The next instant.
Every face in the hall went white with horror.
Even the housemaid who had just accused Thomas looked stricken.
"No, that's not—"
"That's not what I meant!"
She scrambled to explain. "The man who raped me was Mr.—"
She was straining to turn her eyes toward me, but it was as if she had no control over them, and they stayed locked on my father.
Her finger too kept trying to swing to me, and kept snapping back to point at him.
"Mandy, just tell the truth. My mother and I will make sure you get justice!"
Samuel said it fast.
Carissa backed him up. "Mandy, the Swansons don't shield criminals. Even if it were my own son, if he broke the law, we'd send him to prison ourselves. Don't be afraid!"
A moment ago they'd all been horrified. Now, hearing the maid say "that's not what I meant," they let out a collective breath.
"You scared me half to death. As if it could ever be Mr. Swanson."
"Everyone knows Mr. Swanson is an upright man. A whole life in business and never once a scandal."
"The poor girl's just been frightened out of her wits."
The murmuring rippled through the room.
The maid was nearly in tears, because she couldn't control herself. She wasn't just frantic, she was terrified, and in her panic the words burst out of her.
"It was Thomas Swanson. Thomas Swanson raped me!"
"He said he'd had his eye on me for a long time. He said the Swanson family was his, and if I went along with him, someday I'd be the mistress of this house."
"I refused, and then he forced himself on me!"
Malice can never fasten onto me, so it fastens onto whoever stands near me instead, and even the words twist themselves to fit.
Hiss.
A sharp intake of breath swept the entire hall.
Every eye had turned to Thomas.
Thomas was stunned too, his face all injured bewilderment, because he truly hadn't done it.
But Carissa had already lost all reason. She ground out through her teeth, "Thomas, are you not going to give me an explanation?"
Thomas was almost crying. "She's talking nonsense. What am I supposed to explain?"
Samuel found it strange as well, but his mind moved fast. He jumped in at once. "Mandy, did someone put you up to this? Did someone force you to frame my father?"
And then every eye in the room turned to me.
Whenever something went wrong, they suspected me. No reason required.
I walked over to stand beside Samuel and looked at the maid. "Yes, go on. Whoever put you up to it, whoever forced you, say the name."
The maid was no fool. She caught Samuel's meaning at once and lifted her hand, pointing straight over.
She meant to point at me, but malice can never settle on me, so her finger passed right over me and came to rest on Samuel, who stood at my side.
"It was him. The younger master told me to do it!"
"The younger master said the real obstacle to inheriting the Swanson fortune wasn't the elder master, because the elder master was easy to deal with."
"The biggest obstacle was Thomas Swanson. Frame Thomas into prison, then destroy the elder master's name, and the whole Swanson family would be his!"
