Page 74 of The King's Man
Thamsine dropped the root back into the crock as if it had bitten her. Even with her limited herbal knowledge, she knew that monkshood was a poison. ‘Why do you keep it?’
‘I make it up as a rat poison sometimes,’ Jane replied. ‘Now you had best wash your hands.’
Jane coughed and Thamsine looked at her sharply, watching as Jane’s thin chest rose in an effort to gain air. The dark shadows around her eyes seemed to grow deeper.
‘Jane, are you all right?’
Jane waited until the spasm had ended and gave Thamsine a thin smile. ‘I am fine. It is just the tail end of that winter ailment I can’t seem to shake.’
Thamsine picked up a pot. ‘Not even with the help of your own wonderful elixirs?’
For the first time, her sister laughed. ‘All I need is some warm weather, Thamsine. Now, you have a good hand. Open that book and start transcribing these receipts.’
The two sisters worked in companionable silence for an hour before Thamsine straightened her back and stood up. ‘I’m stiff. Can we walk in the garden? I need fresh air.’
Jane looked surprised but raised one thin shoulder. ‘As long as you won’t … ’
‘I’m not going to scale the garden wall. I just need to walk.’
As they stepped out into Jane’s peaceful garden, Thamsine tucked her arm into her sister’s and took a deep breath of fresh air. ‘I smell spring,’ she said.
Jane nodded. ‘Not long now.’ She stopped and took her sister’s hands, searching her face. ‘Thamsine, who is Christopher Lovell?’
The mention of Kit’s name caused Thamsine’s heart to jolt against her ribs. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I heard Ambrose mention his name in connection with you … and another person. I just wondered who he was.’
Thamsine smiled. ‘Kit Lovell is … a terrible scapegrace, Jane. A penniless gambler and worse. But … ’ She fought down the pain that gripped her chest. ‘… He was kind to me when I needed a friend. That’s all.’
‘Are you in love with him?’
Thamsine gave a bitter laugh.In love with Kit Lovell?The idea was absurd.
‘Of course not!’ she said. ‘He has half the women in London lusting for him.’
Jane’s face took on a pinched look. ‘And does he have a mistress called Lucy Talbot?’
Thamsine looked at her sister. ‘Jane, what do you know about Lucy Talbot?’
Jane’s face was still. ‘Roger was a friend of Martin Talbot. When he died, his widow relied on his help with the business and the estate.’
Thamsine suppressed the picture of the sort of help Lucy had required.
‘Have you ever met her?’ she asked, trying to keep her tone even.
Jane began to walk again. ‘She has visited here.’
Thamsine frowned. ‘Here?’
‘Oh yes, several times before Talbot’s death. She was very much younger than her husband, and I had never met anyone like her before. Such a pretty, vivacious little thing. Quite irresistible.’
‘Lucy Talbot is a very easy person to like.’ Thamsine did not attempt to hide the bitterness in her voice.
‘I didn’t say I liked her,’ Jane said, frowning. ‘I should have said, irresistible to men.’
Thamsine looked at her sister. Did she know that her own husband had fallen under the spell of Lucy Talbot’s charm?
‘She professed a great interest in my stillroom,’ Jane went on. ‘She asked me questions about herbs and roots; which ones had healing properties and which ones were poisonous.’
