HOLY POISON: Boxed Set: The Complete Series 1-6

by Margaret Brazear

  Louisa made no move to climb down from the seat. She only stared straight ahead and her face was pale.

  "Louisa?" She enquired. "Are you quite well?"

  "I am perfectly well, Your Ladyship," she replied. "But I will stay here if that pleases you."

  "I know how she must feel," Bethany remarked sombrely. "When a place has bad memories, you can develop an irrational fear that it might reach out and drag you inside, imprison you again."

  Rachel was surprised, but she knew she was thinking of the priest's cottage where Richard had imprisoned her, whilst Rachel shared his luxurious apartments at the palace. She was in awe of this brave woman, this young wife and mother who could be civil to her husband's pseudo mistress while never really being totally certain that she was not being made a fool of.

  Once inside, they sat while Thomas went off to search for little Joshua Summerville, but the strain was beginning to tell on Bethany. Her complexion was white, little bubbles of perspiration were breaking out all over her face and she stumbled when she tried to stand.

  She stayed conscious just long enough to hold her child in her arms before she passed out completely.

  ***

  "Mama!" Joshua cried as Bethany fell to the hard floor.

  Rachel leapt to her feet and ran to her, feeling for a pulse to be sure she had merely fainted, but her heart sank when she saw what was left of her colour drain from her face.

  "Get a pillow," she demanded of the proprietor who merely stood and watched, his eyes round with horror. She turned to Thomas, who ran from the room and back to the dormitory where he had found the child, to return after only a few minutes with a pillow and covers.

  "Water," Thomas demanded. "We need some water."

  The manager of this place slid his eyes toward the window then back to his worrying visitors. Thomas raced outside to the well and scooped some water from the half filled bucket then ran back inside.

  He put his arm beneath Bethany's head and lifted it up to bring the tankard to her lips, while Rachel comforted the poor little boy who had suffered so much trauma in such a short space of time.

  "I am not sure whether we should move her," she said, then she turned back to the proprietor. "Can you fetch a physician?"

  Still he did not move. Thomas gently laid Bethany's head down on the pillow and, standing up, grabbed the man and pulled him after him toward the door.

  "A physician," he demanded. "Now! Come with me. We will take the carriage."

  "We do not have the funds," the man said, shaking his head.

  "I will pay," Rachel said quickly, glaring at the man as her temper flared. "Thomas!" She called after them. "Try to persuade Louisa to come inside."

  He nodded, just once, but Rachel felt comforted. He seemed the sort of man one would want in a crisis.

  Louisa hesitantly peered around the door into the kitchen, her eyes taking in the scene in one swift movement.

  "My Lady?" She asked as she came toward us.

  "I do not think we should move her," Rachel said. "Thomas has gone for a physician. I wonder how long before that note gets to Lord Summerville."

  Louisa looked about the dirty kitchen in search of a cloth, then lifted her skirt and tore a large strip from her petticoat when she found none. She took the tankard from which Bethany had drunk and went outside to pour the remaining water over the cloth. On her return, she knelt down on the hard, stone floor and gently placed the folded cloth over Bethany's forehead, pressing on it gently to cool her brow.

  There did not seem to be any adults in the place since the proprietor had gone off with Thomas. Did nobody care for these children?

  Rachel felt helpless and very guilty. She should never have allowed her to come, but could she have stopped her? She somehow doubted it, but would Richard see it that way?

  "I wish someone had told me she was with child," she remarked. "I would have done things differently. I wonder why Lucy did not tell me."

  "Perhaps she thought to spare you pain, My Lady," Louisa replied hesitantly.

  Rachel looked at her sharply.

  "How so?" She asked.

  "She is a mother," Louisa replied, "and a wife, a loved and happy wife. I believe she pities your childless state. I should not be saying so, but she cannot understand how a woman can be happy, never having had a child. She would not want to distress you."

