Page 52 of Papa's Captive

Epilogue

“Rosie, my girl, there is someone I would like you to meet.”

It had been three days since the grand ball at the home of Cynny and Lord Grayson. Rosie had met so many of Papa’s friends at the party, she could not imagine anyone was left for her to meet, but apparently there was.

Papa escorted her into his library and introduced her to Mr. Hoffman. “Mr. Hoffman is a private detective,” Papa explained.

“Oh?” Rosie took a step back, shaken by the prospect of what a detective might have to say.

“Please, my dear,” Papa said, “I assure you there is no reason for alarm. He is in my employ. I hired him away from Lady Wartwhistle to investigate the case against your father.”

Rosie took a seat and clasped her hands tightly in her lap.

“Mr. Hoffman, would you please share with Lady Caldwell what you have learned?”

“Of course, my lord.” Mr. Hoffman, addressed Rosie. “Milady, first, I must recommend the termination of a house maid named Harriet. She was hired by Lady Wartwhistle to collect information on your household. Without a newspaper clipping she stole from your private possessions, I would never have been able to connect you to Charles Andrews in the first place.”

Rosie gasped. Harret! She ought to have known. Something about that servant had never sat well with her. Rosie glanced at Papa, his face suffused with anger. “I shall address the matter with Harriet and Lady Wartwhistle post haste. Please, continue, Mr. Hoffman.”

Mr. Hoffman went on. “I was able to track down and interview all of the witnesses who testified against your father. I am sure you will recall that key testimony came from a Mr. Gaines, who was employed as a knocker-upper.”

Yes, well she remembered what he had said. Mr. Gaines earned a living by moving through the streets at night and into the wee hours of the morning knocking on doors and windows to awaken laborers for their jobs. He had stated, under oath, that he had observed her father having clandestine meetings with enemy operatives.

Her father had vehemently denied the accusations, but could not refute them. Rosie’s mother, who had long suffered with her weakened nerves could provide no alibi because she slept in a separate room and, most tragically, had died before the trial even began.

“Strangely, when I was able to locate Mr. Gaines, he was no longer working, or even residing, in London, but was living a life of leisure by the sea, in a cottage on a large estate.”

This was startling information, for Rosie recalled him appearing in court in rather tattered clothing, hardly the type of man who would retire to the seaside.

“Please, go on,” she said, her curiosity piqued.

“Upon further inquiry, I learned the home belonged to none other than Crown Prosecutor Thomas Leeks.”

Rosie gasped. The man who had instigated the whole investigation against her father and prosecuted the case himself for trial, had provided a home for a witness?

“Why?” she asked. “Why did this Mr. Leeks single out my father and bribe a witness to convict him?”

“Based upon my investigation, Mr. Leeks was heavily involved in a bribery ring that permeated the government. Your father refused to participate. The leaders of the ring felt he was too much of a threat to their scheme and Mr. Leeks was prevailed upon to fabricate a case against your father.”

Rosie paused for a moment to absorb that information. Her father had done the right thing and it cost him his life.

Mr. Hoffman passed a handwritten piece of paper to her. “Mr. Gaines has had a change of heart. This is his truthful statement, exonerating your father and explaining the bribe he received from Thomas Leeks.”

Rosie’s hands shook so badly she could not hold the page still enough to read it, though it would have been difficult to see through the tears in her eyes.

“Your father was completely innocent.”

* * *

The sun shonebrighter than it ever had before when Rosie and her papa strolled through St. James’ Park that afternoon. The flowers were more colorful, the air smelled fresher. Her father was innocent and now the whole world would know.

As they passed a newsstand, the same papers which had condemned her father as a traitor to the crown contained different headlines.

Crown Prosecutor Taken Into Custody

Crown Prosecutor Charged With Murder In Plot to Frame Charles Andrews

Rosie stared at the stacks of newspapers declaring the good news. “Papa, how shall I ever thank you?”

He grasped her hand and gave her a loving smile. “Having you as my bride is the sweetest reward, my dear Rosie.”