Jamie breathedin to clear blood red rage that blinded him at the sight of Filiberto, now the count, sitting at his ease in court. Jamie believed with absolute certainty that he had engineered Isabella’s kidnapping.This animal should be caged.
He forced a polite smile for the three auditors who sat at a raisedtable watching him curiously. He forced his eyes to focus on those men with the power to take Isabella from Nora.
He hoped he looked more confident than he felt. Walking past Nora had already sapped his self-control. He had walked right into the hornet’s nest, and his defenses were weak.
“I apologize for the interruption, Your Honor.”Honor? What does one call an auditor of a papal court?They looked like bishops, except two of them wore red.Your Reverence? “It has come to my attention that you wished to speak to me.”
“You are Baron Ross?” the oldest looking of the three auditors asked.
“James Heyworth, Baron Ross, Your Reverence.” The old man nodded, one hand raised with a pen as if he had been about to write something when Jamie interrupted.
“Husband of Lady Ross,” Jamie went on.
“Of course, of course,” the old man said.
The auditor scribbled notes. Jamie heard movement to his right. He recognized Wentworth and Salvia, who rose to his feet.
“I believe, Your Eminence—” Salvia began.
Eminence!Jamie thought.That was it.
“—it should be obvious to all of us that Baron Ross’s arrival invalidates any claims the House of Castellimonte might wish to make.”
Damn right,Jamie thought.
“Perhaps so, Signor Salvia, but you will understand the court’s desire to be certain?” another auditor, a younger one with a cynical air about him, asked.
Salvia opened his mouth to object but appeared to think better of it. He nodded. The elderly cleric went on, “If the baron would please sit. There are questions.” His voice trailed off as he flicked a glance toward Castellimonte. Jamie refused to follow the man’s eyes. He would not look at Filiberto.
“We have seen your marriage lines, Baron, and the House of Castellimonte conceded their earlier claims that the marriage was a sham,” the senior auditor said.
Jamie made a silent prayer of gratitude that he had signed his true name.
“That leaves the questions that arose about the current state of your marriage,” the younger man went on.
“My marriage, Your Eminence?” Jamie asked innocently.
“You have been gone from Rome, Baron, gone from your wife,” the man said.
“Business took me to London, Your Eminence. I returned as soon as messages reached me.”
“Messages reached you?”
“From Lady Ross. Apparently they had gone astray. I departed the day they reached me.”
“Is the court to understand that you only came home because of those messages?” the auditor asked.
“No. That is, yes.” Jamie wished he knew what the court wanted to hear.
“Which is it?” the auditor demanded.
“My business kept me but was drawing to a close. The letters sounded urgent.”Urgent? She sounded frantic. “I, of course, hurried my affairs to conclusion and came immediately.” He thought that close enough to be true.
“Let me be blunt, Baron. Do you and your wife live apart?” the younger cleric asked.
“Apart?” Jamie acted affronted.
“Do you share a house—when you are not on a business trip of course?” the man pushed.
