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“I am fine,” she replied with a half-hearted smile and hurried out of the room before he could probe further.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Once out in the hallway, she paused and leaned against the wall to steady her beating heart. Her knees shook from nerves at having to face him again. All the while she had been in the room what she had shared in that bed with him had remained in the back of her mind. She couldn’t see Aidan the same way anymore. Everything had changed, and she was struggling to know how to deal with it.
By the time she reached the kitchen, the bell to Aidan’s room was ringing again. When Edwards immediately looked hopeful, Petal turned to Rollo.
“The master wants you,” she murmured to the butler. He didn’t, but she didn’t want Edwards to go.
Rollo nodded and disappeared, leaving Petal to return to her duties.
In Aidan’s room, Rollo quietly let himself into the chamber to find the master teetering on his feet, the bell pull still in his hand.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked.
Aidan grinned at him. “Get me over to the window but then take a seat. I want to talk to you as well now that you are here.”
“Petal said you wanted to see me,” the butler intoned.
Aidan snorted. “Was Edwards around?”
Rollo nodded.
“That is why then,” Aidan grunted. He was pleased that Petal was doing her best to protect him, although was at a loss to know what to do to protect her.
Once Aidan had taken a seat, he instructed the butler on where to find the small plate of food. Carefully cutting a small piece off each item, Rollo warily tasted one piece. He quickly turned around and tried to spit it discretely into his hand.
“Throw it in the fire,” Aidan ordered.
“It’s laced with something,” Rollo declared flatly.
“I know. Laudanum. Some of it was in the food she brought up here this morning.”
Rollo looked horrified. “Did you eat any? Do you want me to fetch a doctor?”
Aidan shook his head. “No, thankfully Petal arrived with another tray.”
“Thank Heaven for Petal,” Rollo muttered beneath his breath.
Aidan heard him though and nodded emphatically. He explained about yesterday, and watched Rollo stiffen with anger.
“I will tell Mrs Kempton to keep the stores locked from now on,” Rollo assured him.
“Would you like me to throw her out, sir?” he asked hopefully when Aidan didn’t speak.
Aidan shook his head.
“Not at the minute, Rollo. Just keep an eye on her. I have the strangest feeling that our Edwards is up to something nefarious, and it doesn’t involve ensnaring me into marriage. There is some reason why she wants me half out of my mind on that stuff. Before I can decide whether to throw her out on her ear or deliver her to the magistrate, I need to know what her goal is. Given how much she challenges everyone in this house, and ignores my orders, I don’t think she is bothered about losing her job. Just make sure that my food is watched from the moment Mrs Kempton prepares it, to the second Petal delivers it to me. Petal is doing her bit and helping me as much as she can, but I don’t want her vulnerable either.”
“Yes, sir,” Rollo replied. “However, I think there are already problems there.”
“Oh?” Aidan studied the butler. “Tell me everything, Rollo, at once.”
Rollo explained about the numerous incidents that had happened of late both with the mysteriously upended plants, and the direct threats Edwards had made toward Petal.
“Edwards wants her out of the way,” Aidan murmured.
“I can’t say, sir, but let me put it this way. None of the plants had fallen over before Edwards turned up.”
