Isobel felt her heart slow its beating dangerously.
“P-Poisoned? How? How could such a thing have happened?” Isobel questioned, eyes wide.
Gregory shrugged, looking far too calm for a man whose child had been the victim of grave attempts to harm her.
“I do not know. Hardly anyone even knows what has happened because we managed to pull her aside shortly after she consumed the poison. Whatever it was, it rendered her unconscious, and we called a physician to examine her. He said that its potency is far too high to expect a swift recovery, and if she doesn’t recover in the next few days, it means the poison’s effects were too great.”
Isobel’s hands were shaking at the thought of something happening to her sister. It was nothing more than a cruel twist of fate that she had come so close to meeting her twin, only to hear that Valerie was now fighting for her life.
A dangerous battle that she might not win.
“W-What happens now? Is there not a medicine or treatment that can be administered for her sake? To help her recover faster?” She tried, desperately hoping there was a potential solution for this dire problem.
Gregory looked grim for the first time in the brief moments of their meeting as he shook his head and told her quietly.
“All we can do now is wait.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Who… who could have done such a thing? What reason would anyone have to hurt Valerie?” Isobel asked, still shocked by the news.
Gregory sighed and shook his head.
“I do not know what their motive is. But as far as suspects go… as the house is currently filled with far too many people to rule out a single culprit. Too many variables and barely any clues. We are not even sure what exactly she ingested that contained the poison, so we cannot narrow down the list of suspects to whoever was around her at that time. All we know is that she fell ill after breakfast, and when we tried to tend to her, she fainted and has been asleep since then.” He explained.
Isobel’s mind was a flurry of thoughts, all of them worried and confused by the occurrence. Still, one question echoed in her mind.
“You knew… she had been poisoned by the time I had been invited here. That was why I was asked to quickly join the wedding party.” She accused, her eyes wide.
Gregory nearly seemed apologetic for a second, but he simply nodded.
“That is true. The situation is rather dire, and we need all the assistance we can get. That is where you come in. We need you to pretend to be Valarie for a few days —”
“I beg your pardon? I cannot do that!” Isobel hissed.
“You must! That is the only way we can find who is responsible for this. The culprit is definitely a guest here, and in order to keep them close while we sniff them out, we need to act as though there is nothing amiss. That means the engagement must not be delayed, and the wedding needs to remain on schedule. While you keep their attention, we will sniff out the culprit.”
“But wouldn’t everyone find it suspicious? If she were gravely ill earlier and made a sudden recovery, surely that would alert the culprit that something went wrong.” Isobel pointed out, her heart thundering in her chest.
“No. The only ones who knew she had fallen ill were I and the culprit. And as such, this is our only chance to find him before the wedding that is in ten days.” Gregory replied quickly.
Uncertainty settled upon her heavily, and she wondered if she could do what was being asked of her.
“It will not be a task too difficult for you, Isobel. All you need to do is act the part and keep your eyes open for anyone suspicious. I will handle the rest.” Gregory assured.
But for some reason, his words only filled her with fury, as it had become increasingly clear that he did not hold her in any regard whatsoever.
He never visited her in Scotland, not once. He never wrote to her before now — not even to ask her about her life. Even during her outburst earlier, he was barely bothered by her accusations, defending himself with feeble excuses that further proved that he did not care about her one bit.
Yet, he has no qualms asking her to risk her life for a sister she has never met. She felt hurt and scared. The situation was dangerous, undoubtedly so, but when she considered her sister… poor Valerie had done nothing to deserve this. To be in harm's way in days that were leading to what she believed was going to be her happiest moments in life.
“How would you know what might be difficult for me?” she muttered quietly, but he still heard her.
“I beg your pardon?” Gregory questioned, looking rather irritated by her refusal to simply accept the task she had been given.
“You –” Isobel inhaled, trying her hardest not to sound or look as upset as she felt, cheeks warm with frustration. “You have rather grand expectations from a daughter you did not seem to give much thought to. You knew where I was. I waited… all my life for some sort of message from you. Anything that would tell me that you cared about me. And now you want me to take my sister’s place so soon after she had been – ”
“I know what you have assumed, due to my actions, but I forbid you from completing that thought.” Gregory said sternly. “That is not true. I wished you the best, Isobel. I wanted you to have a life that I couldn’t give you. That was why I did all of that.”
