Page 113 of The Scottish Duke
“People among the staff, sir?” Jason sounded as incredulous as he felt.
He glanced up at his assistant. “Turn over the cards.”
Jason reached out and with his long-fingered hand turned over each card to reveal the names. His silence was as pointed as any comment he might have made.
“What are you going to do, Your Grace?” he finally asked.
He wasn’t surprised at the question. Jason had always impressed him with his quick understanding of the facts.
Four people besides Lorna had touched the bottles from her apothecary. He was one of them, which was understandable. He’d originally unpacked the trunk for her. One of the remaining three people had destroyed what they could and stolen the herbs that had nearly killed Nan. He didn’t know if it was the same person or if two different people were involved. It was all too possible that someone had stolen the herbs from the cottage before the damage occurred.
He was just going to have to find the answers.
“I’m going to go and see my uncle,” Alex said, partially answering Jason’s question. He knew what he was going to do with the other two individuals as well, but Thomas’s answer was the first one he’d hear.
Lorna awoke feeling groggy, almost heavy, as if she were grieving and weeping tears that couldn’t be seen. She hadn’t felt that way since after her father died.
Alex had only been home a few days and their marriage was already crumbling.
He’d remained in the dressing room all night. Had she erred in confronting him? Something had snapped when he mentioned Ruth. She hadn’t planned on saying what she had, but did he seriously expect her to silently acquiesce to his absences? That wasn’t her definition of a marriage. Nor was she going to be the kind of wife who simply accepted any bad behavior on his part because he was the Duke of Kinross. He was her husband, which was at least as important.
She might not have the pedigree that Mary thought was so necessary to being a duchess, but did that really matter? Wasn’t her behavior more important than her heritage?
She hadn’t exactly behaved in a proper manner, either, or the Duke of Kinross wouldn’t have felt it necessary to marry her when she was in labor. Very well, she wasn’t a proper duchess. What about being a wife? In order to be a proper wife was she supposed to simply remain silent and meek?
She doubted she’d be able to alter her character enough to fit into that role. Even as a maid she’d had to bite her tongue more than once. At night, Nan, who was the most amenable of people, had to listen to her complain about their rules.
No, she was destined to be just who she was, a deplorable duchess and a demanding wife. What about Alex? Did he think himself exempt from any kind of standards of behavior?
She fed Robbie and dressed, all the while trying to decide who she was more annoyed at: Alex or herself.
Taking the baby with her, she went next door to see Nan. To her delight, her friend was sitting up in bed. Although pale, she appeared to feel better than she had yesterday afternoon. She even smiled when Lorna opened the door and peeked inside.
“I’m so glad it’s you,” Nan said. “Hortense has threatened me with gruel, can you believe it? I’m genuinely hungry, but she said she couldn’t bring me anything but broth. Broth?”
“It would be better for you,” Lorna said, moving to sit on the chair beside the bed. “Your stomach is bound to be upset.”
Robbie reached out for Nan and she grabbed his plump little hands.
“Hortense said that someone poisoned the tea. Is that true?”
She nodded. “I don’t know who,” she said. “But I know what they used. Monkwood.”
Nan’s eyes widened. “The same monkwood that can kill you?”
Lorna nodded again. “The very same. I gave you an antidote, and I’m grateful that it seemed to have worked.”
“So am I,” Nan said, leaning back against the pillow. A moment later she spoke again. “They could’ve killed all three of us.”
“I don’t think they cared how many people they killed as long as I was one of them.”
Nan glanced at her. “Someone doesn’t want you to be the Duchess of Kinross. But why now?”
“Because Alex has come home,” she said. “Maybe she thought he would come back and tell me he was going to divorce me. Or throw me out of Blackhall. I don’t know.”
“Mary,” Nan said.
“I think so.”