  "How bizarre," Rachel muttered. "She must know that marriage is not something I would ever desire and she has never hesitated in telling me when she has expected another baby."

  Louisa smiled knowingly.

  "She would have, My Lady, had those babies been Lord Summerville's."

  "I am not following you, Louisa," Rachel told her, intrigued.

  She continued to bathe Bethany's forehead and Rachel felt her pulse to be sure her heartbeat was normal. Neither woman realised the danger of having this conversation with their patient so close.

  "Lucy believes you are in love with him," Louisa replied. "She believes that were things different, you would have married him. She could be right."

  Yes, she could be right, Rachel thought wistfully, then realised that Bethany's eyelids were fluttering slowly. She was awake and the sudden realisation of what their conversation could have meant to her must have shown in her expression.

  "My lady?" Louisa said, looking at her mistress curiously.

  "She is awake," she said, and leaned over to hold her hand. "Bethany, can you hear me? How do you feel?"

  "What happened?"

  At the sound of her voice, Joshua got down from the bench where he had been sitting quietly, his little eyes round with worry, and moved to lie down beside his mother on the cold floor.

  "You passed out," Rachel told her. "You should not have come. Thomas has gone for a physician."

  "Joshua?"

  The child immediately snuggled against her, then reached up his little arms to clasp them around her neck. Rachel felt touched by the scene and wondered if Lucy were right about that as well.

  The sound of carriage wheels on the gravel surface of the driveway made both women look up. Louisa got to her feet and went to the front door, returning after only a few seconds.

  "Thomas is back with Mr Pointer," Louisa confirmed.

  "Is that his name? It suits him; he is very pointed."

  She smiled but not with the merriment expected.

  "I will wait outside now, My Lady," she said. "Send Thomas if you need me."

  "Louisa? I take it that man was here when you were a child," Rachel said. "Why are you afraid of him?"

  She looked at Rachel thoughtfully before she replied and Rachel wished she had never asked.

  "Let us just say you did not rescue me in time, My Lady," she said quietly, then turned and made her way back outside, leaving Rachel to wonder why it had taken her all these years to tell her.

  Rachel turned back to the physician, who was impatiently trying to separate Joshua from his mother. She lifted the child into her arms and sat him on her lap, glaring spitefully at Mr Pointer.

  The physician's hands were on Bethany's stomach, then he bent down and put his ear to the area.

  "The child lives," he said at last. "I would like to advise that this lady is not moved, but looking at this place she may be safer making the journey so long as it is done slowly and carefully."

  He got to his feet while Rachel sat the little boy back beside his mother.

  "Will she be all right?" She asked.

  "She will be safer going home, which I assume is Summerville Hall, since she travels in the Summerville carriage."

  "She is the Countess Summerville," she told him and watched his eyebrows go up.

  "Then please take care. I cannot imagine what His Lordship will say about this."

  Rachel took the child and followed Thomas as he lifted Bethany into his arms and carried her outside to the waiting carriage. He laid her gently down on the carriage seat, then turned to lift Joshua up beside her.

  The child seemed i
n a daze of his own; Rachel knew nothing about children, but it did not seem normal to her that he should make no protest about this strange woman holding him. Poor little mite must have been terrified. She would never forgive Anthony for this; Richard would indeed put an end to him given the opportunity.

  Louisa climbed into the carriage next, ready to tend Her Ladyship during the journey.

  Rachel was about to climb in after them when Thomas closed the door and drew her away out of earshot.

  "How did you know where to come?" He asked her at once.

  "Something someone said," she replied.

  "Who? How did you know exactly where to come if you were not behind the abduction yourself?"

  Rachel could scarcely believe she was hearing such an accusation, but she supposed to him it made sense. He was taking a big risk by voicing his insolent opinions, but Rachel could not be angry. That he was devoted to his master and mistress was obvious.

  "What on earth would I have to gain by abducting His Lordship's only son?" She demanded.

