The grand foyer was a cathedral of shocked silence, broken only by the sharp, collective intake of breath from hundreds of guests.
The soldiers' accusation hung in the heavy air like toxic smoke.
Then, the murmurs started. It began as a low hum, a vibration in the floorboards, and swelled into a buzzing hive of judgment.
"Did you hear that?" a woman whispered behind her silk fan, her eyes wide with scandal.
"Bribing the Minister of War? With gold?"
"A disgrace," a man replied, shaking his head slowly, his face grim. "A Thompson stooping to bribery? The great General Ellis and his son Theodore must be rolling in his grave this very moment."
The two soldiers, their duty done, bowed stiffly to the Dowager Duchess. They turned on their heels, their armor clinking, and marched out the open doors, leaving the wreckage of a reputation behind them.
