Duncan’s gaze stayed steady.
“And now you have been told otherwise, with witnesses, and written evidence, and two girls stating plainly that they left of their own will, and one child naming a specific act that suggests harm.”
The constable hesitated, then said, “We still have to consider guardianship.”
“Consider it properly,” Duncan replied. “Their father is dead. Their mother is dead. The viscount is their uncle, not their father. He may claim authority, but authority is not absolute when a man is unfit, and you have just watched him shout at a child in a chapel and call her a liar for saying she was frightened.”
Edward lunged forward again, trying to reach past the constable.
“They are mine,” he shouted. “They belong to my family. He cannot take them. She cannot take them. Charity is unstable, and she is trying to ruin me.”
Charity’s breath caught, and she felt the old panic surge, the instinct to shrink and apologize and make herself smaller so he would stop, then Duncan stepped forward at last.
He moved between Charity and Edward, and he did it with such controlled certainty that the room seemed to shift around him.
“You will not speak her name again in that tone,” Duncan said, voice quiet and deadly calm.
“You think being a duke makes you untouchable?” Edward stared at him, furious.
“It makes you foolish for coming into my chapel and accusing me of a crime with no proof,” Duncan replied.
The constable cleared his throat again, trying to regain control. “Your Grace, we have to proceed carefully. You have a physician’s note, you have letters, but we would need to see them, and we would need statements taken properly….”
“And you will take them,” Duncan said, then turned his head slightly toward Charity. “Tell them.”
Charity’s heart pounded so hard she felt dizzy, but she forced herself to speak, forced herself to breathe, forced herself to keep her voice steady.
“I was not taken,” Charity said, and her voice shook at first, then strengthened. “I came to the duke because my uncle’s behavior became unsafe, and because I feared for my sisters, and because I was given something that made me ill, and I do not believe it was an accident.”
“You cannot prove anything,” Edward let out a harsh laugh.
The constable looked uncomfortable, which told Charity Duncan was correct.
“Ask yourself,” he said to the constables, “why a duke would have any need to steal from a viscount?”
The first constable swallowed. “That is not…”
“It is exactly the question,” Duncan replied. “He is accusing me of theft as if I gain something by it, but I gain nothing by stealing two girls who arrived at my gates frightened and asking for protection. What I gain is trouble, and you have brought it to my chapel on my wedding day, so let us stop pretending this is about theft.”
The second constable looked down at the letters again, then at Edward, then at the room full of witnesses.
“Sir,” he said to Edward cautiously, “if you have lawful documents that prove guardianship and a complaint that can be made properly, that should be handled through the court, not by interrupting a ceremony with accusations.”
“I wanted to deal with the viscount quietly,” Duncan said, and Charity heard his tone turn hard. “I was ready to use the proper channels and keep this out of public view, since a scandal hurts the girls as much as it hurts him. But he chose to storm into my chapel with constables and accuse me in front of everyone. This is not a private family matter anymore.”
“Your Grace,” the first constable said, looking uneasy, “are you asking us to arrest a viscount here?”
“I am telling you that his title does not protect him when he behaves like this,” Duncan said. “If you take those girls out of this house today, you will be taking them back to a man who cannot control himself, and you will be responsible if anything happens to them.”
“We have to be careful calling a man insane,” the constable said.
“Call it whatever you want,” Duncan replied. “Call it instability. Call it unfit to care for children. Call it a man who shouts in public and sends threats to a duke. Just do your job.”
Edward snapped, “You cannot threaten constables.”
“I am not threatening them,” Duncan said. “I am making it clear this is serious, and it will be treated as serious.”
The first constable hesitated, then nodded slowly. “We will need statements from the girls and from Miss Cluett,” he said, “and we need to see the doctor’s note.”
