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“Oh, Mother,” Eleanor said weakly, “Of course, I forgive you.” Eleanor’s mother then crawled onto the bed next to her and threw her arms around Eleanor’s thin shoulders. Eleanor raised an amused eyebrow at Henry, which caused him to shrug.
I can’t recall my mother ever being this affectionate. I don’t believe she’s ever hugged me this way in my whole life.
The Dowager Countess continued to hold Eleanor tightly and sob softly into her shoulder. Eleanor shifted uncomfortably, but she did not relinquish the hold she had on her mother. It felt very nice to have her mother next to her.
Henry reached forward and stroked a hand through Eleanor’s hair. “I’m glad you are feeling better. I was very worried.”
“I’m sorry,” Eleanor whispered. She nodded downward at her mother. “It seems my family members and I have caused all kinds of commotion over the last few days.” Eleanor smiled feebly at Henry, and he returned her smile with a shake of his head.
Just then, a knock sounded on the door, and Eleanor looked toward the sound anxiously. “Who could it be?” Eleanor asked, glancing toward Henry.
“Frederick!” Her mother cried, leaping from the bed, and racing to the door. It was irrational to think that Frederick would have changed his mind about Lady Clay and come racing back to Lawson Manor, but Eleanor decided it was best just to let her mother think as she pleased. Her dreams were soon crushed anyway as when she flung open the door, Georges was standing in the doorway, but there were clearly several others waiting behind him.
Georges bowed deeply. “If you will permit me, Your Graces. You have a visitor who says he cannot be kept from seeing you.”
“Who is it?” Henry asked, rising from his chair, and craning his neck to get a better look at who might be standing out in the hall.
“Lord Clay has arrived, Your Grace,” Georges answered quietly.
Henry looked at Eleanor and she nodded. Georges stepped aside, admitting Lord Clay into the room. Eleanor’s mother bowed her head and walked backward toward the chair that was next to Eleanor’s bed. She sank into it without taking her eyes off Lord Clay.
Eleanor watched her mother, fascinated by her strange behavior. It was not as though she had done anything wrong, but she was acting as though Lord Clay were here to punish her. Then, Eleanor turned to look at Lord Clay.
He was just as she had recalled. He was about four inches shorter than Henry. He was rather slim, with knobby knees. He was, if Eleanor remembered correctly, a full ten years older than Rosalin, and he looked it. His face was withered and gaunt. His eyes were sunken into his head, and they looked very dark. Eleanor recalled vaguely that both Rosalin and Frederick thought Lord Clay was on his death bed. Eleanor thought he looked dreadful, but she was intrigued as to why he would have demanded an audience with herself and Henry, even though he was still ailing.
“Lord Clay,” Henry said, rising from his chair. “Would you care to take my seat?”
“No, thank you, Your Grace,” Lord Clay returned. “I shan’t be here long.” He glanced around Eleanor’s bedchambers. “I do apologize for barging into your private rooms, Your Grace,” Lord Clay said politely, inclining his head toward Eleanor.
“Think nothing of it, Lord Clay. I am merely recovering from an illness,” Eleanor replied.
“An illness?” Lord Clay narrowed his eyes. “What sort of illness?” His small, dark eyes moved around the room until they focused on the tray of medications Eleanor had been taking. There had at one time only been a couple of bottles on the table, but now it was clustered with more than a dozen.
Lord Clay strode across the room, and Henry followed closely behind him. “My wife seems to have ingested a large amount of arsenic.”
Lord Clay plucked a blue-colored bottle from the tray and held it out in front of him using just his thumb and forefinger. A spot of color appeared on both his cheeks then and he said seriously, “I came here today to seek out my wife, but I can see that she has already been at work here.”
“At work? How?” Henry asked.
“This bottle,” Lord Clay said, nodding toward the blue one in his hand, “once belonged to me. You can see my initials on the bottom if you look closely.” He tilted the bottle slightly and Henry ducked as though he meant to check the bottom. Lord Clay did not dare tip the bottle too far though and Henry straightened up at once.
“I fail to see what you mean, Lord Clay,” Henry said.
Lord Clay stepped so that he could look closely at Eleanor. One of her hands flew to her hair as she knew she must look an awful sight. “Your Grace, I would not say as much, if I were not certain. But it seems that Lady Clay has brought this illness upon you.”
“No,” Eleanor’s mother moaned, while Eleanor herself stifled her own reaction.
“It is so,” Lord Clay continued. “I fell ill a fortnight ago. My doctor prescribed this very bottle, saying that if I only swallowed a very small dose of the arsenic, it would fight off the infection I had. My valet ensured that I followed my physician’s orders to the letter, but a few days ago, the very day my wife disappeared, so did this bottle.”
“But Rosalin couldn’t have meant to poison Eleanor,” Henry interrupted. “Rosalin wanted Eleanor’s help.”
“I cannot speak to what Lady Clay did or did not want, as I am beginning to feel I may not have ever known her at all,” Lord Clay replied, pulling himself up to his full height.
“I didn’t give her the money,” Eleanor whispered, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
“What, my dear?” Henry asked, turning back to resume his post at Eleanor’s side.
“She asked me to loan her money. She said she and Frederick needed it. I refused. I…” Eleanor’s words broke off, as she could not think of how to continue.
“It seems none of us knew Lady Clay very well,” Henry remarked.
Tears rolled down Eleanor’s face and all at once, she felt rather light-headed. “I’m so sorry, Lord Clay. I’m so sorry everyone. I should have known better…” Eleanor’s final few words were mumbled, as she was so overcome by exhaustion and the crushing realization that she had been poisoned by her friend, that she passed out completely.
