So seating himself graciously on one side of a small table, he bid her
sit down on the other, and the interview began.
The woman spoke mysteriously of an illegitimate daughter and her
guardian, locked away to keep them from telling what they knew, and of
the sudden disappearance of Purceville's son when he learned of it,
and sought out his father in a rage. Arthur himself had witnessed
their tense meeting in the banquet hall, and marked the subsequent
absence of young Stephen, which had been explained to him in a most
unusual and unsatisfactory manner.
Wasting no more time he thanked the servant, gave her a silver coin,
then called for his orderly and dictated a strong letter, informing
Parliament and the King of his intention to call an immediate Inquest.
By this time it was late afternoon. The Earl's breathing was tight, as
ever, and his heart beat hard and unevenly from the excitement.
But he was determined to act swiftly. After a quarter century, he
finally had the means to slap down this crude upstart, who had seduced
his niece away from him, and forced her into an unnatural marriage,
ending in death.
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