Chapter 438: The Earl’s Assistance

Chapter 437: The Earl’s Assistance

The next person upon their list was Earl Hawthorne.

Sir Aldous made his introduction to Peter, the guard stationed outside the Earl’s chambers. Peter listened, his countenance carefully composed into neutrality.

"I understand the matter, though I must first make it known to his lordship before admitting you all entry," he said. "I shall return presently."

He turned to open the door, that he might enter the chamber, when Corvin spoke, arresting him.

"Is that so?" he asked.

Peter paused. "I beg your pardon, my lord?"

"I asked whether you intend merely to inform your lord of our arrival or perhaps something rather more besides. That he might be granted sufficient time to cover his tracks."

Peter’s brow furrowed.

"That was never my intention, my lord."

"Then surely you must admit us at once, if such is truly the case," Corvin said.

Sir Aldous regarded him a moment.

"I believe it only proper courtesy that the guard should inform his lordship," he said. "Surely it should require but a moment."

"But that very moment," Corvin replied, "affords the guard quite sufficient opportunity to collude with his lordship. The King’s authority has already been shown to him in plain terms. We ought to be admitted directly. This is, after all, an investigation, is it not?"

Peter’s jaw tightened. "As I have already said, my lord, I intend only to inform my master. He was taking his night’s rest, and surely I cannot admit you without proper notice, it would scarcely be seemly."

Corvin opened his mouth to speak further when, of a sudden, the door opened.

A sleepy Earl Hawthorne stood within the doorway, stifling a yawn. His hair stood in every direction imaginable, and it was plain enough that he had lately been asleep.

"What is the matter?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep. "What could possibly warrant such a commotion at this hour?"

Peter bowed at once.

"I beg your pardon for waking you, my lord," he said. "There is an investigation presently underway, and I was but this moment about to inform you of it."

Earl Hawthorne nodded slowly.

"What manner of investigation, precisely?" he asked. "And in what way might I be of assistance?"

Sir Aldous bowed.

"My lord, I am Aldous Greaves, Captain of the Royal Guards," he said. "There have been reports of certain candidates having broken the rules of this competition. Your lordship stands among those named. Marquess Hale has been appointed to assist me in this investigation."

Earl Hawthorne’s brow lifted slightly. He glanced towards Corvin, who stood with his chest puffed out and his countenance one of considerable self-importance, and something akin to amusement flickered briefly in the Earl’s eyes before he mastered it once more.

"I see," Earl Hawthorne said.

He stepped back and opened the door wider still.

"Come in, then," he said. "Search as you must."

Sir Aldous signalled to his guards, and they entered the chamber. They conducted their search with the same quiet thoroughness employed in Duke Valenridge’s chambers before them. They opened wardrobes and examined boxes. They inspected chairs and looked beneath the bed. They examined every corner, and found nothing whatsoever, precisely as had been the case before.

"There is nothing here, Captain," one reported.

Corvin huffed once more.

"The very same tiresome refrain," he said. "I shall conduct the search myself, then."

And so he set to it.

He opened wardrobes already thoroughly opened. He examined boxes already thoroughly examined. He inspected chairs already thoroughly inspected. He looked beneath the bed, and behind the curtains, and within every drawer he could discover, and as he laboured thus, Earl Hawthorne gestured for Peter to light a further candle, that the Marquess might see the better for his efforts.

Peter added yet more wood to the hearth besides, that the chamber might remain properly warm throughout.

Corvin searched, and searched again, and no matter his efforts, discovered nothing whatsoever. Yet he did not relent, searching again, and again still.

Earl Hawthorne then approached him, his step light.

"What, precisely, are you in search of?" he asked.

Corvin did not look up from his labours.

"A perfume," he said. "Or a cloak. Or even a shoe. Anything at all suggestive of impropriety."

Earl Hawthorne nodded, and then he too began to search.

He opened drawers and examined their contents. He inspected wardrobes and looked behind them. He moved with a quiet efficiency, as though he had performed this very exercise a hundred times before.

Corvin did not perceive what was occurring until it was rather too late.

"What, precisely, are you about?" he demanded finally, upon observing what the Earl was engaged in.

Earl Hawthorne looked upon him.

"I am assisting in your search," he said, with perfect honesty.

"You are the very subject of this investigation," Corvin said, his voice rising somewhat.

Earl Hawthorne nodded.

"I am well aware of that fact," he said. "But given that you have been searching these several minutes now, and have discovered nothing whatsoever, I thought it only proper courtesy to lend my assistance. Is that not permitted?"

Corvin stared at him, then released a sound of considerable frustration.

Without another word, he turned and quitted the chamber.

Sir Aldous watched him depart, then turned towards Earl Hawthorne.

"I apologise for the disturbance, my lord," he said.

Earl Hawthorne waved a hand dismissively.

"There is no need for apology," he said. "But do tell me — are you quite certain you require no further assistance in the searching? I should be most reluctant to think myself the cause of Marquess Hale’s failure to find whatever it is he seeks."

Sir Aldous’s lips twitched into a smile, and upon this occasion he permitted it to show a moment before mastering his expression once more.

"There is no need for that, my lord," Sir Aldous said. "I apologise once more for the disturbance, and I thank you for your cooperation in the matter."

Earl Hawthorne inclined his head.

Sir Aldous gestured to his guards, and they filed from the chamber. The very moment they had departed, Earl Hawthorne allowed himself a smirk, and even Peter wore a rather knowing smile of his own.