by Abigail Agar
Was it possible? Could it be true that Lady Foster was arranging this whole situation in order to get rid of Miss Philips? Was she actually so wicked as that?
Ronan sat with his disbelief for a moment. He tried to come to terms with what he had just been told and tried to understand what she was saying.
If any of this were true, which he was beginning to suspect it was, it would explain so many things. After all, Miss Philips was a gentle and innocent woman. Lady Foster, on the other hand, was rather vindictive. Ronan had known that for a long time.
Why would he doubt? There was no reason for him to think that Mrs Booth would lie on her friend’s behalf. Not for something like this. Not when she had worked for him for so long.
“Lady Foster has tried to poison you? She arranged all of this to make Miss Philips appear as the criminal?” his mother asked.
“So it would seem,” Ronan replied.
“Good heavens, what a dreadful woman,” his mother said.
“Indeed, she is. If this is true, it changes everything,” Ronan said.
Arsenic. What a strange thing. Strange that women would take it to preserve their beauty when it was slowly killing them.
Was it possible that she really had replaced some of Miss Philips’ medicine? Could she have put the arsenic in that?
He would have to speak with the doctor. The doctor and the constable.
But more than anything, they would have to find a way to prove that Lady Foster had been responsible for all this. It was not enough just to say that she had been terribly jealous of Miss Philips. That was not evidence.
But Ronan was relieved. He was relieved that Miss Philips was not the one responsible for trying to kill him. He was relieved that he would not have to marry Lady Foster because she was clearly a vicious woman. It had been such a long time, it seemed since he had feelings for her. Now, at last, he did not have to worry about those feelings. He did not have to feel bad for abandoning them when she decided that she wanted to be with him.
If she wanted to be his wife, she should not have tried to poison him.
Of course, she had probably done so in an effort to get rid of Miss Philips. She had wanted to break the bond Ronan and his maid had formed. At least, that was what he assumed. In truth, he could not say if it was anything different. Lady Foster did not make much sense to him. Her thoughts and how she did things were very strange in his mind.
“I cannot believe she would be so vile,” Harold said.
“You know about the relationship which I had with her. It was very strange at times,” Ronan said.
“Yes, but I did not know that she is utterly mad. This is not something we were prepared for,” Harold said.
“Indeed, it was not,” his mother added.
Relieved that his mother and Harold agreed, Ronan was eager to figure things out. He was keen to see what they could do to fix these matters. More than anything, it was now his responsibility to return peace to his friendship with Miss Philips.
They realized that they would have to come up with a plan. It would have to be a very good plan, one in which they could prove not only that Miss Philips was innocent, but that Lady Foster was guilty.
The latter would be difficult. After all, Lady Foster would not have left much in the way of proof. Her petty jealousies were not enough to lay claim to evidence.
Chapter 36
Lavender was in an utter despair. As she sat in the jail cell, she could hardly believe that her life had taken such a turn. How was it possible that she could end up like this?
She had done nothing but love Lord Beckman. And yet, that love had caused her such grief. Was love always so painful? Was it possible that it ended up this way no matter what?
Her love for her father had ended with his death. And now, her love for Lord Beckman had resulted in Lavender in jail, accused of attempted murder.
None of this seemed real. It was too drastic and dramatic to be possible.
And yet, she understood that this was exactly the sort of thing that could happen. At least, it was exactly the sort of thing that could happen when there was a jealous woman involved.
Lavender did not want to make such statements aloud. She knew how powerful a noblewoman could be. There was no reason to risk saying something to these men at the precinct.
They may think that Lavender was mad, that she was crazy and trying to find a way out of her situation.
But the truth was that Lavender knew what was most likely to have happened. She understood now that there was only one person who could have caused all this.
There was a voice coming from down the hall. A familiar voice.
“You shall be releasing her shortly. I can hardly imagine what sort of place this is where you simply go about arresting excellent young women who have done nothing wrong at all,” Melora was saying to the constable.
“Miss, there is—”
“I’ll have you know that I am a married woman, and I expect to be addressed as such,” Melora was saying, causing Lavender to grin even before Melora reached her.
At last, Melora and the constable rounded the corner to see her.
