Page 179 of Whisper of Nightmares

Then he turns to Thurstan. “Let’s see, shall we? You told this assembly that your father was George Walsham. And that your family changed its name to Carter when they left these lands.”

Thurstan shifts uneasily. “Aye.”

Dagfinn looks toward Maryam.

“Interesting,” he says. “Because the Walsham children who lived at Thorfell when my grandfather came here were named George and Maryam.”

Thurstan’s brow furrows.

“And this woman is Maryam.” He looks back to Thurstan. “Which makes me wonder, Mr. Carter, if your father was the real George Walsham, why haven’t you mentioned his sister? Better yet, shall I ask Maryam about what happened to her brother when he was only five, and how it would be impossible for him to have any heirs to Thorfell Manor?”

A bead of sweat trickles down Thurstan’s throat.

“You don’t have to listen to him, Mr. Carter,” Percival growls. “You’ve already told your story.”

Thurstan’s hands only wring his woolen hat tighter.

Slowly he stands before the crowd.

“Don’t let him get to you, Mr. Carter—” Percival shouts, but he is too late.

“Let him speak!” the crowd jeers.

Thurstan swallows hard before confessing, “It was Percival’s idea.”

Once Thurstan begins, the truth doesn’t so much as leak out of him as it does flood.

It seems Cybele had been right.

Thurstan did come searching for Euphemia after her betrothal. He tells the crowd he felt like his son was owed something for the years he wasted courting a woman who ran off with someone else.

He tells them that he came to Thorfell with the intent of demanding compensation, but he ran into a jilted Percival before he could confront the Varinssons.

The two spent an evening wallowing, and over the course of a few pints, the conversation eventually drifted to the topic of Thurstan’s family legacy. And an idea was formed. Percival had access to the Varinsson deed. All he needed was to apply pressure and it would all be his—well, almost all his.

Thurstan explains the plan was to convince Kelda to accept Percival’s original proposal, that way he would inherit the estate and would then compensate Thurstan accordingly. When that didn’t work, they resorted to more desperate measures that involved forging a new deed, naming Thurstan as the inheritor, and the two would then publicly announce a sizeable stewardship to Percival for righting Thurstan’s shattered family legacy.

By the time he’s finished, the assembly hall is no longer a quiet gathering of neighbors. It is a living thing.

Voices rise from every corner.

“You forged it?”

“You meant to take the manor?”

“Disgraceful!”

“Will Thorfell know no justice?”

Someone spits on the floor.

Another man calls Percival a thief.

The anger spreads through the hall like fire through dry thatch.

Euphemia watches Percival shrink beneath it.

“Thank you for your honesty, Mr. Carter,” Dagfinn says.