“It’s Louisa,” she said. “I gave her the laudanum from Lady Matheson’s snuff box, just as the doctor told me to do. Remember?” She looked at each of them in turn. “It was to help her sleep.”
“Yes, that’s right. And is she sleeping soundly now, Aunt?”
Aunt Marianne looked at Bridget and blinked. “She’s dead.”
Chapter Eighteen
“She suffered aseizure and lost consciousness, but I believe she will survive.” Dr. Elias addressed Bridget, Nate, Aunt Marianne, and Magistrate Hunt in the study after he’d concluded his examination of Louisa.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Bridget felt the weight lift off her body.
“But I saw her!” Aunt Marianne said. “She…she was as cold as marble and as pale as snow. Her mouth—there was—”
“It was a reaction to the poison,” Dr. Elias said. “You’ve never seen the body react in such a violent manner, I’m sure. It’s completely understandable that you thought she was dead.”
“The poison?” Nate asked.
“Yes, someone tampered with the laudanum.” Dr. Elis opened the snuff box and handed it to Nate. “I’d say they mixed it with arsenic, which is both colorless and tasteless. It would not have changed the look or the taste of the laudanum. It’s a good thing she only took a pinch of the powder. Lady Matheson on the other hand…”
“Good heavens!” Bridget pressed Bijou close. Her heart was beating wildly. “Are you saying that Lady Matheson was murdered after all?”
“It wasn’t necessarily murder,” Dr. Elias said. “Earlier, the maid had spoken about her mistress’s erratic moods. It sounds to me as if her ladyship may have been suffering from an extreme case of nerves or hysteria, perhaps brought on by Mr. Otis’s death. Either way, sometimes, serious bouts of hysteria can result in self-murder.” Heglanced apologetically at Bridget as he spoke.
“That complicates matters,” Magistrate Hunt said. “Self-murder will change how the law allows the lady to be buried.”
“Good grief,” Nate said, sweeping his hand through his hair. “What are we to do then?”
Magistrate Hunt sighed. “Considering the circumstances, I’ll keep the lady’s body as evidence, while we conduct a short investigation. But, if no evidence of murder can be found after three or four days, I’m going to declare it death by self-murder and dispose of the body accordingly. I don’t think it’s feasible to keep the body longer in this weather.”
A familiar pain shot through Bridget’s heart. She reached for her aunt’s hand and squeezed it. Only Aunt Marianne understood what she was feeling at this precise moment.
“Thank heavens it was only the maid who took the laudanum to calm her nerves. It could have been Miss De Lacey or her aunt,” Magistrate Hunt said.
Bridget wondered if he thought the comment would somehow cheer her. It was a callous thing to say—“only the maid” as if poor Louisa’s health was worth less than anyone else’s. Still, Bridget shuddered. She felt awful about Louisa, but the idea that her aunt could just as easily have taken a pinch of laudanum to settle her nerves made her turn cold with fear.
Then a thought struck her. Hogarth’sMarriage à la Mode! When she’d turned seventeen, Papa had brought home from London a miniature set of the six frames by Hogarth that told the tragic story of a wealthy merchant’s daughter forced to marry a bankrupted, philandering earl. Papa had given the set to Bridget and promised never to force her into such an unhappy arrangement. The calamitous saga ended with the young lady’s self-murder by poisoning—and her poison of choice was a bottle of laudanum.
“If Lady Matheson was intent on self-murder, why the need forarsenic?” Bridget looked to Dr. Elias for an answer. “Isn’t laudanum fatal in large doses?”
“Yes,” Dr. Elias said slowly, “but it would take a large amount to kill an adult, especially one who takes laudanum often. It’s generally quite safe. That said, ingesting too much accidentally could, and does, happen.”
“So, if Lady Matheson was intent on self-murder, all she needed to do was take a larger than usual dose of laudanum. She would not have needed arsenic at all. On the other hand, if someone else wanted to ensure that Lady Matheson ended up dead, they’d need to add another poison to her laudanum powder—one that required a smaller dose to kill.”
“I see what you mean,” Dr. Elias said, reluctance in his tone.
“Do you think the person who tampered with Lady Matheson’s snuff box is the same one who killed George?” Bridget directed her question at Nate, but the magistrate replied instead.
“No. We have Otis’s killer. It’s John Groby, and the day after tomorrow I’m going to be transporting him to York for his trial next week.”
Bridget’s stomach clenched.Next week!
“Surely you realize this changes everything,” Nate said. “There’s been another murder. Do you suppose we have two separate killers?”
“I don’t know if we have one or two murderers, or even if Lady Matheson was murdered at all. But I do know that Groby will stand trial for the murder of George Otis Phillips next week. And if he is innocent, the court will find him not guilty, so you needn’t worry. If you find out any new information before the trial, you can request to be called as a witness and testify in front of the jury. They will hear you and decide Groby’s fate.”
“Would you at least consider postponing Mr. Groby’s transport to York?” Bridget asked. “If only to give us a chance to discover what happened to Lady Matheson.”
“I already told Mr. Squires that that it is out of the question. The assize court arrives in York next week. I have no choice but to transport him there before they arrive. He leaves the day after tomorrow, but you’ll have a few days before the trial.”
