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The man’s face was grim. “You had best come.”
She rose so quickly it knocked over the stool she’d been sitting on. By the time Will had righted it, she was already across the room. When he caught up, the sight that greeted him wasn’t a happy one.
Jacqueline knelt beside Janet Fairfield, holding her hand. “All will be well soon, sweet one,” she was saying in a tear-clogged voice. “You’ll see. Just hold on, darling. Hold on a little longer, and it will get better.”
He turned to Horton. “What’s happening? Why is she so much worse than the others?”
“She drank more of the tainted milk,” answered Horton, passing a weary hand over his brow. “Almost twice as much as anyone else. Eleanor, the lightest case, told me she took only a few sips from her cup before offering Janet the rest because the child liked it so much. The ipecac did its work, but not quickly enough. Her pulse is erratic and her breathing shallow. She’s in a great deal of pain, but I dare not give her the paregoric lest I risk her falling into a sleep from which she might not awaken. Even so, I fear she may not survive.”
Will looked down at the child’s elfin face, now almost as pale as the sheet beside it. Bending, he brushed the hair back from her sweaty brow. “Janet?” There was no response. His throat tightened. “I’m going to find out who did this to you. I promise.”
Standing, he marched to the kitchen door and flung it open with a loud bang that startled a nearby maid into dropping the pot she was scrubbing. Going straight to Sally, he grabbed her by the collar and, without a word, dragged the squawking girl out into the dining hall.
“Do you see this?” he demanded, hauling her around and shoving her toward the makeshift beds. She stumbled, nearly upsetting a bucket of sick in their path. He steered her around it and over to where Janet lay. “Do you see what you’ve done? She’s dying!”
Sally tried to shy away. “M-me? I’ve done nothing!”
“Who poisoned the milk?” he accused from between clenched teeth, keeping hold.
“I—I don’t know!” Fat tears fell from her terrified eyes. “It weren’t me!”
“Then who did?” he growled. “You know, don’t you?” He cut off her pro
test with a shake. “We know about the signals you’ve been sending at night from your window.”
Eyes already wide with dread now showed whites all around.
“If you don’t tell me who is behind this and where I can find them, I’ll personally see to it that you hang at Tyburn,” he threatened, tightening his grip on the back of her collar to drive the message home. “The only chance you have of saving your worthless hide is to help us.”
A sob broke from the girl, and she again tried to turn her face away.
Will grabbed her shoulders and gave her a hard shake. “Tell me what you know!”
“I don’t know her name,” the girl choked out, her shoulders sagging. “She wanted me to f-find them!”
“Who? Who did she want you to find?”
“Abigail and Fanny,” she sobbed. “You call them Emma and Rose. She sent us out to the orphanages with their description and said the one as found them would be rewarded. She showed us gold!”
Jacqueline stood, fire in her eyes, and advanced on her. “You played on my sympathy,” she spat. “You begged me for shelter, and then betrayed not only me but every child here.”
Sally’s head drooped. “I thought it would end when I reported finding them. I thought she’d pay me and I’d go my way. But she refused to give me so much as a shilling unless I stayed to find out more.”
“What else did she want to know?” demanded Jacqueline.
“She wanted to know about you,” cried Sally. “When I first described you, she looked like she’d seen a ghost. She kept asking about you over and over.”
“What were her instructions?” Will prompted when the girl looked as if she might start blubbering again. “Speak!”
She flinched and let out a frightened squeak. “She said I was to look for information about the man what brought Rose and Emma here! She called him the Archangel.” The girl turned her watery gaze to Jacqueline. “She said you and him were the ones what started all her troubles. Please, ma’am, you must believe me—I never wanted to hurt any—”
“Taisez-vous!” hissed Jacqueline. “If such was true, you would not have helped her poison these children!”
“But I tell you—I did no such thing!” wailed the girl. “I swear I was told nothing of it—I knew nothing! I drank from the same delivery! Ask Cook!”
Agnes, who had come out behind them, spoke up. “It’s true. I brought in this morning’s milk delivery myself and poured it with my own hands. She was scrubbing pots the whole time. She had no opportunity to do aught to it.”
His grip on the girl didn’t loosen. “Even so, you are responsible,” he said at her ear. “You could have told us what you knew, warned us something was to happen.” The trembling girl tried to collapse, but he held her up. “You’ll not get out of this. You’re going to tell me everything you know, down to the last detail.”
