Chapter Twelve #2
Kelley blurted out loudly, “Capell handed his niece over after a card game? That’s preposterous! The king would never approve of this union. Kirkeby isn’t even titled!”
Devlin was grateful for Kelley’s indignation. The man was arrogant, but he seemed to have something of a moral compass. His arrogance could play in Devlin’s favor in this particular aspect of the investigation, so he continued with more details.
“Kirkeby claims that he beat Capell soundly, and his winnings totaled more than Capell could pay. Supposedly, Capell offered an all-or-nothing hand. Roland accepted, and he won. When Capell couldn’t pay his debt, he offered Lady Rosalind as payment, but he stipulated that he couldn’t just take her and that Roland would have to marry her. ”
“At least there was that,” Kelley said dryly. “Still, it is unacceptable, and it never should have been considered. However, Kirkeby claims that Capell submitted a betrothal contract to the king. Is this true?”
“I found no draft of a document in his study nor anything written in his ledgers that would indicate Lady Rosalind would be used to cancel out a debt.”
At least that wasn’t a lie.
“And Lady Rosalind, did she know what her uncle had done?”
Devlin chose his words carefully, “Lady Rosalind was aware, yes. I questioned her extensively about the agreement between Capell and Kirkeby. She knew very little of the details except that they were both nearly passed out drunk when the men agreed to this outlandish plan. She was surprised that Kirkeby even remembered. She also added that she assumed the king would never allow it.”
“So, she is not fond of Kirkeby then?”
“I think not. He appears to be cut of the same cloth as the uncle. A lover of too much drink and gaming. No, she does not favor him in the slightest.”
“It seems to me the person who benefits the most from Lord Capell’s death is right here under this roof. It’s Lady Rosalind.”
Devlin muttered a curse under his breath.
He had tried to steer Kelley toward Capell’s debtors as the most likely suspects, but he failed.
“It is true. If I were the lady, I wouldn’t want to be sold off to a drunkard like Roland Kirkeby, but Lady Rosalind?
She is too kind. I cannot believe she is capable of murder. ”
“You’d be surprised at what the supposed “weaker sex” is capable of, Sir Devlin. Look at what she inherits with Capell gone. She is the sole heir to this estate and her father’s as well.”
“I, too, have considered this. And you are correct. But she only inherits what the king allows. And she knows this. She also knows the king can marry her off to whomever he chooses, and the estates pass to the husband. So, nothing is guaranteed for her. Her place as lady of the manor is not ironclad,” Devlin argued back.
“And you are correct in this, Sir Devlin,” he admitted.
“But with all she loves and cares about here, I can only think she would want to keep herself and the children safe, at whatever cost. She has much to lose. So, I think it is beneficial to speak with Roland Kirkeby. He might provide more valuable information.”
Devlin knew that Kelley would want to speak with Kirkeby, but he had hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.
“Now tell me where you found the body of Lord Capell, and did you gain any insight from what was left of the man. Was there evidence left on or near the body?”
Devlin explained how the bog mud found on Edmond’s horse led them to the location of Edmond’s body.
“Was the horse stripped of the saddle?”
“No, not at all. In fact, all assumed there had been an accident at first because the saddle, bridle, and saddlebag were not stolen. The tenant farmer who found the horse searched for Capell. When his son returned the animal to the manor, Lady Rosalind, Benton, and Ridley went searching as well. They found nothing.”
“Danby and I did our own search, too, on the day after our arrival and found nothing. And so that led us back to the bog. Lady Rosalind said the road leading through the bog was a shorter route to Wisbech, but it wasn’t often traveled, especially during the wet season.
The actual bog was the only place we hadn’t searched.
It had been frozen solid, but the weather had warmed enough, so I waded out in the mire.
About six feet in, I found Edmond’s body. Alden and I drug him out.”
“And did you find anything unusual?”
“That I did,” Devlin stated without emotion. “His coin was not stolen.”
“Well, there you have it. It had to be an accident, then! Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Now I can leave this drafty pile of rocks,” Kelley proclaimed, and he stood to leave the room.
“That’s not all,” Devlin continued.
Kelley let out an exasperated sigh and sat back in his chair.
“His pockets and cloak were filled with heavy rocks. He was weighed down. Someone didn’t want him found.”
The little man shook his head and muttered something that Devlin supposed was cursing. He’d begun to believe that Kelley wanted this mystery solved as much as he did.
He looked up at Devlin, “Anything else?”
“Yes, there is. When we informed Lady Rosalind and the rest of the household that we’d found Edmond, we questioned everyone again and this time we asked if anyone had seen or heard anything unusual in the weeks leading up to his disappearance. Ridley reported something odd.”
“Go on.”
“A few weeks before Edmond disappeared, Ridley entered his chamber before dawn to stoke the fire as he usually does. He reported that his desk was in disarray, and papers were strewn everywhere. Edmond was calling out in his sleep as well. He kept saying ‘Freedom whispers’ over and over.” He paused and the king’s man pondered this new information in his mind.