  "Perhaps you thought to hold him to ransom for your own ends," Thomas answered. "Perhaps you imagined His Lordship would be so grateful for his return, he might even abandon Her Ladyship and return to you."

  "How dare you?"

  "The act does not fool me, My Lady," he said. "Those ignorant villagers might be content to watch you go, all smiles, and believe you will all stay friends, but they have not seen what I have seen."

  "And what, precisely, is that?"

  "I was the one with Her Ladyship when she went to London. I saw the pair of you, laughing in this very carriage as you drove through the park. That was no act."

  "Whoever said it was? His Lordship and I are close friends. Is there some reason we should not be on friendly terms?"

  For a brief moment she wondered why she should be explaining herself to this impertinent servant, but somehow she wanted him to know she would not harm an innocent child.

  He only studied her for a little while then scowled.

  "We need to get Her Ladyship back to Summerville Hall," he said at last. "I do not have time for this now, but be assured I will mention my suspicions to His Lordship. I can never forget that day in London. I was the one saw her poor tears when she witnessed her husband's whore, enjoying the place at his side that rightfully belonged to her. I was the one saw her heart break before my eyes, I was the one could offer no comfort because it was not my place."

  She caught at the tears in her throat. His words had drawn a picture of that sweet woman, watching the man she loved enjoying the company of another woman. It hurt and his accusation had hurt as well.

  It was the image that Richard and she had set out to paint for everyone. Rachel had been safe, being known as his mistress, and at court as his wife. Bethany had been safe from giving away her true ideals at court, from having to endure the daily company of the papist Queen Mary, having to listen to her plan to wipe out the Protestants. But it had never occurred to her that Bethany was not safe at all. She was not safe from the pity of servants like Thomas, not safe from the heartache of believing her husband loved Rachel, not her.

  But she had tried to persuade him to tell her, to explain and he had refused. So why had she accepted that? Why did she not go to Suffolk and tell her herself? Was it because he would have been angry or because she did not want to face a woman who believed her to be bedding her husband? Or perhaps because Lucy was right; she was in love with him, always had been in love with him, as much as her poor, wounded soul could ever be in love with anyone.

  She felt Thomas watching her impatiently, waiting to help her into the carriage so they could get his mistress home and safe. She started to walk toward the open door, when she heard the sound of many horses approaching.

  His Lordship had finally arrived.

  CHAPTER NINE

  There were five men riding behind Richard, but Rachel saw only him. She was so relieved, she could barely keep herself from running into his arms as he dismounted and his eyes moved over them all, trying to see the real picture.

  "Richard," Rachel said, walking toward him, trying to keep from running. "I am so glad you are here."

  She didn't see the little boy scramble from the carriage, almost falling in his haste to get to his father.

  "Papa!" He cried out as Richard scooped the child up into his arms and held on to him, as though afraid someone would steal him away again.

  Richard looked at Rachel with a puzzled frown.

  "Bethany is taken ill," she told him quietly.

  He strode hurriedly to the carriage, still clutching his son to his chest, and looked inside at the semi conscious woman lying on the carriage seat.

  "Your Lordship," the physician said, stepping up behind him and attracting his attention. Richard turned to look at him, still saying nothing, still looking stricken. "Her Ladyship cannot stay here. The place is filthy and there is no proper heat or bedding. I have said she will be better at home, but slowly, carefully."

  Richard nodded, a dazed mist in his eyes, then took the boy and climbed up into the coach with his wife and with Louisa, leaving Rachel to stand and watch. She could have found room inside, but she knew the men with Richard, and Thomas in particular, would think it very unseemly for her to share the ride with them.

  Richard's stallion was standing where he had left it, far too big for her to climb on to, and she did not expect any help to be forthcoming. She had spent a lifetime fighting helplessness and she was not about to look helpless before these people, these servants of Bethany who loved her and condemned Rachel. They apparently got some smug satisfaction from the fact that His Lordship had taken the carriage, with his wife and son, and left Rachel, his mistress, standing by the roadside with no means of getting back.

