Chapter 9 The Escape

The escape was necessitated by an event that neither Thomas nor Leo had anticipated. On the fifth day after the bill was filed, Sir Julian Pemberton made a move that shocked the legal community: he offered a reward for information leading to the identification of Thomas Hartley's sources. The reward was modest—only one hundred pounds—but it was enough to attract the attention of those who existed on the margins of society, those who had nothing to lose and everything to gain. That night, three men came to Thomas's chambers. They were not lawyers or detectives. They were what the underworld called informants, men and women who sold information to the highest bidder. They told Sir Julian what they knew: that Thomas had been to the estate, that he had spoken with the housekeeper and the servants, that he had found papers in the earl's study. Thomas realised immediately that he could no longer remain in London. Sir Julian would use the informants to gather more information, to build a case against him, to discredit his sources before they could be secured. The safest course was to go to ground, to wait for the storm to pass. But Leo was not willing to wait. "I will not hide," he said. "I have spent my entire life hiding—in the wings, in the shadows, doing what I was told to do. If I am the son of an earl, then I will claim my birthright, not run from it." Thomas understood his position. Leo was not a man who could be cowed by threats, and to ask him to hide would be to ask him to deny everything he had just learned about himself. But Thomas was also a man of law, and he knew that a lawyer who was silenced could not fight. "Very well," he said. "But you will not be alone. I will stay with you, and we will move to a place where Sir Julian's influence cannot reach us. We will continue the search from there." He arranged for them to travel to Yorkshire, to a small cottage near the estate that belonged to a distant relative—a woman named Miss Pemberton, who had never married and who lived in the country in quiet retirement. Miss Pemberton was a friend of Thomas's late mother, and she had agreed to help before Thomas had even asked. They left London in the middle of the night, travelling by carriage to avoid the roads that Sir Julian's men would be watching. The journey was long and uncomfortable, the roads muddy and rutted, the carriage bouncing over stones and ruts. But Leo did not complain. He had spent his life in uncomfortable conditions, sleeping in tents and barns, eating food that was barely edible, enduring weather that was often brutal. When they arrived at the cottage at dawn, Leo was exhausted but relieved. The cottage was small but comfortable, with a stone fireplace and a garden that had gone to seed. Miss Pemberton met them at the door, a thin woman with sharp features and bright eyes. "I have been expecting you," she said. "Your friend Thomas's mother was a dear friend of mine. I have often wondered what became of him." For the next week, they worked on the search. Thomas examined every book, every document, every letter in Miss Pemberton's possession, hoping to find some reference to the earl's secret marriage. Leo assisted where he could, though his primary role was to remain hidden, to avoid being seen by anyone who might report his presence to Sir Julian. The cottage provided a welcome respite, but it was not a solution. Thomas knew that they could not remain in hiding forever, and Leo shared his frustration. "I did not come this far to hide," he said one evening, pacing the small kitchen. "Every day we spend here is a day that Sir Julian uses to strengthen his position. He is already telling people that I am a fugitive, that I am afraid to face the courts. By the time we return, the narrative will be set." "You are not a fugitive," Thomas said patiently. "You are a claimant. And the courts will hear your case whether you are standing beside me or not." "But they will not hear it fairly if the world believes I am guilty," Leo countered. "You said it yourself: public opinion matters. If I disappear, if I run, then what proof is there that I am not the man Sir Julian says I am?" Thomas was silent for a long moment. He knew Leo was right. The case was not merely a legal matter; it was a matter of reputation, of perception, of the story that people told themselves about who deserved power and who did not. And that story was being written by Sir Julian, not by them. "We cannot stay hidden," he admitted. "But we cannot return to London yet either. Sir Julian has too much influence there, too many friends among the judges and the jurors. We need to find something that will tilt the balance in our favour—something so compelling that no amount of slander can override it." "What could that be?" Leo asked. "The marriage record is our strongest evidence, and it is already on record." "Stronger evidence," Thomas said. "Something that proves the earl acknowledged you not merely as his son but as his heir. Something that shows he intended for you to inherit, regardless of what the law might say." --- They searched Miss Pemberton's papers for days, going through every book, every document, every letter in her possession, hoping to find some reference to the earl's secret marriage. Leo assisted where he could, though his primary role was to remain hidden, to avoid being seen by anyone who might report his presence to Sir Julian. It was during this time that Thomas discovered something that changed everything. Miss Pemberton had kept a collection of her father's papers—her father being the sixth earl's younger brother, a man who had never inherited the title but who had maintained contact with the family. Among the papers was a letter, written in the hand of the late earl's father, that mentioned a marriage performed in secret at a church in Yorkshire.