The next afternoon Prescott strolled down the carpeted hallway toward Edwina’s rooms, his mind filled with the memory of leaving her just a few short hours before.
As he’d slid out of the bed, trying not to wake her, she’d reached for him, her eyes closed, her breath heavy as she was obviously still under slumber’s spell. Her unconscious appeal had caused such a warm feeling in his heart that even after he’d slowly disentangled his arm, he’d been reluctant to leave her.
As he’d stood over her, watching her sweet sleep, he’d realized that when he was with her he felt connected to her and content in a way he hadn’t ever known. It wasn’t just the undeniable attraction between them. It was more than the head-spinning kisses and earthshaking passion. More than the sense of affinity that seemed to bind them. His feelings went deeper, to a powerful sense of regard that Prescott had never felt for a woman, other than Cat.
Yet, somehow this was totally different from anything he’d ever had with Cat. His feelings for Cat had been an adolescent fascination. What he felt for Edwina wasn’t confused, up and down or immature in the least. It was fully developed, yet still ripe with promise. Whole, but as-of-yet undiscovered. It didn’t make much sense, but undeniably, it felt right. As if destiny had led him to Edwina.
He’d been so shaken by these unfamiliar thoughts, so foreign to his sense of who he was and how he fit into the world, that he’d quickly dressed and fled her room.
He didn’t believe in destiny, any more than he believed in Father Christmas.
Any more than he believed in true love.
The problem was, he seemed to be falling into the very thing he didn’t believe in.
“Oh, pardon, sir.” A maid exited Edwina’s chambers, her arms loaded with a tray. Quickly, the stout, black-haired girl dipped into a curtsey.
Prescott promptly stepped back, knowing enough maids to understand that finding herself alone with a male guest might not be an auspicious situation. “Good afternoon. By chance, do you know where Lady Ross might be?”
Eyeing him warily, the maid held the tray before her like a shield. On the platter were the remnants of a meager breakfast: half a piece of toast, saucer of jam and a white mug stained with evidence of cocoa. A similar brown coating adorned the young maid’s upper lip.
Delicately, Prescott raised his finger to his mouth, indicating that she should clean it.
Her dark brows knitted and her lips twisted. “’Ave you got an itch, sir?”
“Cocoa.”
Her dark eyes narrowed and then widened, and then she hastily swept her sleeve across her mouth and looked to him for confirmation.
“All clean. Now I don’t want to keep you any longer from your duties…” Prescott tried to keep the eagerness from his voice. He told himself that he simply wanted to share his interesting news with Edwina, that any person in his situation would feel the same. “Do you know where might I find Lady Ross?”
“I heard the butler mention battledore, an’ the mistress ’ad the lads set up nets on the west lawn.”
“Very well. Then to the west lawn I shall proceed. Thank you.”
A short time later, Prescott spotted Edwina in the distance. She was standing beneath an old oak tree with battledores and shuttlecocks scattered about the ground. The rackets lay in assorted piles with a play-piece beside each, as if group play might be in the offing.
A few of the guests huddled near her and Prescott would have to pass them to get to Edwina. He approached, wondering how long it would be before he could politely get a moment alone with Edwina. To tell her his news, of course.
“Just so long as I’m not on Lady Pomfry’s team.” Janelle tossed the shuttlecock in the air and swung the battledore, whipping the play-piece aloft. A young liveried servant raced to fetch the piece and bring it back.
Mrs. Greene adjusted the ribbon of her straw beehive bonnet and then picked a leaf from her fawn cloak. “There’s not enough money in all of England to place me on her team.”
“That woman’s a menace,” Ginny agreed, nodding.
“Then whose team will she play on?” Mr. Todd shielded his eyes with his hand as he watched Lady Kendrick directing the servants in securing another net. The hostess was like a battle commander, ordering everyone to and fro.
“We cannot cut her out,” Mr. Greene declared, his neck flushing slightly pink. At the stormy look on his wife’s face, he argued, “What will Lady Kendrick say?”
“Of course we can cut her out.” Sir Lee smiled, drumming his fingers on his gold-topped cane. “Since she’s already gone.”
“What?”
The group turned to stare at the old gent, just as Prescott stepped close to join them. “Lady Pomfry’s gone?” he asked, careful to use her surname.
