He Dropped Three Women in One Night, Then We Took His Estate novel · Chapter 23 of 32
Chapter 23: The Report
Ottilie came home at dawn with the Princess's question, and Calista went up to the attic to answer it.
The three petitions lay in her apron pocket.
She meant to ask Evander to swear to them.
If the Princess needed proof, a Crown auditor's sworn finding would be the best in Aldermere.
She knocked, and there was no answer.
The bed was made, and the window open an inch, and the room was empty.
He had gone down to the mill at first light, to measure the loom.
She looked about for a pen and paper to leave a note.
The biscuit tin sat on the table.
She knew the tin.
He took it everywhere.
She lifted the lid to see if there was anything to write on.
Inside were the dozen blank sheets signed in Aldric's name, which she had seen him put there.
Beside them lay a letter in a clerk's hand, with the Crown's seal printed at the top and no wax at the foot.
She should have put the lid back.
She stood with it in her hand, thinking: no secrets, even small ones.
She took out the letter and read it.
It was addressed to the Chancellor of Aldermere.
It was dated the day after the three women had found the forgeries.
It said that the undersigned had discovered, in the course of the audit of the House of Voltraine, certain instruments forged in the hand of the Dowager Marchioness, that the said instruments had affected the dissolution of the Marquis's marriage and the disposal of two other persons, that the Marquis's debts amounted to four hundred and ten thousand crowns, and that the Princess's dowry ought not to be released.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of He Dropped Three Women in One Night, Then We Took His Estate are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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