Page 158 of The King's Man
Thamsine rose to her feet, wiping her blood-stained hands on the black skirt. ‘What about Ambrose?’
Kit gave the body a cursory glance. ‘The living are more important than the dead,’ he replied.
Chapter 57
Kit laid Annie on the bed with the tenderness of a father for his child. He stroked the dark hair away from the girl’s forehead and looked down at Morton’s sister. Annie was unconscious at last, her face peaceful.
He looked up at Thamsine. ‘He loved her, didn’t he?’
She nodded. ‘She was the only person who loved him completely and unconditionally. His mother saw him only as a means to her ends. She was a hateful woman.’ Thamsine shuddered at the memory of Isabelle Morton’s sharp, dissatisfied face.
‘Aunt, can I come in?’ Rebecca appeared at the door.
Thamsine turned to look at her niece. ‘Rebecca, you should be in bed.’
‘Rachel’s asleep but I couldn’t … ’ Rebecca crossed to the bed and picked up Annie’s hand. ‘She’s dying, isn’t she?’
Thamsine nodded.
‘She saved my life. I want to stay with her.’
Thamsine drew the girl to her side and slipped an arm around her shoulder.
‘If you wish, dearest,’ she said.
Kit straightened. ‘I think I should find Knott and see to freeing the servants, and … ’ A shadow crossed his face. ‘ … deal with other matters.’
Thamsine nodded. After fetching a cloth and a bowl of water, she sat down beside Annie to watch and wait for death to claim her.
It would not be much longer. The girl’s breath rattled in her throat. Thamsine hoped she no longer felt pain. On the other side of the bed, Rebecca sat with her fingers locked around Annie’s hand, her face twisted in grief. The two of them sat into the dark, wet night, unspeaking, keeping the vigil of death.
At some point, a shadow crossed the doorway and Thamsine looked up. Kit leaned against the door frame watching them. He did not enter the room or speak. In the dark, Thamsine could not see his face but she felt his energy as a palpable force, his love reaching across the dark void.
‘Do you want me to stay?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘No. You must be exhausted. You will find my bedchamber at the end of this corridor.’
She listened to his boots echoing on the floorboards, heard the sound of a door shutting and shivered as silence descended on the room again.
Annie gurgled and a river of bright blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Rebecca’s hand tightened as Annie’s eyes opened and she gave one last, gulping breath and lay still. Thamsine wiped the blood away and stood up, closing Annie’s eyes.
Rebecca laid her head on the bedcovers and began to sob. Thamsine walked around the bed and put her arms around the child’s shoulders.
‘She died loved, Rebecca. Come, dearest, there is nothing more we can do here and I think we both need our beds.’
She raised Rebecca to her feet and walked her to the bedchamber she shared with her sister. Rachel was already asleep, her face still stained with tears but peaceful. Thamsine helped Rebecca undress and tucked her into the bed.
‘Aunt Thamsine,’ Rebecca said, ‘I am scared. Will that woman come back?’
Thamsine shook her head. ‘No, she’s gone. We’re quite safe now.’ She bent and kissed the girl. ‘Try to sleep.’
Rebecca nodded and curled up next to her sister.
The overwhelming silence of the house sat heavily on her shoulders as Thamsine trudged wearily to her bedchamber. Her door stood ajar, a candle burning low on the table. A trail of clothing marked Kit’s progress from the door to the bed, where he lay sprawled across the covers, still half-dressed and sound asleep.
Thamsine poured water into the washbowl and scrubbed at the blood and the memory of the night’s terror. She stripped to her shift and looked down at the sleeping man.
‘Kit?’ She shook his shoulder.