Lavender was so delighted to see her friend. After all, Melora was the only one who understood her well enough to get her through this.
“Oh, Lavender! There you are! My goodness, how awful! I cannot believe that they have you locked away like this. It is a travesty. You do not deserve this treatment. I would not stand for it if I were given the choice. Why have you not insisted to be set free?” Melora asked.
Lavender cheered up at once. She was so glad not to be alone anymore. But still, she wondered what was going on outside of the jail. Still, she wondered what news her friend had for her.
“I fear that it does not quite work in such a way, Melora. I am stuck here until they find the true evidence that can free me. I do hope that they shall discover it soon enough, but for now, I am imprisoned,” Lavender said.
“I am trying my utmost to find your evidence, Lavender. I have already managed to gather some,” Melora said.
“You have? Such as? What sort of evidence have you managed to collect?” Lavender asked.
“Enough to know that Lady Foster sent her maid last week to collect a vast amount of arsenic. She already made the purchase. There is only one thing that she could have done with all of that. Clearly, she used it to poison Lord Beckman. She must have put it in your vials and made the attempts on his life by forcing you to unknowingly poison him,” Melora explained.
So it was true. It was true that Lady Foster was the mastermind behind all of this. She had been the one to plan this entire arrangement.
What sort of vicious woman was she? How could she go out of her way to make it appear as though Lavender had tried to kill someone?
Lavender knew that she had upset Lady Foster. And yet, she had no idea that it was truly possible for the woman to be so addicted to exaggeration. Not only that, but Lady Foster must have lost her mind to do something so heinous, which would nearly kill Lord Beckman.
“What am I to do now, Melora? There is still not enough evidence, is there? What else has happened?” Lavender asked, hoping there would be some further news that could implicate Lady Foster in the poisoning instead of Lavender.
“There is nothing yet, but I am still working on that. As for one possibility, I had hoped for a bit of assistance from you,” Melora said.
“From me? But I am locked away in here. What can I possibly do to help you? There is nothing I can do from here,” Lavender said.
“That is not true. You may do much. And I have a trap that may be set for Lady Foster. It is something small, something which will force her to come and see you. She shall be faced with the consequences of her actions, no matter what,” Melora said.
“What is your idea? What must I do?” Lavender asked.
“The first thing is that you must simply be honest with her. This honesty will draw her to the prison to confront you. All you need to do is send
her a simple letter. Just the statement, ‘I know what you did’ should get her attention, do you not think?” Melora asked.
Lavender’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Receiving a letter like that would be quite jarring for Lady Foster. It had the potential to drive her nearly mad with wonder and worry about her own plans.
It was certainly an idea. But was she ready for it? Did Lavender think that she could really go out of her way to try and trap Lady Foster? There was already so much creativity that had gone into the planning. And yet, Lavender had nothing at all to do with any of it, stuck here inside her cell.
“Melora, this is quite a thought. But who will take her the note? I cannot simply send it with a constable,” Lavender said.
“I shall take it for you,” Melora said with a nonchalant shrug.
“No! You mustn’t. It is dangerous for you. There is every chance in which Lady Foster would come against you, working to harm you as a result of your efforts to assist me. You must be careful, Melora. I would not like to think of any harm befalling you on my account,” Lavender said.
“Nothing shall happen to me. It is, really, very simple. I shall go to Lady Foster, take her this note, tell her that you have given her the instructions to come and meet you, or you are going to expose her with evidence,” Melora said.
“I have no evidence,” Lavender reminded her.
“She does not know that. She will come; believe me. She will be under the impression that, if she does not come, you shall find a way to tell everyone what she has done,” Melora said.
“Do you really think she will come?” Lavender asked.
“Oh, Lavender, you must have a little bit of faith. I have every expectation that she will come because she is simply arrogant enough to do so. Now, that is enough. Just write the note. I have a paper and pen here, and it shall be easy enough,” Melora said.
Lavender did as instructed, and Melora smiled in reply.
“Excellent. Now, as I must go and take this, I shall leave you with something quite precious. I knew that once I gave it to you, you would hear nothing else from my lips, so forgive me for not handing it to you at the start,” Melora said.
