It was Peg. “Here is the tray Lady Kimpton said to bring you.” Her insolent tone cut Sarah to the bone, but Sarah steeled her resolve. The servants made no secret of their feelings, treating her as if she were the resident leper. Only around Lady Kimpton did they bother to mask their contempt with civility.
Resentment burned deep in her chest. She lifted her chin, doing her best imitation of Lord Maudsley. “That will be all, Peg.”
The door shut soundly. Sarah rushed to the bed and threw back the covers. She pounded the pillows into shape and hastily rearranged the bedsheets around the mock body.
Fifteen minutes later, Sarah slowed her steps. He hadn’t seen her yet. She modulated her breaths to stave off the panic clawing her throat. Another man stood with his back to her. Edward caught sight of her and smiled. Her stomach lurched in another bout of roiling waves. The man beside him moved into the trees. She couldn’t see him, but she felt his eyes.
“Ah, there you are, my dear. I’ve been waiting”—he flipped out his pocket watch—“as usual.” His smile never shifted, never warmed. How had she ever believed he cared? An urge to run screaming tingled against her scalp. “You have news for me?”
“Y-yes.” She glanced to the trees, wet her dry lips.
“I’m waiting,” Edward said softly.
Her eyes jerked back to him. “Irene told Lady Kimpton that her mother is out of danger.” Her words came out weak.
His chest swelled out, and his hands clenched into tight fists.
She shrank away.
He grabbed her hair. “Is that all?” he growled.
Her eyes burned. “She said Lord Brockway would keep them informed. Please, my lord, is t-that all, my l-lord?” she whispered.
His grip tightened in her hair. “Not quite.” His benign tone sent apprehension coiling through her.
His eyes searched the landscape over her head. His lips curled almost like a taunt. He pulled a small brown bottle from his pocket. She began to shake as the horrifying images built in her mind.
She tried to back away, but his hold in her hair gave a painful jerk. “I-I won’t poison anyone,” she whimpered.
He cracked a laugh. The sound was absorbed by the rain, and there was no one about to hear except the man in the shadows. And he could have been a statue for all the sound he made. “This is only a sleep potion.” His wandering gaze fell on her then, and there was nothing humorous in his cold eyes. “I recommend a tea party, in the garden. Girls love a tea party, do they not?” He held the bottle by the top, swinging it back and forth. “All that is required of you is to pour it in the tea.” He gave a sharp pull on her hair. “Mind you add loads of sugar to disguise the bitterness.”
Tea party.She was to devise atea party? At Lady Kimpton’s home?
“Once the guests pass out, you will bring the baby to my man. He’ll be waiting for you outside the garden gate.”
No.Again, she tried shaking her head.
“All of the difficult work has already been worked out, my dear.” He pierced her with a harsh squint. “You will take the child to the man at the back gate. Do you understand? Once you hand him over, you’ll be given fifteen pounds in gold pieces.”
Fifteen pounds.She couldn’t fathom that kind of money. She could disappear forever. She swallowed. “You’re certain they won’t die?”
Irritation flickered across his face, she thought. Yet a smile curved his lips left her unsure of what she’d seen. He leaned over her, his breath suffocating. “Think of it, Sarah. You’ll be free.” He lowered his mouth to hers, stopping just short. “Think of it. Fifteen pounds, all your very own.” His hand loosened from her head abruptly, sliding down her arm. He took her hand and pressed the bottle into it, curling her fingers around it. “Now be a good girl and do as I ask.” His breath feathered her lips. “I don’t require anything else of you today, my dear. Run along, and I shall see you soon.” His arms dropped to his sides.
She gripped the brown bottle so tightly her hand ached. She took a step back, then another, and another. All the while, he watched her with that half smile tipping his lips. Sarah backed up, unable and unwilling to look away until she reached the path. She spun and ran as if the hounds were after her. She never looked back.
Twenty-Two
A
h. Lunch.” Thorne made his way around the small table in the morning room. “I see we have the pleasure of the children’s company today.”
“I hope you don’t mind. The entire household is testy with this relentless rain,” Lorelei said. “It may finally be giving way.”
“It’s only been three days, darling.” Thorne spoke too quickly, he realized, as every female member of his household glared daggers at him.
“Youget to ride your horse.” Cecilia’s bottom lip protruded into an adorable pout. “Whileweare stuck indoors. We can’t even walk to the park.”
“Lady Cecilia, mind your elbows,” Lorelei reprimanded. “Young ladies do not sit like heathens if they wish to dine with adults.”
