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“Then let’s get to the bottom of who pushed you down the stairs,” Jerry declared. “Then we can get on with the rest of your lives without threat from anybody.”
Petal nodded but was painfully aware that the dowager was still watching them. This time, though there was an odd expression on her face Petal didn’t know how to read.
Rollo appeared at that moment in the doorway.
Everyone paused and stared at him as carried a tea tray into the room, followed by an equally laden Mrs Kempton. They both placed their dishes onto side tables and began to serve everyone.
Petal’s heart lurched as she eyed both Mrs Kempton and Rollo warily. Her hand clawed around Aidan’s as memories pummelled her. She clung on to him as though he was her lifeline. To her, it didn’t matter who had actually pushed her, she would either see either of them in the same way ever again.
“What is it?” Aidan murmured as he stu
died the worry in her eyes.
Petal didn’t answer him. She was lost in the last few moments she could remember on the stairs, right before she fell.
When Mrs Kempton turned around, their eyes met, and Petal knew immediately that she had been mistaken. It hadn’t been Rollo who had pushed her down the stairs.
“It was you,” she whispered, staring the woman directly in the eye.
She felt a sense of betrayal unlike no other. Not least because she now knew that the woman was not as trustworthy as she seemed.
“Pardon? What was who?” Aidan watched Jerry tense in his seat.
Strangely, Rollo moved to stand in front of the door to block the exit. Aidan looked the man in the eye. There could be no doubt that Rollo knew who was responsible.
“It was Mrs Kempton who pushed you, my dear,” the dowager murmured thoughtfully as she studied everybody.
She looked down at the cup of tea in her hand. Rather than drink any, she sniffed it.
“Nobody drink their tea. This has been spiked.” She placed her cup on the small table beside the bed to give to the magistrate later and turned her attention to the murderous housekeeper.
“It won’t come as any surprise to anybody for me to ask why, Mrs Kempton?” she asked calmly.
Petal stared at her in shock. She had always had the impression of the dowager being something of a harridan. Yet here she was, talking to a cold-blooded killer as though she was discussing nothing more important than the latest social gossip in London.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Mrs Kempton reported, slamming the teapot back onto the tray with a dull thud.
Aidan stared at her. “Petal?”
“It was Mrs Kempton. At first, I thought it was Rollo’s jacket I saw because the person who disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs was wearing it. However, I also caught sight of the flash of white hair. It couldn’t possibly have been Rollo; his hair is too dark. The only person in this house who has light grey hair is Mrs Kempton.” She stared the woman in the eye. “Why? I always thought you liked me.”
“Yes, I did,” Mrs Kempton spat. “But then you had to go and marry him. You and that Edwards woman were like two cats fighting in a bag. She wouldn’t leave well alone either.”
“Wait!” Aidan interjected. “Why would you want anyone to ‘leave well alone’? Whom I see and when has nothing to do with you, Mrs Kempton. You are the housekeeper, nothing more.”
“What had Alice done to you? She was my wife,” Jerry demanded.
Mrs Kempton turned a glare on him that was acidic. Rather than reply, she tipped her head back in defiance and threw a contemptuous glare at the dowager.
“You never bothered to raise them yourself. You were always too busy entertaining your friends. That nanny of yours, Aldred, did the job for you, but even she wasn’t up to the job. They spent most of their childhood in the kitchens watching me cook. These boys are like my own. When it became apparent that you were prepared to sell your own son to the highest bidder, I decided to do whatever I could to protect their interests. After all, it was evident you didn’t care about them. I heard them talking. You pushed them into things they didn’t want: Aidan going to London; Jerry marrying that stupid Alice woman. He didn’t want to marry that awful creature he was lumbered with, but you wouldn’t leave him alone. They were miserable, but that never mattered to you. All you cared about were your blasted connections. It is a disgrace, the way you treated them. Your friends and associates were always more important than your own children. When he married that Alice creature, I decided to do what I could to help them, especially when it became evident that his wife hadn’t got a clue what she was doing, and was just as miserable as he was.”
“You didn’t need to kill her,” Jerry snapped.
“I didn’t intend to,” Mrs Kempton replied. “She was just moaning at me one day that she was fed up of you always going off on your travels. I told her that she should never have married you. She got upset and spun around to leave but her legs got tangled in her skirts, and she fell down the stairs.”
“She was alive when she hit the bottom,” Rollo informed them quietly. “I found her lying there asking for help, but Mrs Kempton didn’t move. I don’t know how long the mistress had been asking Mrs Kempton to do something, but she was only alive for a few minutes once I arrived. She passed away asking why.”
“You knew yet you never said anything to me.” Jerry glared accusingly at Rollo. “You protected her.”
