Chapter 12

The Eastcott mansion. In one of the spare downstairs servant rooms. The doctor has arrived and is preparing his instruments, which include various kinds of knives and bone saws. On a bed, now covered in sheets hastily cut from waterproof coats, lies Alexander, whimpering in pain.

 

“I want to see her!” the man cried out.

Christopher stepped closer to the bed. “See who?”

“Elizabeth!” The name came out with a hiss of pain. “Let me see her! I want to see her!”

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Christopher said coldly. “So, cease your whining and consider yourself fortunate that we are attempting to save your miserable life.”

“Let me see her! Please!” Alexander cried.

“No.”

There was a noise at the door. Christopher turned to see Elizabeth enter the room..

At his look she shook her head.

“Are you sure? He doesn’t deserve—”

“He doesn’t. But I shall allow him a moment of my time anyway. I want him to know.”

She stepped even closer to the bed; wrinkled her nose at the smell of corruption from Alexander’s now-purple pus-covered hand.

“What do you want? Help Albert to violate me again? Kill me again?”

Alexander stared at her from wide eyes.

“I didn’t—know—it was you!” he hissed, his breath coming in spasms.

“What difference would it have made?” she said, her voice chilly and without apparent emotion. “Or do you think that maybe Eduard and Harry would not have attacked you?”

“I didn’t know it was you!” Alexander repeated. “I didn’t know. I didn’t know. I didn’t know ! I didn’t—”

His eyes rolled up in his head as he fell silent.

“The laudanum is doing its work,” the doctor said as he came up behind them. “Time to do what I must needs do, even though it is not my speciality.”

“You have the instruments,” Christopher said. “Let us do it.”

He took Elizabeth’s arm. “Let me take you upstairs.”

“I will be back in a moment,” he said to the doctor. “Is one man enough to assist you?”

“Two would be better. Just in case he moves despite the laudanum.”

In the hallway they had to face not only Marcus but also cook and Mary, cook’s niece, who helped her in the kitchen. No way to hide Elizabeth’s presence anymore.

Christopher introduced Elizabeth to them and briefly explained the reason for her being here. He could see unanswered questions on their faces, but did not elaborate. He did, however impress on them all the need for complete secrecy about what they knew.

“No gossip!” he told them sternly. “I consider myself a fair master—but if I hear that Miss Manning’s presence here becomes known without my having given express permission for it, the guilty person will be dismissed from my service immediately and without a reference. Until matters have come to a satisfactory conclusion, Miss Manning’s life may be in danger, and I will not allow any harm to come to her.”

To take the sting out of his stern words, he smiled at cook.

“However, now that you know who the chicken soup I requested is for, I urge you to make it the best you have ever made.”

Cook curtsied and dragged Mary away with her.

Christopher turned to Elizabeth. “Can I let you find your own way back to my quarters? Marcus and I must needs attend to the grim business of helping the doctor to amputate a man’s arm.”

“I want to help.”

He started to object, but her look silenced him.

“I have one hand I can use,” she said. “It may not be able to help hold Alexander down—and besides, I loathe the very idea of touching him; for the last time he laid hands on me it was to facilitate Albert’s violation of my person. But I can hold instruments and mayhaps help the doctor work faster.”

When Christopher hesitated, she placed her good hand on his arm.

“You know I can.”

 

~~~

 

When the grim procedure had been completed and Alexander lay there on bloody sheets, with the reek of corruption and blood thick in the air, Christopher and Marcus cleaned up the blood on the floor, using buckets of water and cloths until the traces of what had been done had been removed as much as this was possible.

Marcus and Christopher lifted Alexander off the sheet, while Elizabeth and cook pulled it out from under the man, and, with the two men still holding up Alexander, replaced it with another, clean one. The stump, consisting of the upper arm, severed at the elbow and cauterized, was securely wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. They rested it on a waxed water-proof raincoat, to avoid having it drip still-seeping blood all over the floor. Presently the only ones still needing cleaning were the doctor and his three assistants.

“Well done,” Christopher said to the doctor, when they gathered around the kitchen table. “I am not a doctor, and so I cannot truly appreciate what you have done, but to me it looks like you are indeed a man of talent, even though you declared this not to be your specialty.

“Please avail yourself of whatever you need to clean yourself. Also, I will provide you with clean and suitable garments. Tomorrow morning we shall return you to Handcross.

“Now just tell me one thing. If you can, that is. Will he live?”

The doctor shrugged. “He has lost a lot of blood and the poison has entered his body. Still, he may live. He is breathing evenly, though once the laudanum wears off he will go into shock with the pain and shout and yell until we give him some more.”

The doctor glanced at Elizabeth’s injured arm.

“May I have a look at this, Miss Manning?”

“You may.”

A fter having Christopher dowse his hands in a goodly shot of gin, the doctor carefully undid the bandage and inspected the wound.

“Who did this?”

“I did,” Christopher said.

“It has not been sewn,” the doctor said, “but maybe that is for the best. It looks clean and appears to be healing remarkably well. You were shot by this man only last night?”

Elizabeth nodded.

The doctor gingerly refitted the bandage. “It will do for tonight, but tomorrow you must needs change it again.” He glanced at Christopher. “Judging from what I have seen, My Lord, you appear quite able to do this without my help.

“As for sleeping tonight, methinks I should remain close to the patient. If you could bring me in a comfortable winged chair or something similar, I might get a wink or two of much-needed sleep.”

“Thank you,” Christopher said. “What do we do with the severed arm?”

“Wrap it up in something and bury it somewhere deep enough, so the foxes and rats don’t dig it up. Let the maggots and worms do their ordained work.”

 

~~~

 

The night was well advanced when everybody had finally cleaned themselves up. Before retiring, Christopher took Marcus aside.

“I may be excessively cautious, but Alexander has given me cause to think about dangers we have never been exposed to before in these peaceful demesnes of mine. For it is not too much of a stretch of the mind to imagine that someone might be disposed toward killing the man we just did our best to save. Never mind the reasons, which are complex, but I believe watchfulness is required. Our neighbor appears to be a man of a less than honorable nature.

“Since Winston is not here, it is left to you and me to make sure to safeguard us. We therefore shall have to take turns to remain awake and watchful.”

“Yes, My Lord,” Marcus agreed.

“You will take the first watch,” Christopher told him. “I will give you a pistol and we’ll lock all windows and entrances, except for the one to the kitchen, thus making sure that this is the easiest ingress. If you make yourself comfortable in the downstairs sitting room, you will be able to hear anyone attempting to enter. Put a pot near the kitchen door, so that any unwary malfeasant is likely to make at least some noise.”

“Shall I shoot him then?” Marcus asked.

Christopher grimaced. “Come to think about it, I should be down here as well. I’ll join you in a little while. Together we’ll surely be able to waylay anybody attempting to harm the patient and the doctor.”