“I do.”
A gasp could be heard rippling throughout the room.
“I don’t know who killed that poor woman found floating in the Thames wearing Miss Leonard’s pendant, but Idoknow that whoever did probably wants Annabel dead.”
“Do you know where Miss Leonard is now?”
The woman shook her head. “No. But we must find her!”
“Thank you, Mrs. Bruno. Nothing further.”
The lords looked at each other in astonishment; some of them shook their heads in apparent disbelief.
The Lord High Steward invited the Attorney General to cross-examine the witness, but he declined.
“My Grace,” Mr. Upwey said, “the defense would like to call Mr. Bernard Leonard to the stand.
“Granted.” The Lord High Steward said.
Henry watched in awe as a short but powerfully built man with black hair and bushy eyebrows stepped up to the stand.
“Mr. Leonard,” Mr. Upwey addressed the confectioner after he’d been sworn in by the Clerk of the Crown. “Are you acquainted with this Mrs. Stella Bruno who testified before this court minutes ago?”
“I am. She was, as she says, my daughter’s nanny for many years before becoming her lady’s maid.”
“Mr. Leonard, did you, as Mrs. Bruno claims, arrange a marriage between your daughter and Lord Craventhorp?”
“I did.”
“And was the dowry you offered to Lord Craventhorp eighty-thousand pounds?”
“It was, yes.”
“And did your daughter object to this union?”
Mr. Leonard hung his head.
“The witness will answer the question,” the Lord High Steward said.
Mr. Leonard looked up and cleared his throat. “Yes.”
“Do you believe Mrs. Bruno has any reason to lie at this point in time?”
“No, if she thinks my Annabel is alive, then it must be true.” He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes.
“Thank you, Mr. Leonard, nothing further.”
The Attorney General declined to question the witness, and Mr. Leonard stepped down.
The Lord High Steward then turned to address the lords. “My lords, in light of this new testimony, I suspend the accused’s sentence to allow for further investigation into this matter. The prisoner will remain in the Tower until more is known.”
A great uproar sounded.
“The story will be in every paper tomorrow,” Mr. Upwey said. “If Miss Leonard is alive, she’ll either come forward or she’s fled from England.”
Henry only blinked in response. He was too stunned to answer. Anne was Annabel Leonard, but she’d have to give up her freedom to save him, and he did not want that.
*
