties with Viscount Darnell, so it’s unlikely he would go that way.”
When Ian Darnell was arrested for publishing an illegal newspaper, his father, Count Darnell, promptly declared his disownment of his eldest son and fully cooperated with the military police. He revealed everything he knew about his son’s actions before his arrest.
Many people criticized the Count for being harsh, but some argued that it was a reasonable decision, given that his entire family could have been ruined in a single day if he hadn’t acted.
Christian did not severely punish Count Darnell. The tax imposed on Upper Island increased significantly, and no member of the Darnell family was allowed to set foot in Parliament, but the Count’s biggest loss was the loss of his eldest son.
This was a shrewd decision, made to avoid the potential negative effects of excessive collective punishment.
In any case, there was no reason for Viscount Darnell to still have any attachment to Upper Island now.
As Deirdre gulped down her still-warm tea, Rosina gave her an apologetic look.
“I must have upset Lady Rochepolie for no reason. Lord and Lady Rochepolie have been so kind to help me…”
“Don’t say that.”
Deirdre took Rosina’s hand in hers.
“But where did you hear this news?”
“My mother sent me a letter from Swinton. She’s been getting close to the wives of the officers recently, so she’s very up to date on these rumors.”
The reason Marchioness Campbell had been associating with the officers’ wives was, of course, because the family she was planning to marry Rosina off to, County Cottenham, was military.
After hearing the news about Viscount Darnell, she had probably written in a hurry to advise her daughter not to entertain such foolish ideas. A letter sent urgently by messenger could reach here from the capital in just three days.
“Did your mother mention that Viscount Darnell was also arrested?”
Instead of answering, Rosina handed over the letter. Deirdre quickly took it and read through it. Lady Campbell was a lively and talkative woman, and her letters often mixed facts and opinions, so caution was needed. The habits of the Marchioness were reflected in her writing.
After reading the dense letter twice, Deirdre finally understood the gist: ‘Lord and Lady Holborn have been arrested on suspicion of hiding Viscount Darnell, and the arrest was made by Major Lysander Cottenham.”
“…Did Captain Cottenham get promoted to a Major?”
“It seems so.”
Deirdre handed the letter back to the lady.
“Viscount Darnell wasn’t really arrested in Holborn. That means Lord and Lady Holborn’s innocence will be proven too.”
As she spoke, she was trying to remember more details. Holborn… Yes, it was the Glenwell family. She had heard that the eldest or second daughter of the Glenwell family had married a certain Viscount from Swinton. Perhaps she had crossed paths with the lady at a ball or social gathering.
“If this is a mistake or a false accusation, then nothing will happen to them, right….”
Rosina asked with concern.
Deirdre, however, was skeptical. The three days during which Marquis Havisham had been falsely accused of plotting to assassinate the King were anything but uneventful.
During that time, things had gone terribly wrong. Christian, with a smiling face, had claimed to be relieved that misunderstandings about such a noble family were cleared up. He had even invited Dorian and Deirdre to dinner as a form of apology. Deirdre had been too afraid to look the King in the eye.
<Marquis Havisham was too hasty. If he had waited calmly for his punishment, there wouldn’t have been such unfortunate events.>
Deirdre could only hope that Lord and Lady Holborn were more ‘calm’ than her father had been.
“I hope everything will be fine. Since you’re here, why don’t you try some of the orange cake? There are no raisins, though.”
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