Graves opened and shut his mouth a few times before managing, ‘It is kind of you to say you wish him freed, sir, if you would feel his loss so.’
Herr Hoffman waved his handkerchief. ‘Not at all, milord Graves. I would lose him anyway to the axe-man, given the charge, and would much rather see him go free! Do not worry about me a jot.’
To that Graves had no reply at all, so merely bowed.
‘Kleinman!’ A rather stooped-looking creature appeared suddenly at his elbow in the doorway. ‘Kleinman will take you up. Such a delight to make your acquaintance. I hope I shall see you at one or other of the fetes and celebrations in town. Perhaps I shall be delivering dear Mr Clode back to you!’
‘You are able to leave your place here then, sir?’ Harriet asked.
‘Oh yes, from time to time. Some of these fellows have been here fifteen years. If I unlocked the doors and gave them the key, they’d probably lock themselves up again at once. Really, where could they go?’
In spite of what Rachel had told her, Harriet had not been prepared to see Daniel so drawn. There was a gauntness to his features, and though he met them warmly, Rachel was right, he was still distant, still to some degree lost in that night.
‘Harriet! Owen! How strange to see you here. What do you think of my first establishment as a married man?’
The room in which he was held was plain, but not uncomfortable. He had a little pile of books on his desk and a narrow view of the forest. The walls were the unplastered reddish stone of the castle, the only decoration a simple wooden cross above his narrow cot. Harriet preferred it to her own accommodation in court.
‘I rather like it,’ she said with a brisk smile and took a seat on one of the wooden stools provided. She removed her gloves and handed him a letter. ‘From your parents, Daniel.’ His expression as he saw the handwriting on the envelope was both tender and pained.
‘How are they?’ he asked. ‘I feared for my mother’s health — that the news might make her ill.’
His deep blue eyes looked too large for his face. Harriet felt an overwhelming urge to bundle the young couple into the carriage at once and not let them out of her sight till they were pink with health again. ‘She is frightened for you, Daniel, of course, but I suspect she is stronger than you think. Verity intended to call on them again with her parents when they arrived from London. She will give them every attention and I think they will like each other.’
‘Yes, I think they will. However gracious you are to them, Harriet, my father still feels like a footman in front of you.’ He ran his hand through his hair and Harriet noticed for the first time grey hairs among the black. ‘He and Mr Chase will understand each other. It is good of Verity to look to them. You have married well, Graves.’
Graves was looking uncertain, something shocked by his friend’s looks and tone. His voice was serious as he replied, ‘I know it, Daniel. And better than I deserve, much like yourself.’
Clode dropped his gaze. ‘Of course, I did not mean,’ he put his hand out to Rachel, ‘you know I did not mean to imply …’
Rachel smiled and shook her head. ‘Of course not, Daniel.’
An odd, clinging sort of silence fell over them. Harriet looked out at the forest through the open shutter. It filled the frame with spring green. So vast it seemed, waves hiding the landscape. It reminded her of the sea when they were out of sight of land, how it seemed to flow to the edges of vision.
‘You have come to tell me about your reception in court,’ Daniel said. His voice was slightly hoarse, as if he had become unpractised at speech. ‘Do you think they mean to execute me? Or lock me in a madhouse?’
‘They will do neither,’ Graves said. ‘You will be returning to England with us, your name cleared and their profound apologies ringing in your ears. What is the matter with you, man? We have travelled for weeks and you greet us as if we’d just arrived rather inconveniently while you were writing epic verse or somesuch.’
Clode almost smiled. Almost. ‘I thank you for coming, and I know you will do everything in your power to release me. But how can anyone, even Harriet and Mr Crowther, find out the truth of that night? It must haunt me always.’ He folded his arms across his body as if cold. ‘I thank you, for Rachel’s sake, but you can do nothing for me, I think.’
‘All that Crowther and Mrs Westerman have done, and you show such little faith? In two months you’ll be home and dancing with my wards till you are sick with laughing.’
Clode turned sharply on his friend. ‘Laugh?’ Harriet noticed that as he lifted his hand to his temple, the fingers were shaking a little. ‘You don’t understand, Owen. I was parted from my reason, the horrors of that night …’
‘No, I do not understand, and from what I saw of that little girl, I can only imagine. But it was a dream, Daniel. A nightmare, and you must learn to see it in that light, rather than brood.’
‘What little girl?’
‘One who thought I was King of the Fairies. There, that almost made you smile! Your mask was drugged, my friend. We have just seen a demonstration this morning. A child wore it for a short time — and she saw all manner of things.’
‘So it was drugged?’
‘Yes.’
‘But that does not prove I am innocent of doing Lady Martesen harm.’
Graves was quite red in the face. Harriet felt a wave of affection for him. ‘From what I read, you were hardly capable of standing. Could you, in that state, pour water down a woman’s throat till she drowned?’
‘Drowned?’ Clode lowered himself onto one of the rough stools in the room and stared at Graves, his mouth slightly open.
‘Yes, drowned. You were drugged with your nasty mask — I can’t believe you were fool enough to wear such a thing — and she drowned on dry land. Hoffman will be delivering you back to court within the day, I guarantee it. And you will look every silk-smothered devil there in the face like a free-born Englishman! So there is a little parcel of facts for you and we have others to hand too if you will stop staring out of the window like a hero in a novel and act like a man. Do you have food here? Rachel says she always brings you delicacies and finds them untouched.’ He picked up a stool and placed it opposite Daniel, blocking his view of the forest. ‘And by the way, Manzerotti is in court.’
Daniel turned to stare at Harriet. ‘Good God, Harriet! Is he …? Have you …?’
Harriet tilted her head to one side. ‘I was going to stab him with one of Mr Al-Said’s files, but he provided a pistol so I almost shot him instead. I hate to say it, but I think having the opportunity to do so, and not killing him, has done me a great deal of good.’
Rachel smothered a shocked laugh. Clode was speechless. Graves ploughed on.
‘Now we have a mission, Daniel. We must think through every moment of your time in court before the Carnival and see who might have had a reason to try and murder you alongside Lady Martesen.’
Daniel was looking confused and distressed, and Rachel put out her hand. ‘Graves, please! Daniel has been very ill.’
Graves reached across the table and grabbed one of Clode’s wrists, jerking it towards him. His coatsleeve rode up and the scar, thin and livid across his wrist, was exposed. Graves turned his hand back and forth. ‘Seems to be healing well enough. A year and you won’t even have to wear long cuffs. Rachel, you have been too sympathetic. What Clode here needs is good food and a swift reminder of his duties.’