“Yes,” whispered Mrs. Hester, her eyes filling with unshed tears.
“Poor woman,” Mrs. Hull murmured.
“In her diary, Miss Inglewood seemed assured she could manipulate her father to do as she wished him to do,” Cecilia continued. “However, something must have happened close to the day she died.” Her expression grew pensive. “Suddenly, she became convinced her father wanted her dead, and she started carrying a large butcher knife hidden in her skirts.”
Mrs. Hester’s face crumpled as she fought—and lost—against tears streaming down her cheeks. Sarah handed her a handkerchief.
“Oddly, though she’d begun to seriously fear him, she still thought she would win him over. Whatever happened is not in her diary. Do you know what occurred that had her believing he would kill her?”
“He told her that if she did not drink that tea, he would kill her, for he would not accept a pregnant trollop for a daughter.”
Cecilia compressed her lips as she shook her head. “Did you know that she lost the child without drinking the pennyroyal tea?”
Mrs. Hester stopped dabbing at her tears and looked stunned at Cecilia. “What? No!”
“She wrote of it in her diary, and also said she didn’t want anyone to know yet. She still hoped to use the child as leverage to get the viscount to marry her.”
“Why didn’t she tell me! Why didn’t she tell the squire?”
Cecilia sighed. “From what Sir James and I could infer from what she wrote, she replaced the pennyroyal in the canister in the kitchen with spearmint. She said they smelled similar and no one would know. She could drink that tea and then confront her father to show him she yet lived.”
“I knew about the spearmint, but the squire seemed so confident of her death I didn’t know what to think. I served her that cursed brew, whatever it was, and watched her take sick. Later, after the young master carried Miss Georgia to her room, he came to me crying. Miss Georgia told him, between her cries of pain as he carried her, that it was supposed to be spearmint in the canister and there was no more pennyroyal to be had in Maidstone. Guilt consumed him for he’d purchased pennyroyal in Folkestone and gave it to his father. The squire must have put it in the canister. And that is what I made her tea with. I killed her!”
“You did not know. It is not your fault,” Mrs. Hull said. “Do not be blaming yourself.”
“You are as much a victim as Miss Inglewood,” Sarah said. She put her arm around the sobbing Mrs. Hester.
Cecilia listened to Mrs. Hull and Sarah console Mrs. Hester. It was understandable that the woman would feel burdened and responsible for what happened. How could she have kept that guilt bottled within her for so long? No, she probably hadn’t.
“Is this the first time you have spoken about this?” Cecilia asked
Mrs. Hester shook her head. “I was so confused and heart sick. I had to talk to someone.”
Cecilia nodded. “You confessed all that you knew to Mrs. Jones, didn’t you?”
Mrs. Hester nodded. “Yes, but I never considered that she would confront the squire.”
A cold shiver ran down Cecilia’s spine. Knowing Squire Inglewood’s violent nature, imagined scenes of Mrs. Jones confronting Inglewood played in her mind as vividly as her most vivid dreams.
“When did she confront the squire?” Cecilia asked.
“Two days before she died,” Mrs. Hester said, sniffing.
Two days, Cecilia considered. “The squire and his daughter were much alike,” she said slowly. “They were both detailed planners; the squire is still a planner.”
“Yes.”
“They both considered themselves smarter and more clever than those around them.”
“That is true!” offered Mrs. Hull vehemently. Mrs. Hester looked pained.
Cecilia smiled at Mrs. Hull. “And I hazard a guess that they did not like being mocked or ignored. We could see this in Georgia through her diary. From her comments in her diary and what I have seen of our magistrate, I would venture they are alike in this manner as well.”
“Yes. Their pride strode before them,” Mrs. Hull said drily.
“But they are smarter than those around them,” Mrs. Hester insisted. “Others should listen to what they have to say.”
“Why?” Cecilia countered.
