Marrying Jonas without the consent and blessing of her family had been a simple choice four months before compared to the hardships they faced now. Their lives were no longer simple. Had she not been such a spineless coward, had she left London with him as they had planned, none of this would have ever happened.
***
Margaret could not fight the sleep that engulfed her for another hour or two. When she finally woke again the sun was almost set and cloud cover hovered over the city. She could hear the drops of rain hitting the windowpane. It was a cold rain. Rain always had a different sound when it was cold.
She opened her eyes and saw John just outside the door. He peered around the doorframe. “Are you awake?” he asked. Margaret could see him silently chiding himself for asking a question with such an obvious answer.
Margaret pushed herself higher on her pillow. “Yes, it’s all right.”
He held out both hands as he entered the room. One held a glass of water, the other a white pill. “Jonas bid me give you this,” he said, “for the pain, should you have any.”
Indeed, Margaret did. Never before had she felt such pain in every crevice of her body. She took the medicine offered to her and greedily drank the entire contents of the glass.
“Shall I get you some more water?” John asked.
“Please.”
He smiled, gave a slight nod, and moved to exit. He stopped himself before he reached the door. “I should offer my deepest apologies to you,” he said as he turned, “for not making you aware that I had a key to your room.”
At first Margaret was confused, unsure of what he was trying to say.
“I only had it because of Molly. She had become very dear to me.”
Margaret nodded. “Is it your ring I found?”
“My mother gave it to me before she passed,” he said. “I had given it to Molly, as a promise, but I guess she didn’t see it that way.”
Margaret spied her reticule on the chair at the side of the bed. It took a moment for her to pull at the strings enough so that the top would open. At the bottom she found the emerald ring and presented it to John. He took it in his free hand and stared at it a moment.
“I feel responsible for her decision. Perhaps I should have made it known how deeply I cared for her. I should have married her months ago or at least made her know of my intention to do so.” His face began to show the pain he obviously felt. He collapsed in the chair at the side of the bed and threw his hands up to his face.
Margaret reached over and placed a hand on top of his. When he looked to her she made a point to keep his gaze trained on her. “Love is too great a feeling to be associated with something as lowly as regret.” She squeezed his hand. “Her choice was hers alone. You loved her. Many don’t get such a gift.”
A silence befell them for many minutes until finally John nodded. “Thank you, Miss … I mean, Lady Margaret. Your words are a comfort.”
A moment later, after his tears had dried somewhat, John stood. “I’ll get you that water now.”
Chapter 31
Ainsley hadn’t expected anyone to be about when he returned to the house. When he entered Margaret’s room he saw that she was standing in the centre of the rug while John and Jonas stood close by. Overcome with relief, Ainsley went straight for her, wrapped his arms around her and nearly lifted her from the ground.
“Oh thank God,” he said, closing his eyes.
“It would take far more than that to do me in,” Margaret said, returning his tight embrace.
When they parted Ainsley pointed back at the bed. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“I’m merely stretching my legs. You can see I am well supervised.” Margaret turned gingerly, keeping her steps short and calculated. “Everything feels so stiff. I am beginning to wonder if I ever will be able to get on normally again.”
“You will. Give it time,” Jonas chimed in. The smile in his words was unmistakable.
Ainsley helped guide Margaret back to bed, giving her something steady to lean on as she sat down.
“I’ve taken your scarf to the Edinburgh Police,” Ainsley said.
Margaret’s eyes shot up and then went to Jonas. “My scarf?”
“Did Eloise touch your scarf at any time during your visit?”
“Well … yes. She pulled it higher around my neck before I took my leave,” she said, her hand suddenly going to her bare neck.
“John found traces of strychnine, which can be inhaled rather than ingested,” Jonas explained. “We had to use coniine to counteract the poison.”
“Hemlock,” John said by way of explanation.
“She was trying to kill me.” Margaret looked to Jonas in panic.
“What did the constables say, Peter?” Jonas asked.
“They said they will send an officer around to take statements and they may need to seek independent test results of the scarf.”
John perked up at the door. “It shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “There was more than enough left on the scarf for further testing.”
“The man and boy who work for her, they saw her touching my scarf,” Margaret said.
Ainsley nodded. “Exactly. I believe her jealousy prevented her from thinking through her deeds clearly. She wasn’t worried about getting caught, it seems.”
“Is she behind what’s been done to Jonas?”
Ainsley took a breath. “Not the way I understand it. She’s dangerous but not guilty of that. Margaret, I didn’t just go to the constabulary.” He looked to Jonas. “I’ve had a hunch about who might be behind all this.”
Jonas straightened his stance as Ainsley spoke.