“Does that phrase mean anything to you?”
“No. I’ve never heard that before,” he replied, concerned. “Anything else?”
“And before Benton could tend to Capell that same morning, he’d cleaned up the papers and the room was back as it should have been.”
“Did you search for more evidence?”
“We most certainly did, Mr. Kelley. Alden had a sense that we’d missed something, so we searched the desk again and this time we found a hidden compartment.”
Kelley was now on the edge of his seat, “Tell me you found something that sheds some light here. I am growing impatient.”
“In the hidden space was another journal.”
Edward Kelley rolled his eyes, but Devlin kept talking.
“This one was much like the others, a list of initials along with amounts. But all the entries were payments made to Lord Edmond. And, there was one major difference. There was a date and a location written in the back of the journal.”
“Go on, man. What was the time and place you saw noted?”
“The note read, “Wisbech, The Boar’s Head, today’s date, and the time was recorded as ‘dusk.’ I want to point out that Wisbech is a town not far from here, and the quickest route when traveling there is through the bog.
The same bog where Edmond’s body was found.
Danby and I will travel there today and find what, if anything, can be discovered that could clear up this bloody mess. ”
“Good. And in the meantime, I will pay a visit to Roland Kirkeby.”
Devlin had hoped that Kelley would postpone his visit to Kirkeby so that he could be present during his questioning about the marriage contract, but it was not his place to tell the king’s clerk what to do and when to do it.
He had to appear completely impartial so as not to cast doubt on Lady Rosalind’s innocence.
“But I am quite fatigued, so I’ll have a short lie-down before I ride out. Call the manservant to show me to my room.” Kelley rose from his chair and paused. “No, that will take too long. Call the boy. I want to get there before tomorrow.”
Devlin chuckled to himself. Then he called for Ridley.
****
Rosalind passed the day in a state of anxiety.
Edward Kelley had left after the noonday meal for an immediate audience with Roland Kirkeby.
Her stomach rolled each time she thought of that wretched man.
And each time she allowed herself to think of actually marrying that scoundrel; she thought she’d be physically ill.
Surely, Mr. Kelley would see his claims of a marriage to pay off a debt and an actual betrothal contract as incredulous and immoral and that the king would never allow him to marry her.
And now, as she sat in the chapel with her head bowed, she struggled to finish her petitions because her mind wandered to Sir Devlin.
He was prepared to leave at any moment to travel to Wisbech.
She hoped and prayed he’d find answers there, but she wondered if anyone other than Edmond himself knew the depths of his lies and deceptions.
Thinking of her uncle spawned images and memories that made her stomach churn, and her heart quicken, and she prayed that the investigation would be over soon.
But at the same time, she feared the outcome.
At its conclusion, the best possible scenario would be that she would either be able to return to her father’s estate or be left alone.
She’d take the children, Marta and Benton, of course.
It would be rough at first, but she was sure she could get the estate working again.
There were lands to rent, and she could farm some herself.
Or, if the king planned to return her childhood home to another of his barons, she could stay here. After all, she was Edmond’s only heir.
And there was one option she had refused to think about because of the uncertainty and fear it carried with it—the king could marry her to someone else, and Edmond’s lands would become her husband’s.
Additionally, the king could make her marriage even more advantageous and appealing to her betrothed and include her childhood home as well in the contract.
Her title and lands would make some lord out there very wealthy.
In this case, there wasn’t a guarantee that the children would remain with her, and that possibility chilled her to her very core.
In that event, she had to find a way for them to stay together and possibly live with Marta and Benton.
Rosalind took one last look at the cross that hung behind the altar, and she stood slowly.
She turned and gasped slightly at the tall figure that stood in the door to the chapel.
Once she realized that it was Sir Devlin, she smiled and said softly, “You can come in, you know. Praying is available to everyone.”
“I fear that God may not welcome me here, milady,” he answered back just as softly.
“And why would you think that, sir? God welcomes everyone into His house,” she replied as she stepped toward him.
“The paths I’ve chosen haven’t exactly been reverent.”
“No matter,” she assured him. “God knows your heart and your intentions. You see yourself as doomed, without a home…beyond redemption. But I see a very different type of man before me. I’m sure God sees that too.”
“And what about you, Lady Rosalind? Your choices, the path you’ve taken, how do you see yourself? How does God see you?”
“I’ve spent many hours in prayer, Sir Devlin. I’ve done what was necessary to keep myself and the children safe, and I am at peace with that. God has seen all I have done, but He also sees my heart. I pray for His guidance and His mercy, without ceasing.”
“And has it worked, the praying? Have your prayers been answered?”
Rosalind looked him in the eye. “I’m still waiting to find out.”
She left the chapel.