Page 57 of Eloping with the Laird
‘Unchanged, I’m afraid.’ Sympathy softened his features. ‘Best you prepare yourself, my lady.’
‘I will do no such thing,’ she countered, steeling her spine. ‘And I wish for you to explain to me why you believe he is being poisoned and how it could happen here. I’m determined to find the source of it and reverse what ails him.’
He shook his head. ‘You cannot expect to reverse such things.’
‘Why not? I have read accounts in journals about healing after the source of exposure is removed. And there are several of the family’s old journals that reference brief times of recovery of the lairds, usually when they travelled for long periods. Couldn’t that mean the poison is here? In this castle? And could we not locate it if we all searched?’
The doctor paused and rubbed his grey beard, considering her words. ‘Aye. I do remember the laird’s father gaining strength after an extended visit to a cousin in Dundee. There may be something to your theory, but this is a large expansive place and his symptoms are worsening. We may run out of time.’
Tressa came to the door with a set of clean linens and a fresh pitcher of water.
Moira rushed to her. ‘I need you to get Angus. Tell him to gather all of the servants, even the cook, and have them meet me in the main hall. We will find this source, Doctor. We will make enough time by working together. Go at once, Tressa. I will explain all when we are assembled.’
A few minutes later the main hall was humming with an odd anxious energy. Low voices and worried faces abounded. Moira entered the room and stood by Uncle Leo. The noise fell to a hush. ‘As you all know, the laird is not well, but I refuse to believe that nothing can be done. I also refuse to believe that his sickness is from a curse.’
A hum of murmuring and uncertainty filled the air. Angus came forward and spoke. ‘If I may, my lady. I mean no offence, but I have seen it. The way it claimed the laird’s father. The McKenna curse is real.’
‘Aye,’ a few voices concurred.
‘I do not dispute the sickness, Angus, just the cause. Dr Wilkes believes his symptoms are from poisoning and based on the many old family journals I have read thus far, there have been times of rebound when the lairds have travelled and been away from here for an extended time.’
‘Ye believe someone ’ere is poisoning ’im?’ a lad called from the back, crossing his arms against his chest.
Moira shook her head. ‘Nay, I know of all of your love and devotion to Blackmore and Laird McKenna. I believe there is somethingthat is poisoning him, not a someone.’
‘But what could it be, my lady?’ Tressa asked. ‘And how can we find it?’
‘It must be something only the laird uses or possesses because I am not ill, nor is Uncle Leo, or anyone else in this household.’
The servants looked at one another and some nodded in agreement at her logic.
‘So, I have brought you here because you know what the laird uses every day. What he alone might access. I ask you to scour this castle and bring all of the things that you believe only Laird McKenna uses and pile them on these long banquet tables. We will examine them all. We will find this source.’
Uncertainty filtered through them, and Angus dared ask the question even she pushed back from the front of her mind. ‘What if we do not find it?’
Moira’s eyes welled. She swallowed back the emotion and blinked to keep the tears from falling. ‘Then I will know,wewill know, that we did everything we could to try to save him, won’t we?’
Angus smiled. ‘Aye, my lady, we will.’
An awkward silence followed, and then Angus shouted, ‘Ye heard ’er! Help us save the laird!’
The servants scattered like ants from the main hall filtering down different hallways and peeling off into other rooms. They loved and respected their laird. With their help, all the items of interest could be gathered quickly and assessed. And maybe, just maybe, they could find the cause of his sickness before it was too late.
‘Quite a plan you have here, my lady,’ the doctor offered. ‘But do not get your hopes up.’
‘I know, Doctor. It may not work, but I must try. Can you tell me what might be the most possible of causes for such a poisoning and how you think it might be happening? It may help us sort through the items more quickly. I fear there may be many to consider.’
‘That I cannot tell you. It could be absorbed or ingested, especially with how slowly it seems to be working through his body. A stronger or more lethal poison would have taken him already.’
Servants emerged once more and soon the table was covered with items that Rory used and loved. The sight of all of them in one place assaulted her senses and reminded her of all she had to lose: him. She swallowed hard and began to look through them as the doctor did the same.
How could she possibly determine what could be causing his sickness? There were so many items here. Books, quills, cups, shavers and salves, and more arriving at the tables each minute. She suppressed a groan. Where she had been desperate to begin not long ago, now she feared the process. What if she missed the item making him so sick? What would one even test for and how?
‘Doctor, how can one determine what has been poisoned?’ She popped her hands to her hips.
‘If I knew the answer to that, I would have told you already.’
Her heart sank. Perhaps she was being a fool. How would she know what from this pile of items could be the one that was making Rory so ill?