Sir Lee swung his cane, an impish look on his weathered face. Obviously he liked being in the know as much as the next person, if not more. “She left a short time ago. It seems the woman somehow couldn’t manage to stop sneezing, and her nose itched her so that she rubbed it bright red and her eyes swelled so tightly she could hardly see.” His gaze traveled the group. “Lady Kendrick swears that she doesn’t have any cats in the house, yet Lady Pomfry insists upon contradicting her. Did any of you happen to bring a favored pet along?”
“A cat to a house party?” Mr. Todd scoffed. “I think not.”
Negative responses went all around, yet Ginny was eyeing Janelle with a very speculative gleam and the storklike matron was studying her battledore as if divining the world’s secrets.
What had Janelle done?
When Ginny noticed Prescott watching her, she quickly turned to Edwina, asking, “You’re awfully quiet today, dear.”
Prescott turned to face Edwina. “Yes, my dear, how are you this morning?” To his alarm, Edwina’s complexion was ash white and she leaned heavily on the tree with one arm while holding the other to her middle. “Are you all right?”
She closed her eyes and swayed.
Fear twisted in his gut as he reached for her. “Edwina!”
“Don’t touch my stomach!” she cried, her voice panicked, her eyes flying open.
“What’s wrong?”
“I feel…” She was panting, her cheeks were now flushed bright red and sweat lined her brow. “…ill.”
“Sit, darling, sit down.” Prescott gently eased her to the ground, being careful to hold only her arms. “Tell me what ails you.”
“Back away!” Janelle waved for the others to disperse.
Lady Kendrick came bustling up in a burgundy muslin storm. The hostess’s long oval face was filled with concern. “Step back! Give Lady Ross some air!”
“I’m so queasy…” Edwina groaned, closing her eyes.
“Might she be in the family way?” Mr. Todd muttered under his breath.
Prescott glared daggers at the man, and if he hadn’t been holding Edwina, he would have trounced the bastard.
Nevertheless, a whisper of a hope threaded through his heart.
“I was once sick as a dog when I ate some bad mutton,” Sir Lee countered, then turned quickly to Lady Kendrick. “Not that I am blaming it on your wonderful cuisine, my lady. All I’m saying is that before rumors get started, let us get the lady some help!”
Prescott could have kissed the old gent.
Gently mopping Edwina’s brow, he urged, “How does it feel? What exactly are your symptoms?”
“Pain,” she panted, motioning to her middle. “Here.”
“Sharp?”
Her face suddenly turned green as chard. “Oh, my Lord, I feel like I’m going to…” Pushing him away, she jumped up and raced around to the back of the tree.
Mr. Greene’s lip curled. “Someone should get Lady Ross back to the house.”
“If you’re so disgusted, you go to the house!” Ginny glared. “The lady’s sick, for heaven’s sake!”
Prescott found Edwina leaning back against the tree, her face frighteningly pale. She was panting, sweat had broken out all over her face and neck.
Fear sliced through him, and a terrible sense of impotency. He knew as well as any that fatal illnesses gave no warning, that they did not distinguish between their victims. But his fear would not help Edwina; what she needed was his comfort.
Pulling his handkerchief from his pocket, he gently swabbed her forehead and mouth, then folded the cloth and set it aside. “I’m going to carry you back to the house, Edwina. Lady Kendrick,” he called out. “Will you please send for a doctor?”
“Call for a doctor?” Mrs. Greene cried. “A weak stomach does not necessitate such an extravagance.”
“I’ll pay for it,” Prescott ground out.
“No, I’ll pay for it.” Ginny crouched down beside him, concern marring her face with lines of worry. “How is she?”
“Not good.”
All of the color had washed from Edwina’s face and she was deathly pale.
Sir Lee circumnavigated the tree and leaned over to examine the splattered brown evidence of Edwina’s illness. “This looks like it was only recently digested.”
“Sir Lee!” Prescott could not contain the disgust from his voice.
Edwina groaned, pressing her forehead into Prescott’s arm. “Oh, can everyone please just leave me alone to die in shame?”
Prescott felt his heart contract. “Don’t say that!”
“I’m sick as a dog in front of a crowd! It’s…ooooh…appalling.”
The old gent looked up. “Did you happen to ingest anything with garlic this morning, Lady Ross?”
“Garlic for breakfast?” Lady Kendrick peered from around the tree, made a face and then her head disappeared. “I think not!”
Edwina shook her head, looking so sickly green that Prescott’s chest constricted with anxiety. “Just toast…oooh, I can’t even think about food…oooh…”
Sir Lee quickly stepped away, just as Edwina leaned over once more.
