Sitting behind Roland and Sigrid was Mrs.Vickers, wife of the most well known apothecary in the Doria. Somehow, her ears were sharp enough to catch Roland’s question and she was in the mood to gossip so she leaned forward and whispered with an urgency, "Crown princess, Crown prince, haven’t you heard the news?"
Roland and Sigrid were surprised that someone was brave enough to pull them into gossip. They frowned at each other before turning their heads to look behind.
"Mrs. Vickers." Sigrid said the name with a polite smile. "Thank you for coming."
"It is a pity." The bubbly round faced middle aged woman answered.
The words were so perfunctory because there was not one ounce of sorrow on her face. In her eyes was a glint of joy as she thought she was about to share the most scandalous news ever.
"I heard from Lady Aberdon who heard directly from nurse Shalin that Emmah Fairfax is in a family way. Nobody seems to know who the father is. Some say it is prince Benjamin, others say it is Sir Valerius, others think it is Gage the giant and some say it is the shopkeeper Bumblebert. You would think the list ends there but it goes on. Every man that has been seen in her company is a suspect."
The music stopped just in time for Mrs. Vickers next words to travel all through the drawing room.
"Some of the men in this very room are on the list of those suspected to have put Emmah Fairfax in the family way. It is amazing that there is no Ashford on the list. Anyway, nurse Shalin swears that it is the reason behind Lady Jane’s murder. That she knew the real identity of the father of Emmah’s child."
And thus begun the gasping. The news of Emmah’s pregnancy had not yet hit the news as the Fairfax family had opted to keep it quiet. Who would have known that by the time they bribed the nurse to keep what she knew to herself, it was too late.
Count Fairfax clenched his hands around the walking cane. He needed to send someone to the nurse and make her return the fifty gold coins she had accepted from them.
Lady Percival was the first to respond to Lady Vicker’s claims. "I knew it. I saw her vomiting secretly in the bathroom at the school and I asked her how she was feeling. She claimed that she had simply eaten some bad shrimp. But I knew straight away that she was pregnant and I mentioned it to my friend Jane." [It never happened, she was lying.]
"I did hear from the dressmakers hired to make dresses for the Fairfax girls before the debutante ball that Emmah’s stomach was a little rounder."
"I heard her appetite had increased incredibly. That is usually one of the greatest signs of pregnancy."
"I always knew that she would end up like that given all that flirting she was doing. And the way she used to dress! No young decent woman dresses like that."
"Hers should be a precautionary tale to all young ladies. If you live recklessly, you you will suffer disasters."
"Oh my goodness, you don’t suppose it is a royal child, do you? Will they take in the child even if the mother is a criminal?" Someone whispered.
Those that heard the whisper looked at Sigrid and Roland.
The couple pretended that they heard nothing and decided that it was time to end their brief visit to the home of the Fairfax’s.
As they left, they heard someone wondering if Emmah would be pardoned in case the child she was carrying was Benjamin’s. Then, Lady Underwood broke into song again.
While the couple was being driven away from the manor, Sigrid pondered on the whispers and claims being made. She had a feeling that before the day ended, the entire city would know about Emmah’s pregnancy. The claims that the child was royal would also grow.
She looked at her husband and it appeared like the funeral had exhausted him. His eyes were closed, his breathing slow. It seemed as if he was sleeping.
Sigrid shook him and said, "My love, wake up. You need to make a statement, or maybe I do. We cannot have people assuming that Emmah’s child is royalty. That shameless woman might become bold enough to claim that it is the truth. Given how crazy Benjamin was about her and the fact that they were intimate, he could accept the pregnancy and the child, whether or not it belongs to him."
Roland did not open his eyes. He just replied lazily, "We can prove with bloodline magic that the child is not Benjamin’s. Provided, it is not his. But even if it is, Emmah’s crimes will not be pardoned. She killed someone, a noble at that. Her fate is to be beheaded, no matter what. Who will you be sending after her?"
"Veylin and some knights." She replied instantly, having pondered on the matter the previous night.
"It is such a shame that the lucky halo is gone or else, the wind would blow her back here." Roland opened his eyes and a small sigh came from his mouth, "It is also a shame that you threw such a great debutante ball and in the end, it was overshadowed by this tragedy. I thought for sure that everyone would be talking about the sand and the fact that when we got home, it seemed to be everywhere.
Look at the carpet in this car Sigrid, we took baths, changed clothes and we somehow managed to get sand in the car. Where is it coming from?"
"That would be my cloak." Sigrid pointed to the white cloak hanging on the head rest of the drivers seat.
"The falcons." He brought up another thing that he thought would be lips of everyone. "You surprised me with those birds. I thought we would be fighting off noble lords today as everyone would be trying to buy a falcon from us."
She shrugged. None of that truly mattered anyway. "Well, murder has a way of taking attention from everything else. And the murder of a noble....." She shook her head. "It shakes up other nobles. I heard so many people at the Fairfax manor saying "thank goodness we know who the killer is or else we would have restless nights, forced to keep our eyes open and frightened that some noble hating maniac is on the lose, targeting our hearts." She paused and drew in a small breath."I think everyone is more interested in how Lady Jane died rather than the fact that she died."
Roland thought back on his own memories of Lady Jane Fairfax and she smiled. "I think she would be happy to know that her death, much like her life, was exciting and something worth talking about. Scandal was her bread and butter."