But then, it was entirely quiet.
“Go ahead, William,” prompted Jane. “You make the sleeping draught and you always made it in that drinking glass.”
“It’s not much of anything special in it,” said William. “It’s chamomile and a bit of whisky. Some honey. That is all. It’s something my granny taught me ages ago and I do it for Mr. Hardy after he told me had trouble falling asleep. I offered it. He said it helped.”
“Fascinating as this is,” said Byron, “how did it end up full of laudanum?”
“Well, that I don’t know,” said William. “But I do know that night I made it for Mr. Hardy, like I always do. And I brought it to sit right outside his door. There’s actually a little table next to his door where I leave it. Which is what I did that night. I left it right there.”
“This table is outside Mr. Hardy’s door?” said Byron. “Show it to us.”
They all trooped out into the hallway, and William pointed. “Right there. I left it there.”
The table was quite small, but there would be room for a drinking glass on it.
“Well, that doesn’t mean you killed anyone,” said Byron.
“I did, though,” said William. “Because I realized that Mr. Hardy wasn’t here that night. Actually, I had known he wouldn’tbe here, but I was in such a habit of making that draught and taking it up there that I just had done it without thinking about it. You know how that goes sometimes?”
“Certainly,” said Jane.
“So, anyway, I came up to get it, and Miss Seward was up here, standing in the hallway, muttering that she’d never be able to sleep with all the racket downstairs, and I said that she could try taking Mr. Hardy’s sleeping draught, and she laughed and said it couldn’t hurt, so I went and fetched it from that table right there. Now, maybe I should have noticed something was wrong with it, but I swear I didn’t put anything in it but what I always put in it. And I was sure it was safe, because I made it myself, so sure that I didn’t much investigate it. I didn’t smell it or look at it. I just handed it over. She drank it right down, and then…” William’s face twisted. “So, I never told anyone about it. Which I know was wrong, but—”
“Wait,” said Byron. “What happened after she drank it?”
William’s face turned white. He fidgeted, toying with the edge of his baggy shirt. “Well, nothing. She said she was off to bed and shut the door. How could I have known she was going to die? She waved me off, and she seemed all right, but then the next morning, she was gone, and I found out it was something she drank.”
“I suppose it would have taken some time to present itself,” said Byron. “She likely just felt tired and went to sleep, and then…”
Never woke up,Jane finished silently.
“I should have told someone I gave it to her,” said William. “I know that. But all I could think was that she drank something and died, and I gave her the last thing she drank, and I knew it was my fault.”
“I don’t think it’s your fault,” said Jane. “If you didn’t poison it, it’s not your fault.”
William lifted both of his shoulders. “But I gave it to her. I’m the last one to see her alive.”
“Wait a moment,” said Byron. “My assumption is that if Miss Seward got herself ready for bed, she would have put on a sleeping gown or something, would she not?”
“She should have,” said Jane.
“But she wasn’t wearing anything when I woke up next to her,” said Byron. “So, what does that mean?”
“What does itallmean?” said Jane. She looked at Mr. Hardy. “Have you told this boy to lie for you, Mr. Hardy?”
“I swear to you, I have not,” said Mr. Hardy.
“But you could have given the poisoned drink to Anne,” said Jane.
“I wasn’t here,” said Mr. Hardy. “And it would be a foolish thing to give it to her in my own special sleeping draught glass. Not if I didn’t wish everyone to know that I did it.”
“Well, you’re the one who hid that glass,” said Byron.
“When I found Anne, I found the drinking glass,” said Mr. Hardy. “I hid it because I knew that it would make it look as if I was guilty in some way.”
“But you weren’t here,” said Jane. “You don’t make the draught for yourself.”
“I just knew.”
