Daniel scrambled to his feet.
Cecilia came forward, lightly touching one boy, then the other with reassurance.
“Let’s go to my library,” James said, after taking in their dirty attire. “Charwood, some refreshments for the boys. I think they’ve had a traumatic night.”
“Yes, sar,” said Billy reverently. “I ain’t never seen a man die like that afore.”
Cecilia led them to the library and had the boys sit down by the desk. James pulled a chair up for Cecilia from the card table, then leaned against the edge of his desk.
“Now tell us everything,“ Cecilia said.
“Yes, your Ladyship,” said Billy. His brows drew together as he shuddered slightly. He leaned forward. “Mr. Peasey, he went to da pub like his usual--and ’ticularly when he gets in the fidgets and be worrin’. When he come back to da house, he was in a good mood and even had a pail of beer that he said his friend bought for him as he was leaving.”
“Does this friend have a name?” James asked.
Billy shook his head. “Never said no name, don’t know who this friend were, but he met him nigh every night fer da past week,” said Billy.
Daniel nodded. “I seed him many times walk’n to en frum,” Daniel added.
Billy nodded. “I were glad ’cause that meant he warn’t going ta beat me agin for losin’ Tristan.”
“His name is Krishan, and you didn’t lose Krishan,” Cecilia said, smiling. “We took him.”
“But I tol’ ya he look’d like dat paper picture. Mr. Peasey said I shoulda lied.”
“I probably wouldn’t have believed you if you tried to lie,” Cecilia said, smiling. “Your face would have given you away.”
He nodded morosely.
“But tell us about Mr. Peasey,” James said.
Billy swallowed and nodded. “As I said, he had a pail of beer. Talked about da gent who bought him the beer, said he’d get his blunt back to him. Right gentlemanly, and how everything was a misunderstandin’.”
Charwood entered quietly with refreshments. James motioned him to wait a moment so as not to disrupt Billy’s story.
“I asked how there could be a misunderstandin’ about a gentry boy. He laughed and toll me not ta worrit, jest find him a replacement. He leaned back in his chair, all smiles as he drank him his beer. Drank all of it. Then he says he don’t feel too good.”
Billy’s face contorted, his lips flattened, and his nostrils flared. “It were awful. He started retching, and then shittin’ his pants. I wanted to run but, he tol’ me to stay.”
Cecilia, wide-eyed, had her hand over her mouth as she listened in horror. Billy’s eyes stared unseeing before him, seeing only the memory. “Then he went quiet like fer a bit,” he said, “and I were tryin’ to clean up. He whispered his legs were dead. I had to lean close to him to hear him. He smelled like death, but he were still alive. He knowed he were dying. Cursed that beer and the fancy man wot gave it him. He started shakin’ all over, his back archin’, screamin’!”
Billy placed his hands over his ears as if to stop hearing the memory. Tears streamed down his face. “It were awful. He started up to retch agin. Blood wit bubbles. He grabbed mi hand tight and fell back. Then his eyes rolled, and he were dead.” He shook his head. “That quick,” he whispered. “I had to pry mi fing’rs loose.”
The crash of the refreshments tray hitting the floor stirred them all out of the horror stupor they’d fallen into listening to Billy.
Charwood stood over the mess, shaking, his face white. He looked at Sir James. “I killed her,” he whispered.
James grabbed his arm. “What are you saying? Killed who?”
“The Indian woman,” Charwood breathed.
“No!” Cecilia screamed. She grabbed on to Charwood’s other arm, shaking him.
“Cecilia, stop,” ordered James. “Charwood, what did you do?”
“He gave me this orange powder, said if I put it in her drink, it would make her silly and forgetful, and you’d get a disgust for her. So I put it in hot chocolate and took it to her.”
Cecilia ran up the stairs and down the hall to the nursery. Behind her followed James and the two boys. Rani was not in the nursery. Cecilia opened her bedroom door without knocking. She collapsed against the door when she saw Rani in her nightgown, sitting on the edge of her bed, brushing her hair.
