Chapter 38 #2
Convinced that he was in the right, Blackwood straightened his spine and spoke with the authority that had served him well in the military.
“I received information that Lord Glendale was to meet with one of the Jacobite leaders.” He schooled his face to appear sorrowful, with a touch of pity toward Lady Glendale.
“Unfortunately everything was true. There was nothing I could do but arrest Lord Glendale for treason.”
Cumberland looked up at him and folded his hands on his desk, giving Blackwood his full attention and making his stomach cramp. “You say everything was true, but what was your proof, Colonel?”
“I was given a signed confession from the Jacobite himself. In return, I was assured that the Jacobite was leaving Scotland for France.”
“And the name of this Jacobite?” Lord Scarbrough asked in the haughty way that only the nobility could achieve.
Blackwood’s back teeth came together, but he smiled through it. “Unfortunately I do not remember his name.”
“But you have the signed confession,” Scarbrough persisted. “We can get the name from the confession.” Scarbrough arched a brow, telling Blackwood in one look that he thought him a liar.
Blackwood’s anger rose hot and potent, but he tamped it down, knowing that in Scarbrough’s eyes, Blackwood was simply a military man, not as good as Scarbrough and his ilk.
Blackwood had lived most of his life knowing he wasn’t good enough for the upper echelon of society.
Eleanor Hirst was supposed to have reversed that bad fortune.
“I can attempt to find it,” Blackwood said. “But with the move from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and then on to Fort Augustus, it might take some time.” He was pleased with himself for putting doubt in the minds of everyone here that the fate of the signed confession was precarious at best.
Eleanor’s face was twisted in fury, but she remained silent.
“I will require the paper,” Scarbrough said.
Blackwood tipped his head. “Certainly, my lord.”
“And then what?” Cumberland asked.
Blackwood turned his attention back to Cumberland, knowing him to be the biggest threat in the room.
Scarbrough, Blackwood could deal with. He’d been dealing with men like that all his life.
After all, look how ineffective Glendale had been against him.
But Cumberland was a different story. Blackwood actually feared Cumberland.
“Yer Grace, I’m certain Glendale’s widow does not want to hear the details of her husband’s—”
“I was there, Colonel,” she said, speaking for the first time.
“I was present when he was arrested and dragged from our quarters. I was there when he questioned the soldiers who put him in manacles. I was there when he was hanged, still declaring his innocence. I watched his legs kick as he struggled for breath, and I stood there watching him die. You can spare my sensibilities now.”
The large Highlander behind Blackwood shifted, drawing his attention. The lethal glare he received made him flinch.
“You may proceed with your story,” Cumberland said with a slight smile.
Blackwood swallowed through a dry throat. “It was as she described, Your Grace. Lord Glendale was arrested and hanged the next day.”
“Was he tried?”
Blackwood hesitated. It was a fatal hesitation, he knew that immediately, but he tried to cover it up by speaking with authority. “We were preparing to leave for Aberdeen any day. Things had to proceed quickly.”
“I see.” Cumberland studied Blackwood. “And what happened to Lady Glendale after that?”
“I…” He looked at the lady in question. She was watching him, waiting for his answer.
But there was no ready answer. His mind had gone curiously blank.
For the first time he thought that maybe he wouldn’t talk his way out of this, that maybe Cumberland wouldn’t take a soldier’s side and would instead believe Lady Glendale and Lord Scarbrough.
“Is it true, Colonel Blackwood,” Cumberland said in a tone that one could not ignore, “that you had Lady Glendale arrested, brought to Aberdeen and then Fort Augustus, and kept her imprisoned?”
Blackwood had the curious thought that this had moved from a mere questioning to a trial, and he was the accused. But he persisted, refusing to believe that his illustrious career would end in this way.
The large Highlander shifted again. Campbell was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching with a bored expression. Scarbrough was pale and appeared as if he could be sick at any moment.
And in the midst of them all stood Lady Glendale, standing tall, watching him with those blue eyes that had laughed up at him while they’d danced at the officers’ ball.
He’d known then that he’d needed to have her, and when he realized that she was the daughter of Hopewell, a very powerful and well-off lord, and the wife of another powerful lord, he knew what he needed to do.
He had to get her husband out of the way and then convince her that she needed him.
Looking at the proud tilt of her head and the squared shoulders and the accusing eyes, he wondered what he had been thinking. She was no terrified woman who was lost and alone and shamed. Not anymore, at least.
She faced him. The Highlander behind him moved closer. Campbell perked up in interest. She held her fists up and shoved her arms toward him. “Please tell the duke where I got these, sir.”
Blackwood had to lean back to focus on her arms, and what he saw had his blood running cold. Scars circled her dainty wrists and there was no mistaking what they had come from.
“I have the statements of two of my guards that a woman was in our prison for close to five weeks,” Cumberland said. “What say you, Colonel?”
“I—I…” Blackwood cleared his throat. “I feared—with good reason—that the treason ran deeper than Glendale himself and that his wife could be involved as well. I wanted to be assured that no more secrets were being relayed to the Jacobites and endangering England.”