I will weep for him later, she resolved, as she lifted the last of the bedclothes away. It was difficult to believe that such a big, strong, fit man could be laid so low. He needs me to be strong now. And when I discover who has done this, I will kill them.
‘Have you any idea what the poison is?’
‘I wondered about arsenic.’ Hunt came back from the dressing room with an armful of towels and began to lay them around Cal’s body. ‘But the symptoms aren’t quite right.’
‘And how is it administered?’ She put the rest of the towels in place. ‘Does it hurt him to be touched?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Hunt said, frowning in thought. ‘As for how he took it, I’m puzzled. He has been careful not to eat or drink anything that other people haven’t shared.’
‘The drinks before dinner?’ Sophie eased down on the bed beside Cal and began to massage his back until the bent spine eased straight and he lay back with a sigh. ‘There were crowded groups, someone could have dropped something into a glass.’
‘Ralph Thorne didn’t go near him, I was watching.’
‘But his uncle did,’ Sophie remembered. ‘Can you bring wet towels and we’ll try and cool him down.’
‘Sophie?’ Cal turned his head on the pillow, eyes closed, one hand reaching for her.
‘I am here, so is Mr Hunt. No-one else.’ She took the glass that Hunt handed her and slipped her arm under Cal’s head. ‘Can you drink this? We are going to cool you down, but you need water.’
He lurched up, got his elbows under him and sat up.
‘Lie down!’
‘No. Pillows.’
‘You are the most stubborn man.’ Frightened for him, Sophie packed pillows at his back, then offered the water again. This time he drank, swallowed, waited through what looked like a savage cramp of pain and reached for the glass again.
Hunt came back with dripping towels and began to drape them over Cal’s hot body, making him gasp. The fencing master ignored the protests. ‘Why aren’t you lying down?’
‘Not giving in to it,’ Cal said through gritted teeth. ‘Need to find out who. Sophie, go to bed.’
‘Now I do believe you are ill,’ she snapped. ‘You lie there, looking like death, and you expect me to go off to bed and leave you? What a nice restful sleep that would be, full of pleasant dreams, I’m sure.’
‘Sorry, Sophie my love.’ Cal produced the ghost of a smile.
‘Then stop talking nonsense and drink this,’ she said briskly, ignoring the stab of pleasure the endearment gave her.
‘Bossy woman,’ he murmured. But he took the glass and managed to hold it himself.
By the time the clocks were striking four Sophie was beginning to feel optimistic. They had removed t
he wet towels, Cal was under the blankets again, dozing between mouthfuls of water and then, half an hour later, he was doubled up in pain again, had lost all the water they had got into him and was the colour of dirty snow. But at least his temperature stayed down, she thought, as Cal took the glass in both shaking hands and doggedly began to drink again.
When the clocks struck seven Sophie was ready to sleep on her feet, Hunt was looking drawn and Cal was reviving. ‘You both need to go down to breakfast. Watch my uncle and cousin. If one or both of them thinks they have poisoned me they will betray it somehow. But don’t say I have been ill.’
‘But – ’ Sophie broke off as the door opened and Michael Flynn came in balancing a tray with a cup on it.
The valet stopped dead, put down the tray and closed the door sharply behind him. ‘Why didn’t you call me?’
‘We managed,’ Cal said. ‘I need you now, fresh. Jared, Sophie, get ready for breakfast.’
Sophie looked at Hunt who shrugged. ‘He is right. If there’s anyone out there braced for Flynn to come running down yelling that Cal’s dead, we need to be there to see.’
She didn’t want to leave him, but Flynn, she knew, was trustworthy. She dragged herself back to her room, rang for Mary and concocted a story of a troubled night racked with nightmares to account for her shadowed eyes and barely-suppressed yawns. ‘I really must avoid eating cheese in the evenings,’ she said as the maid helped her into a sprig muslin morning dress and threaded a ribbon through her hair.
Jared was already at the breakfast table and Sophie took a seat on the other side and toyed with toast as the other guests arrived, sat down and began to eat and talk. Lady Peter swept in and sat down beside Sophie to drink her chocolate and her husband sat opposite. Ralph found a chair free and Jared shifted his position slightly so he was looking at him. All three of the Thornes appeared entirely normal, well-rested, relaxed – or as relaxed as Lady Peter ever allowed herself to be – and perfectly innocent of anything except, perhaps, one too many brandies the night before on Ralph’s part.
Her parents came in, her mother giving her a sharp glance and a frown that left Sophie in no doubt that she looked positively haggard. Fortunately Mama was too far away to comment.