“I made mistakes,” she admitted.
“I trusted a man who pretended to carry letters.
He gave them to Richard instead.” Alden asked the man’s name.
Lydia said Edwin Sutter.
The clerk had not merely stamped papers; he had intercepted attempts to contact families and then used the messages to identify people who might challenge the trade.
As dawn light reached the workshop, Lydia asked about Catherine.
Rebecca said her sister had begun to question Richard openly.
Lydia looked away.
“She had chances long ago,” she said.
“She chose the house over what she knew.” Rebecca did not contradict her.
“She is choosing differently now,” she answered.
Lydia turned back toward the table.
“Then let her prove it by helping the people whose names are written here.” She touched the ledger with two fingers and added, “I don’t need an apology that ends at the front door.”
Chapter 22: The Colonel Finds the Empty Wall
Richard inspected the cellar the following morning and immediately noticed the difference.
The air smelled of fresh drainage wood, and the coal sacks had been moved an inch from their usual position.
He pressed the hidden catch and found the compartment empty.
Then he pulled the coal panel loose and discovered the passage deserted.
Crowe stood behind him, looking bewildered.
Richard did not raise his voice.
He asked who had repaired the drain.
Crowe answered that Elijah had worked there under supervision.
Richard looked at the short screw and understood that supervision had not been enough.
He ordered Elijah brought to the study.
Naomi watched from the kitchen as two guards led her husband across the courtyard.
Their daughter Ruth moved toward him, but Naomi held her back with one firm hand.
“We need to stay where we can see,” she whispered.
Inside the study Richard stood beside his desk with a pistol lying in plain view.
He asked Elijah where Lydia had gone.
Elijah answered that he had not seen Lydia leave.
Richard struck the desk.
“Don’t play with words.” Elijah kept his eyes lowered.
“I repaired the pipe as ordered.” Richard walked around the desk, then stopped close enough for Elijah to smell tobacco on his coat.
“I can sell your whole family before sundown.”
Elijah felt the words like a blow, though he had expected them.
He thought of Naomi’s hands wrapped around Samuel’s shoulders and Ruth’s careful courage at the creek.
“You have the power to try, sir,” he said.
Richard lifted the pistol.
The study door opened before he could speak again.