“What is it?” Lavender asked.
Melora handed her a folded up paper which looked like a letter. Lavender took it through the bars of the small cell and unfolded it.
My dear Miss Philips,
I fear that I have failed you in every way. I did not mean to respond without any thought as I did. Indeed, I know that you are innocent of the things about which you are accused. I believe it was simply my pride that led me to question anything.
You see, I was worried. I was worried that I had been taken for a fool, and that worry sent me into such an ugly place. Despite knowing your character, and despite wishing that mine were better, I allowed myself to believe that you really had done this terrible thing. I allowed myself to think that I was so important as to be worthy of your masterful plot.
In truth, I think I was just worried that others would tell me a mistake I had made in trusting you. What a shameful thing it was for me. You must understand that I regret it deeply and wish that I had never placed such importance on others’ thoughts and feelings. You are the one who is important to me.
I do trust you. I do know that you would not do this thing you are accused of. I understand that the world is ugly and does not give nearly enough credence to women of your station.
But I also know that you are kind and good-hearted. While I expect that you shall forgive me, I know that it is not out of my own deserving.
Miss Philips, you are too good and too kind. Because of that, I should like to tell you that we are working for you. Just as Mrs Booth has her plan, I have mine, which I do hope shall assist in these endeavours.
I thank you for having taken such good care of me over these past months. I hope that I may now care for you. I hope that I shall see you set free through my own efforts as well as those of your other friends, whom you are fortunate to have.
Then again, only a woman with such a kind heart could have such friends.
Until I see you again soon,
Ronan Beckman
Lavender was moved by the letter and wished that she could see Lord Beckman at once. More than anything, she was relieved to know that he did trust her.
Certainly, she was going to forgive him. She already had. But she would need to see him in person to tell him her thoughts and feelings and tell him how desperately she hoped that he would never doubt her again.
But that would only happen if she made it out of jail.
“So, you see? He wants to set you free. He knows that you did not do it, and he feels terrible that he allowed you to think otherwise,” Melora said.
“Yes, I know. It is a relief to see that he has admitted he was wrong—as well as the reasons behind his actions,” Lavender said.
“Indeed. But you should also know that he expressed a great deal of remorse in the writing of this letter. I have never seen that man so humbled. He was vocal with all of us about his error in judgement and how devastating it was. He has never in his life confessed to making a mistake, and this time, he admits it in a significant way,” Melora said.
“Well, I have to confess that means so much to me. I would be sad if it were a cold confession. After all, my heart was deeply wounded. But I can let go of the past. I know that he is a good man. This is all just … it is worrisome at times,” Lavender said.
“Yes, I understand that. But you must be bold and brave and confident, my dear. All of this shall come to an end soon enough. I assure you that your name is going to be cleared. We are doing all that we can to make that happen,” Melora said.
Lavender nodded, trusting her friend. Yes, this would all come to a conclusion soon enough.
Chapter 37
The moment Ronan reached the jail, he rushed over to see Miss Philips in her prison cell.
“Miss Philips! Oh, how awful to have you locked away like this,” he said, taking in the sight of the dull, grey slab of floor, the small, uncomfortable bed in the corner. There was nothing in the cell that looked comfortable, and it broke his heart that she was stuck in there.
She looked so beautiful, despite the circumstances. Although she was clearly uncomfortable in her surroundings, at least she was still herself. In every way, he could see the sweet nature that lived inside of her.
Ronan was eager to get her out of there. He knew that this plan was the only one they had. If it did not work, she would be stuck in this place for the rest of her days.
If only he had not allowed them to take her in the first place. If only he had thought about this sooner.
“I am terribly sorry for all that happened. I should have been stronger. I should have stood firm against all that was happening and made certain that you did not have to face this trial,” he said.
“I know. I understand, and I know what led you to your actions and your disbelief. There was evidence against me. You really would have looked like a fool if you had believed me when presented with such proof,” Miss Philips said.
“Why are you so gracious about this? I was the one in error, Miss Philips. I was the one who made such a grave decision and was foolhardy enough to think that my own image was worth more than you ending up in a place like this. It is nonsense that led me to such action,” he said.