Harley shook his head.
“Then there is a possibility that she was jealous that her friend had been successful where she had not. Abigail was going to get a large payoff and a new life to go with it. Whereas Sarah would be stuck in service for the rest of her life.”
“Good Lord! Are you suggesting that Sarah killed Abigail?” Harley gaped at Nate.
“It’s certainly possible.” Nate pushed back his hair with both hands, and Harley hung his head in shame. “Did you give my maidservants fungi?”
“What?” Harley jerked his head up.
“Did you give the housekeepers vision-inducing fungi?” Nate repeated, his jaw aching with tension.
“Not me. But Frederick may have done—did. He said it made them more”—Harley licked his lips—“compliant.”
“Good God!” Nate massaged his aching jaw. He must have been clenching his teeth for ten minutes straight.
“Why is that important?” Harley asked.
“Who else knew about this?” Nate said, ignoring Harley’s question.
“Just the four of us and…”
“And?” Nate said.
“Mrs. Harley. She knew. I couldn’t keep it from her. I wanted—needed—her consent for obvious reasons.”
“Did she consent? Or did you leave her no choice?”
“My aunt left us no choice.” Harley drained the rest of his glass and set it down.
Nate shook his head. He could barely contain his fury. “Well, it looks like your plan has come to naught.”
Harley stood up and gave Nate a pleading look. “They were both willing. It would have benefited us all—”
“Get out!” Nate growled.
Harley hesitated. “Please, try to understand.”
“Go!” Nate said.
After Harley rushed out of the room and closed the door behind him, Bridget stood up. She’d been sitting next to the window, listening silently to all that had been said. Nate was not even sure that Harley had been aware of her presence in the room.
“I’m sorry you had to hear that,” Nate said. “It was quite distasteful and not at all meant for a lady’s ears.”
Bridget gave him a hard stare. “I told you not to worry about that. I need to hear the facts—all of them—no matter how distasteful. That aside, it wasn’t the first time I heard that conversation.”
“You knew about this?” Nate frowned. “How?”
“I didn’t know that I knew until I heard Harley talk about it again.” She sat on the chair Harley had vacated.
“Again?” Nate put both hands on the desk and leaned slightly back.
“That was the information erased from my memory after my fall. I heard Mr. Harley and his wife talking in the library after you left.”
“And they didn’t see you in the library?”
She shook her head. “I was concealed in a nook. I must have decided to go down to the lake to stop what was happening to the housemaids.”
“But why didn’t you speak to me? Why go by yourself—” Nate stopped, remembering with fresh shame his conversation with Bridget that night and the comments he’d made about her papa. “Never mind. I’m sorry,” he said. “I was insensitive to you that night. It’s no wonder you avoided me.”
