The Clerk of the Crown stepped forward. “My Lord High Steward of England, His Grace, requests that the accused be brought to the bar.”
The Lieutenant Governor of the Tower and the Yeoman Goaler ushered Henry forward, and once again, he found himself seated on a stool at the bar.
The Lord High Steward spoke, “My lords, I have summoned you back to court today because a witness previously not heard has come forward with claims that put doubt on this court’s verdict. We shall hear the witness’s testimony. After which, I shall determine whether it is compelling enough to overturn the guilty verdict.”
A tumult erupted in the courtroom.
“Oyez, Oyez, Oyez. My Lord High Steward of England, His Grace, calls for silence,” the Serjeant at Arms proclaimed.
Henry focused his eyes on the short, plump, middle-aged woman who stepped up to the witness box and was sworn in by the Clerk of the Crown.Who is this woman who comes to save my life?
Upwey stood and approached the witness. “Are you Mrs. Stella Rosa Bruno who was employed by Mr. Leonard first as a nanny and then as a lady’s maid for Miss Annabel Leonard?”
“I am. I have served Miss Leonard since her birth.”
“When was the last time you saw Miss Leonard?”
“On the evening of 28 July 1869, in Canterbury, Kent, where she’d taken up lodgings with one Mrs. Taylor, a seamstress.”
Henry drew in a breath and a sharp pain shot through his chest. He doubled over, almost collapsing in the dock.Anne Crawford and Annabel Leonard are one and the same?
A warder rushed forward and helped him back to his feet. “Are you fit to continue, Lord Hudsyn?” the Lord High Steward asked.
Henry nodded. “Yes, Your Grace,” he said, still thinking of Anne. How could he have missed the clues? They’d all been there. The chopped hair, connection with a fishmonger, and lodgings at a seamstress’s shop that didn’t match her education and upper-class mannerisms. And then, there was her deep interest in Miss Leonard’s murder—her endless questions about his friendship with Craventhorp—and of course, her suspicions against him.
“Who was driving the carriage that carried you and Miss Leonard to Canterbury?” Mr. Upwey asked, and Henry forced his mind back to the trial.
“Mr. Nathaniel Trawler, a Whitstable fishmonger by trade.”
A rumbling sounded from the lords who shook their heads and looked from one to the other.
“Can you please explain to the lords why Miss Leonard changed her name and took up residence with a seamstress in Canterbury?” Mr. Upwey continued.
Mrs. Bruno extracted a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed her eyes. “She was terrified of Lord Craventhorp and wanted to escape the marriage arranged by her father.”
“That’s a lie!” Lord Craventhorp sprang out of his seat.
“Oyez, Oyez, Oyez,” the Serjeant at Arms proclaimed. “My Lord High Steward, His Grace, commands silence in the court on pain of imprisonment.”
Craventhorp sat down and drew his lips into a tight line.
“Do you mean to say that Mr. Leonard attempted to force his daughter into a marriage she’d not agreed to?”
“Yes. Miss Leonard was vehemently opposed to the marriage, but her father intended to drag her to the alter against her will.”
“To what end?” Mr. Upwey asked.
“He intended for his daughter to marry a title and paid Lord Craventhorp handsomely for the privilege.”
“Against her will?” Mr. Upwey said again as if to emphasize his shock that a respectable man would behave in such a distasteful manner.
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Bruno, why have you only come forward now?”
“I have been on the continent, sir. And when I learned that an innocent man is being tried for a crime he did not commit, I couldn’t have it on my conscience, so I set sail to England. And also, because I fear for Miss Leonard’s life.”
“Her life? Do you mean she is alive?”
