“I certainly can!” She stepped up to the edge of the stage and looked down on Denshire and his friends. She pointed at the man on the left end. “You, sir. Naturally we were not introduced, but I remember you, of course. You have a bent Thomas, pointed west, northwest. But you knew how to use it!”

The man blushed but didn’t look entirely displeased by her comment. “That is indeed something she might remember.”

Aphrodite turned her attention to the next man. “You have an interesting tattoo of a lion on your left hip. Most men fancy themselves lions in such intimate situations, don’t they?” She blinked at him innocently. “You called out something at the critical moment. Shall I tell the world what you said?”

“No!” He flushed violently. “I am now willing to amend my testimony to say that it must have been Aphrodite I bedded that night, not Lady Denshire.”

Aphrodite gave a satisfied nod and moved her gaze to Hollowell “You, sir, said that you had always admired me, but that it was unseemly to lie with another man’s wife, particularly in his own house. I did my best to change your mind, but your sense of honor was stronger than my blandishments, and my blandishments are very powerful!”

After the resulting laughter died down, she said, “We spent some time discussing the current crop of plays at the theaters until you bid me good night. I thought you were a true gentleman and friend.”

Lucas asked, “Sir, do you believe that this is the woman who joined you that night?”

Looking relieved, Hollowell said, “Yes, Aphrodite is surely the woman from that night. I thought her voice was not quite as I remembered, but I’d only met Lady Denshire once and supposed I must be wrong.”

“Did you go to that show at Covent Garden I recommended?” Aphrodite said.

Hollowell smiled. “Yes, and you were right. It was excellent.”

Kendra had a flash of intuition then. Hollowell preferred men to women and was terrified that that fact would become known. He hadn’t wanted to lie with Aphrodite and he feared what she might say, but she had preserved his secret. An honorable woman.

Lucas asked, “Aphrodite, did you lie with Lord Denshire before you left that night?”

“Not bloody likely!” Aphrodite said in a much less ladylike accent. “Denshire has the French pox. I’ll take his money but I won’t lie with him. It’s not worth my life.”

The audience exploded after Aphrodite’s revelation. Even Denshire’s friends drew away from him, appalled at the revelation. In the shocked silence, a cool, educated voice said, “I believe the Church will feel that Lady Denshire’s case should have been treated very differently.”

Good God, could that have been the Archbishop of Canterbury? His opinion would surely affect a clerical court!