  She saw exchanged, knowing glances and little grins of satisfaction and she could almost read their thoughts. Serves her right; now she knows where she stands.

  She looked about, feeling many pairs of eyes on her, all watching to see what she would do, to see how long it would be before she asked for help. Thomas had also been left; perhaps Richard thought he would escort her. He had no way of knowing the accusation the man had made. Or perhaps it never occurred to him to worry about either one of them, or to care how they would get home.

  She saw Thomas swing himself up behind one of the men before they both sat astride the animal and watched her, wondering what she would do next.

  Her pride rose up to assist her and she finally spotted a stone bench some little way away. She took the reins of the big horse and led him to the bench, where she stood him while she shortened his stirrup leathers. Then she climbed up onto the bench and put one foot in a stirrup, all the time feeling the resentful gaze of Richard's servants and tenants who had left their work to help find the little boy. She prayed she would not fail in this and make a complete fool of herself. If she could not get onto the stallion, they would all find it very amusing.

  She was unused to riding astride. It was not how ladies rode, but more than that she found the experience almost as painful as that other experience she had tried to avoid all her life. But nobody knew about that and she would just have to endure the pain for the journey.

  Rachel did not intend to wait for any of these men; she would shift for herself, but as she rode slowly past Thomas she heard him telling his companion:

  "We had best follow. His Lordship will not be pleased if anything happens to her and he has enough to worry about."

  So she rode back to Summerville Hall, with the two men on a horse behind her. She could tell they were having difficulty going slow enough to stay behind and to tell the truth it was not easy to hold the big horse at the pace she needed. Perhaps they thought her a nervous rider; she did not care what conclusion they came to, as long as it was the wrong one.

  ***

  Louisa came running out of the front doors to help her mistress down from the great beast on which she perched. The relief on her face was reflected in the relief
to Rachel’s body to be down and out of that hard saddle.

  "My Lady, forgive me," she cried at once. "I did not realise we had left you behind until we were miles away. I did not think. I was so worried about Lady Summerville and His Lordship was so distressed, and the child was clinging to him."

  "It is all right, Louisa. She was far more important than me."

  Louisa frowned crossly and folded her arms.

  "Yes, she always is," she muttered.

  "How is she?" Rachel asked, reaching out to grasp her wrist.

  "The same, My Lady. Come inside."

  She had to stand still for a few minutes before she could move forward, slowly, clinging to Louisa's arm for support. It had been a harsh journey from which it would take some hours to recover.

  In the hall a new physician waited, one Richard had apparently sent for, and there were several servants standing about; all glared resentfully at Rachel as she entered. None of them offered her any refreshments and she sat on a hard, oak settle to wait for news, while Louisa went off to the kitchens to fetch some milk.

  Rachel felt exhausted and angry that Anthony had caused all this upset and she dreaded telling Richard that it was his doing, but it had to be done. Bethany had been right - Richard would kill him and if anything happened to her, he would hunt him down to the ends of the earth to do so.

  Louisa handed her the milk then sat beside her.

  "I need to see His Lordship," Rachel said. "I have to tell him what happened, that I had nothing to do with it."

  "He would never for one minute believe that you did, My Lady, no matter what that stupid man has to say."

  She spoke deliberately loudly so as to be sure her words reached Thomas who had taken up a position beside the front door.

  "Would he not? I do not suppose he would have believed it of his cousin either."

  Rachel turned to look at her, unsure whether to ask her help. Although she was fond of Richard, she also felt very defensive on Rachel’s behalf and was constantly angry that he allowed his servants to openly disrespect her. But what else could he do? He knew as well as she did, and she hoped Bethany did, that their resentment was unfounded but keeping her secret was far more important to her than the opinions of a lot of strangers.