“Very good, Your Grace.”
The silence that followed was like the aftermath of a disaster. Everyone was left stunned and reeling from the revelations they had heard. An hour ago, this sequence of events would have been unimaginable, but now, it was somehow reality.
“I’m so sorry, Diana,” Kitty said at last. “I would never have imagined such evil in my mother. I had no idea. I would have stopped her if I’d known. I would have told someone and asked for help. Please believe me.”
Diana nodded uncertainly, not quite sure what to believe yet. Kitty’s eyes were red and hurt, her lips still trembling.
“I’m sure you weren’t involved, Lady Katherine,” Edmund assured. “I know you’ve never been close to your mother.”
“She always preferred Andrew,” Kitty admitted. “For my mother, I was just a decorative part of the Birks family scenery and potential material for an advantageous marriage. I don’t think I existed beyond that.”
“I had no idea either,” Andrew mumbled, all his bluster crushed out of him. “My own mother going round poisoning and shooting people… Good God! My own mother…”
Kitty and Andrew stood together like two people marooned after a shipwreck, still trying to orient themselves on the shores of a new land.
Diana held out her hand to Kitty.
“This wasn’t your fault, Kitty. None of it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Kitty took her hand and shook it. More cautiously, Diana turned to Andrew, without extending a hand to him.
“You’re not responsible for your mother’s actions either, Andrew. Only for your own.”
“Oh, I know our marriage is off, of course. No chance of a loan though, I suppose, Diana? Or you, Your Grace?” Andrew asked gloomily. “I can’t even pay the maid’s wages.”
Diana looked at him in disbelief, and Kitty sighed, “Oh, Andrew!”
“No,” Edmund said decidedly. “There is no chance of any loan.”
“We should ride home quickly to Fernside and alert Dr. Hughs about the poison.” Diana headed towards the door. “Once he knows what it was, there may be something he can do for Father.”
Edmund confiscated the small silver bowl of white crystals from which Lady Birks had tried to poison Diana’s tea, wrapping it tightly first in paper and then in a clean handkerchief.
“We can take this sample for Dr. Hughs, too. It could help.”
“I just hope we’re not too late,” Diana said anxiously.
ChapterNineteen
Diana and Edmund travelled back to Fernside as quickly as their horses would allow. Diana rode just as well as her brother, and Edmund glanced admiringly at her form beside him more than once, due as much to her skill on horseback as her beauty and his love. Despite the morning’s shocks, her face was sure and determined.
When she sensed him watching her and smiled, Edmund could see both hope and fear in her expression. He prayed that the discovery of the poison had come in time for Lord Templeton.
Jenson met them at the front steps of Fernside as they slid down from their horses, Edmund catching Diana lightly in his arms and passing the reins quickly to the waiting stable boy. He knew he was looking for any opportunity to touch her, and probably would do for the rest of his life.
“Is Dr. Hughs still here, Jenson?” Diana asked immediately, walking ahead of them both into the house. “We have news that might help Father.”
“Yes, My lady. He’s with Lord and Lady Templeton now. But there’s something you should know…”
Diana looked back at the grave-faced butler in panic before he could complete his sentence, one hand flying to her mouth in horror. Then, she caught up her skirts and ran as fast as she could towards the sick room.
“Diana!” Edmund called and then raced after her, fearing that the worst had happened in their absence and not wanting Diana to face it alone. He didn’t catch up with her until she flung open the heavy oak door and stepped over the threshold.
“Father! Mother!”
“Diana,” Lord Templeton said weakly, propped up now on three pillows. Lady Templeton was holding one of his hands with a loving smile as Dr. Hughs checked the pulse in his other hand.
“Father! Thank God you’re alive. Thank God…”