Page 47 of The Cornish Inheritance

At last, an idea came to her. “Sir Hugh,” she began, “would you like a tray of tea brought up? And maybe some cakes?”

He snorted with laughter. “Do I look like I drink milksop tea? A glass of brandy would suit me better, but Rodgers refuses to let me have any.”

Brandy. Could she send Yves to find some? Perhaps to ask Dickon to bring it up? If Mrs. Treloar found out, and find out she would as Rodgers was bound to tell her, trouble would ensue. She’d have to be firm. “The best I can offer is coffee, I’m afraid.”

He pulled a discontented face, all of a sudden childlike. “If that’s all that’s on offer, then I suppose I’ll take it. Ring for Dickon or Ennion and we’ll get them to send a tray up.”

“I’ll go and get it,” Yves said, sliding off the bed. The contented Dash, who was still having his stomach scratched, made no move to follow him.

Caroline couldn’t have asked for more. “I’ll have coffee as well, and perhaps you could ask Mrs. Teague to send up some cakes. No running. I don’t want you falling down the stairs because you’re in a needless hurry.”

Yves ran to the door.

“Remember. No running.”

He shot her a cheeky glance and disappeared through it, leaving it open.

Caroline went and closed it. She’d have to be quick, although more than likely Yves would seize this opportunity to eat something in the kitchen with Mrs. Teague while the coffee was prepared.

She turned back to Sir Hugh, suddenly very afraid. She was about to confide her fears in him, and he might well pass them on to the very people she didn’t want to know about them. Especially if he didn’t believe her. Did she even believe it herself?

“Sir Hugh, might I speak frankly to you?”

His eyes narrowed, all childishness fled. “You sound very serious, my dear.”

“I am. It’s a serious matter.”

“I see it must be for you to have to wait until the child’s not here. Go on. I’m listening.”

“I don’t really know how to begin, so I’ll just come out and say it. I’m afraid Yves is in danger.”

He regarded her in silence for a moment, the intelligence in his eyes sharp and clear. “I shall not do you the injustice of asking you from what he is in danger.”

What? “You knew?”

He nodded. “I suspected. Miss Hawkins came to me with her worries, but she had no proof of malicious intent. I listened, but it was already too late for her to do anything. She only came to see me once and was gone by the next day. Dismissed for bad conduct, Rodgers told me when I asked. With unmitigated glee, I might add. She seemed positively triumphant about the misfortune of others. I get all my news that way or from the children. Ruth rarely graces me with her presence. She stays away from the sickroom and has her minion, Rodgers, do her bidding. If that woman chose to smother me in my sleep, there’s nothing I could do to stop her.”

A new fear surfaced in Caroline’s head. “Do you think she might?”

“I wouldn’t put anything past her. The woman has the build and strength of an ox.”

“I think Bridget is in Mrs. Treloar’s pay as well.”

“The boy’s nursery nurse?”

“The same. A few days ago, I found Yves was falling asleep in his lessons. He’d been given some new ‘medicine’ the night before by Bridget. When she was eating her lunch in the servants’ hall, I sneaked into her room and found where it was hidden. It was something that contains laudanum, but in small quantities. I think they’ve been adding more laudanum to the bottle, or it wouldn’t have had such a strong effect on him.”

Sir Hugh bowed his head. “And I’ve no need to ask where they’ve been getting the laudanum from.” He paused, his eyes clouding. “I take it to manage my pain, and at nights to help me sleep. Rodgers administers it. It’s the only way for me to get a night’s unbroken sleep, and I can’t manage without it.” He put a hand up to rub his eyes. “Where is the boy’s medicine now?”

“I swapped the contents for some harmless tonic I purchased in Penzance. Where quite by chance Yves and I met Miss Hawkins who has found herself a position as companion to an elderly lady in the town. She confided her own suspicions, but there’s little she can do from there. It falls to me to keep Yves safe, and I’m very much worried that I don’t know how to do that.” Caroline bit her lip. “I swapped the contents of the bottle, as I said, but when that runs out, there’ll be another bottle and that one will have laudanum in it, maybe even more than before, if they think the first doses weren’t working. I was reprimanded for taking Yves to Penzance, so I doubt very much whether I can go again, and I’ve no way of getting word to Miss Hawkins, or the local constable. I can’t go on my own and leave Yves unguarded.”

Sir Hugh snorted. “Much good the local constable would do you. He’s an oaf.”

Caroline leaned forward in her seat. “Which is why I’ve come to you, two heads being better than one. I know you’re handicapped by being confined to bed, but can you see a way out of this for us, without Yves ending up… dead?”

Sir Hugh reached out and caught her hand. “You must play your cards tight to your chest, Caroline, for I’m sure now, with what Miss Hawkins told me and what you’ve just said, that your suspicions are correct. My younger son’s wife has always resented that she didn’t marry my boy Robert, or perhaps the resentment was caused because Robert provided us with his own heir before he died. With Lowenna losing so many babies before they reached full term, Ruth must have thought he’d never get a living child.”

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

Sir Hugh tightened his grip on her hand. “Return tomorrow at the same time, but come alone, if you can. We need to talk. Insist that Rodgers lets you in. Don’t take no for an answer.”

The door opened and Yves entered, accompanied by Dickon carrying a tray. On it sat a jug of coffee, two small cups, and a plate of cakes. Telltale crumbs decorated Yves’s mouth and the front of his skeleton suit. He’d plainly eaten some of the cakes while he waited for the coffee.

He ran across the room and jumped onto the bed again. “Rock cakes,” he announced. “Delicious.”