Catherine stood on the gallery with both hands gripping the rail.
Richard never looked at her.
When the roof began to collapse, he ordered Daniel to enter and retrieve the ledgers.
Daniel stared at the flames.
“No one can go in there safely.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“I gave you an order.”
Daniel looked toward the other workers.
He knew refusal could bring punishment, but obedience could kill him.
“The roof is falling,” he said.
“I can use a hook from outside.”
Richard took a step toward him.
Isaiah moved beside the barrel and held up a long iron pole.
“Let him try from here, Colonel.”
The suggestion allowed Richard to retreat without appearing to yield.
Daniel took the pole and caught a burning shelf through the doorway.
He pulled it toward the yard.
Several papers scattered into the rain.
Silas scrambled to gather them before they burned.
One page landed near Daniel’s boot.
He saw rows of initials and payments before the ink dissolved.
The fire had been meant to destroy records, not merely a building.
When the flames were finally contained, Richard announced that careless servants had allowed a lamp to overturn.
He demanded the names of those responsible.
No one answered.
Daniel remembered the broken window and the oil trail.
He had seen Silas leave the records room shortly before the smoke appeared.
He did not make the accusation in the yard.
It would have given Richard a reason to isolate him.
Instead he examined the ruins after dark with Isaiah.
They found the brass base of an oil lamp beneath an intact shelf.
Its wick had been removed, and the reservoir was nearly empty.
Beside it lay a torn strip of expensive dark wool.
Silas wore a coat of the same material.
Daniel placed the cloth in a tin box, but he knew matching fabric alone would not establish guilt.
He needed testimony or documents showing what Silas had been ordered to destroy.
The next morning Catherine summoned Daniel to repair a window latch.
She waited until the housekeeper left, then spoke quietly.
“Richard burned the records because he knows Margaret escaped.”
Daniel kept his face still.
“How do you know?”
“I heard him speak with Whitcomb.”
“Did he name her?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say where she went?”
“No.”
Catherine looked toward the ruined stable wing.
“He wants the public to believe the ledgers were lost by accident.”
“Then we need to show copies survived.”
