The small craft reaches Pendennis Castle beneath formal escort. Arus, Elizabeth, Thomas Veale, and his sister disembark together, while the corporal keeps his scarlet-coated men arranged around them.
Within the castle offices, clerks prepare a register beneath the Viscount’s crest. The ledger remains secured in Arus’s satchel, and Thomas keeps one hand near the pardon hidden in his waistcoat.
The Viscount
Read the offer aloud before witnesses. The Veales are to hear every condition, and every promise is to be entered into the Sheriff’s record.
The Customs Clerk
Thomas Veale and his sister are placed under the protection of Viscount Falmouth, with safe passage and amnesty conditional upon truthful cooperation.
Thomas listens without interrupting. His sister stands close beside him, anxious but composed, while Elizabeth watches the clerk’s pen with sharp attention and the corporal guards the office door.
Arus Gandon
We guessed your plot, Mr. Veale. We prepared a discreet escape for you and your sister before anyone could close the net.
Arus lowers his voice after the formal reading, keeping the explanation between himself and Thomas. The clerk pauses over the register, waiting for the Veales’ acknowledgment before sealing the promise into law.
“I will nod to the corporal, indicating that his curiosity can be satisfied simply by listening to the proceedings before us. Of course I will await patiently until spoken to, when Viscount Falmouth is satisfied everything is in order. I will not reveal the ledger or even it's existence until he and I are in a more private setting, where he may question Thomas Veale more thoroughly, answering several questions that have been on all of our minds about the true nature of Baron Billings' activities.”
SUCCESS (Good Intrigue, rolled +2)
Arus gives the corporal a small, knowing nod, then settles beside the register with patient composure. His leather ledger remains concealed within the satchel at his side.
The Corporal
Very well, sir. I will listen and keep my questions until his lordship has finished.
The corporal turns his attention fully to the clerk. Thomas stands beneath the Viscount’s crest, his sister close beside him, while Elizabeth watches every line entered into the record.
The Customs Clerk
The conditions are understood. Truthful cooperation is required, and protection extends to both Veales under the Sheriff’s authority.
The Viscount
Let the register be witnessed and sealed. Once that is done, Mr. Veale will answer further questions in private, where his account may be tested properly.
Arus waits without interruption as the clerk finishes reading and presses wax beneath the Viscount’s crest. The room’s attention remains on the formal proceedings, leaving his concealed evidence undisclosed.
Thomas Veale
I understand, my lord. I will speak plainly when called upon, and I will hold nothing back.
“I reassure Thomas’s sister beside the register. Both Veales likely lived in fear of the Baron, unable to breathe easy until at least this far away from his reach. And I doubt Miss Veale would have nothing of value to contribute to her older brother's account of the activities of the Billings' estate, overt or otherwise.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +3)
Arus turns from the register toward Thomas Veale’s sister, keeping his voice low and his manner steady while the clerk’s wax cools beneath the Viscount’s crest.
Arus Gandon
You and your brother are beyond Baron Billings’s immediate reach now. Breathe freely, Miss Veale. You are under the Sheriff’s protection.
The young woman’s shoulders loosen. She looks first to Thomas, then to the sealed register, and the fear held rigidly in her face gives way to cautious relief.
Thomas Veale's sister
I believe you, Mr. Gandon. I have waited a long while to hear anyone say that and mean it.
Thomas Veale's sister
My brother knows the ledgers, but I kept rooms and carried messages through the household. I saw which visitors were received after dark, and where certain accounts were taken.
Thomas turns sharply toward her, surprise widening his eyes. The clerk pauses with his pen raised, while Elizabeth’s attention fixes on Thomas Veale's sister with immediate interest.
Thomas Veale's sister
I can name the servants who altered entries, and the cabinet where my father’s private memoranda were kept. I will tell the Viscount everything I remember.
✓ Quest Accepted
Learn the full extent of the Billings estate’s hidden dealings
✓ Quest Accepted
Obtain the comptroller's memoranda
“Can Miss Veale first identify who her "father" is? We need to know who is the same one that she speaks of having a cabinet holding her "father’s" memoranda? Is she an illegitimate daughter of the Baron (and Elizabeth's secret half-sister)?!”
NO, BUT (Likely, rolled 66)
Thomas Veale’s sister falters beneath the sudden attention. Her gaze moves from Elizabeth to the Viscount’s crest, then settles on the clerk’s open register.
Thomas Veale's sister
No, my lady. Baron Billings is not my father. I meant my own father, the late estate comptroller, who kept accounts for the household.
Elizabeth’s expression changes from startled recognition to sharp disappointment, while Thomas closes his eyes briefly, as though fearing the danger in every remembered name.
Thomas Veale's sister
He kept a locked cabinet in the account room. The memoranda were his, but they recorded instructions from the Baron’s office, and names my father was ordered to conceal.
The Viscount
Then you are not a hidden Billings heir. You are a witness to his machinery, which may prove more useful than blood.
The clerk’s pen resumes scratching. A disappointing secret closes, but another path opens plainly: the account room cabinet may still contain the memoranda linking the Baron’s office to concealed payments.
Elizabeth Billings
Tell us where that cabinet stands, and who still carries its key. We may yet find the truth your father was forced to preserve.
“I will address Lord Falmouth and respectfully recommend that we immediately reconvene in a more confidential setting before burdening the Clerk with keeping a straightforward account of details that have not yet been fully explained or even spoken aloud before this very moment. I will suggest that we implore all present who have inside knowledge of the workings of the Billings estate, Elizabeth included, to make their full knowledge known to the Viscount as quickly as possible, before deciding on a plan of action.”
SUCCESS (Good Intrigue, rolled +2)
Arus Gandon
My lord, I respectfully recommend that we reconvene somewhere private before burdening the clerk with details not yet fully explained or spoken.
Arus keeps his voice measured and gestures toward the open register. The office quiets, and even the clerk lowers his pen, recognizing the wisdom of discretion.
Arus Gandon
Let everyone who knows the Billings estate speak freely, Elizabeth included. Once you have heard the whole account, we can decide our course.
The Viscount
Agreed. Clerk, preserve what has been entered and close the register. We shall continue in my private council room.
The clerk sands the fresh ink and closes the book beneath the Viscount’s crest. Guards open the inner door, directing the gathered witnesses toward a quieter chamber.
Elizabeth Billings
I will tell him everything I know, my lord. The account room, the household routines, and the names my father trusted.
Thomas Veale's sister
Then I shall speak plainly as well. My father’s memoranda may explain what the household was ordered to conceal.