Prescott did what he could to keep her hair from her face and to hold her steady while she did her business. He felt so bloody impotent, so damned useless, it killed him just to see her suffering so.
When she was done, Ginny used her handkerchief to help Edwina clean herself up while Prescott held her close, being careful of her sensitive middle.
Sir Lee stepped near once more. “Did you, by any chance, take any antimony salts today, Lady Ross? You know, the kind for digestive ailments. One must be very careful to take the correct dosage, very little, in fact, since too much can be exceedingly harmful.”
Edwina leaned so heavily on Prescott’s arms he worried that the retching was weakening her. And no wonder, the fits were violent and he feared that she couldn’t take many more of them. But she was strong, she just had to be.
Edwina shook her head. “No salts. Nothing. I have…” she corrected herself, “I had no digestive ailment before now.”
Exhaling noisily, Sir Lee scowled. “Then I do believe that you, my lady, have been poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Mr. Todd cried from the other side of the tree. “A deed most foul!”
“My dearest!” Mr. Greene exclaimed, then there was a rush of movement.
“Someone bring my smelling salts for Mrs. Greene!” Lady Kendrick commanded. “Straightaway!”
“What makes you say that it’s poison, Sir Lee?” Prescott demanded, hugging Edwina close.
“I smell garlic, indicating antimony salts. Antimony salts are used primarily for digestive issues, purging and the like. But they can also be a dangerous poison if administered improperly. They cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, which fit Lady Ross’s symptoms. Indications usually start within thirty minutes to two hours from ingestion. The vomit…” He waved his gold-topped cane toward the ground. “Is dark brown, signifying cocoa, which would have been consumed at breakfast and would have hidden the flavor.”
“The cocoa did taste a little odd,” Edwina muttered. “Oooh…”
Setting his cane down and leaning on it with both hands, Sir Lee nodded. “Which bolsters my conclusion that Lady Ross has been poisoned. In her cocoa, this morning. Intentionally.”
Prescott blinked as his brain scrambled to make sense of this. Had the blackmailer discovered their plans? But Edwina hadn’t done anything. And the only people whose rooms that they’d searched had been Lord Cunningham’s and Sir Lee’s…
“If you’re behind this!” Prescott growled at the old man.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Sir Lee waved him off. “Why would I tell you that I believe she’d been poisoned if I’d done it? Besides, I bear no ill will toward Lady Ross. Someone else, however, obviously does.”
Prescott couldn’t dispute the logic of Sir Lee’s argument, all he knew was that he wanted to hurt someone, and badly.
“Who would want to harm Edwina?” Ginny clutched her fist to her mouth. “If I’m somehow—”
His gaze caught Ginny’s and Prescott reached over and squeezed her hand. “We don’t know that any such thing has happened. Or why. So let us not jump to conclusions too quickly. Or lay blame.” It’s certainly not your fault, he hoped his eyes conveyed.
“I have to disagree with Sir Lee,” Lady Kendrick stepped around the tree to join the old gent. “I cannot see it as poison. It’s just too far-fetched. Too impossible to believe.”
Sir Lee dipped his head. “I am confident in my conclusion.”
“She might have simply caught something, and stomach ailments are most foul.”
“Call for the doctor, Lady Kendrick,” Ginny begged. “We must do all we can for Edwina.”
Lady Kendrick moved toward the house. “I will do so at once.”
“Wait!” Prescott cried. “There was a maid in Edwina’s rooms! I think she drank some of Edwina’s cocoa. If she’s sick, then we’ll know!”
“Good thinking, my boy!” Sir Lee nodded approvingly. “If the maid is ill and they both drank from the same cocoa, then we will know with a considerable amount of certainty if poisoned cocoa was the cause. Let us hurry to the house and find out if I’m right.”
“You go ahead, I’m staying with Edwina.” Prescott reached beneath her and gently lifted her in his arms. She felt like a rag doll, she was so limp, and his heart fluttered with concern. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear, “Just let me know whenever you need to stop, darling.”
Her eyes welled up with tears. “What if I don’t tell you early enough? What if I—”
“I don’t care, Edwina. We’ll just do the best we can.”
Slowly, she nodded, laying her head on his shoulder. “Thank you, Prescott.”
“It’s nothing. I’m only taking a stroll, you’re the one who’s doing all the work.”
Then Prescott took the longest walk of his life.