“I wanted to be certain before I got anyone’s hopes up. I think—”
They heard the front door open. “Help! Someone, please, come help!” It was Ezra. Ainsley, John, and Jonas went for the hall but Ezra had already run up the stairs.
“You must come. It’s Giles!” The man gasped for breath.
“You found him,” Ainsley said.
Ezra nodded. “He’s on the roof of the infirmary. I think he plans to jump. You must come and help me.”
Jonas and Ainsley both turned to Margaret, who was trying to stand up from bed. “I’m all right,” she said quickly. “Go. Help your friend.”
Ainsley nodded and pulled Jonas, entreating him to follow them.
“Mrs. Crane is here to help me. You need to go!” Margaret repeated.
Finally, Jonas nodded and the four men ran for the stairs.
“Mrs. Crane!” Ainsley went to the kitchen and propped open the door. Mrs. Crane had already been heading toward them, most likely drawn by the ruckus and noise.
“What is all this ’ollering about?”
“Keep watch over Margaret, yes?”
“Of course, Dr. Ainsley. Where are the two of ye heading off to?”
Only then did Ainsley notice that Jonas was standing beside him.
“There’s no time to explain,” Ainsley said, pushing Jonas away from the kitchen and guiding him toward the front door. “Keep the doors locked and don’t let anyone in or out, yes?”
Mrs. Crane followed them to the foyer, a frightened look overtaking her features. “Yes, doctor. Of course.” Ainsley heard the click of the lock behind them seconds after they left and instantly felt better about leaving Margret in such a hurry.
Ezra had a carriage waiting at the kerb but before they reached it, a young boy appeared at the walk.
“Excuse me, Mr. Ainsley, sir?”
Ainsley waited as Jonas filed into the carriage with John and Ezra.
“A message, sir. From the wire service.” He held out a folded piece of paper for Ainsley.
“Come on,” Ezra called half hanging out of the carriage window. “We have to go!”
Ainsley pulled a fistful of coins from his pocket and placed them in the boy’s free hand before he snatched the paper. “There’s a good lad,” he said before jumping in the carriage and taking his seat amongst the other
s.
“What is it?” Jonas asked as the carriage jerked into motion.
“It’s a message from Simms,” Ainsley said, “I believe.”
He took a moment, ignoring the anxious fidgeting of Ezra on the opposite bench to read over the telegram. “I knew it,” he said before he could stop himself.
“What does it say?” Jonas asked. Ainsley handed him the note just as the university came into view.
“Giles had not visited his sister recently,” Ainsley said. “In fact, I’m willing to wager he wasn’t even in London as he claims.”
Ezra and John exchanged glances.
A look of confusion on Jonas’s face prompted Ainsley to continue. “When Margaret and I first met him he had said he was returning from London where he had been visiting his sister and his newly born niece.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his train ticket, and inspected it. “Simms, my friend with the Yard, has paid her a call. She hasn’t seen her brother in many months.”
“Some other business then,” Ezra offered.
“No,” Ainsley shook his head. He smiled and reached across the seat to hand Jonas his train ticket. “Margaret and I had only met him on the platform. We never saw him at Kings Cross, or at any other time in the journey. He switched my ticket after knocking them from my hand and dropping his newspaper in a puddle. Mine now says I was departing Edinburgh and arriving in London, but it should say London to Edinburgh. It wasn’t a mistake by the train company, like I thought. This is Giles’s ticket. He took mine.”
With the ticket in his hand, Jonas smiled and then raised his eyes to look at Ainsley, who nodded.
“Peter, you aren’t making any sense,” John said as the carriage pulled up to the front of university. “Why would he go through all this trouble to convince us he was in London?”
“To create an alibi in case any of this fell back on him.” Ainsley turned to Jonas. “And I have the letters.” Ainsley reached into his inside pocket and pulled out the folded papers.
“What letters?” Ezra looked terrified as Ainsley revealed the few pieces of key evidence they would use to prove Jonas was innocent.
Ainsley kept his eyes trained on Jonas. “I found this in Ezra’s room.” He opened the folded pages to reveal a letter addressed to Ezra. He trailed his finger down the page to show Giles’s signature. “This is written in Giles’s hand. I used the letters Rebecca gave us and compared them to a letter I found in Ezra’s room.” Ainsley pulled the letters from Rebecca out from behind the letter addressed to Ezra.
With a look of half disbelief and half elation, Jonas took the pages in his own grasp.
“The handwriting is clearly a match. Don’t you see, gentlemen?” Ainsley could hardly contain his excitement. “It’s Giles. It’s been Giles this entire time. He’s the one who set Jonas up. He killed Frobisher and wanted Jonas to take the fall.”
Chapter 32
With the men gone, the house fell into an oppressive silence. As much as Margaret told herself to rest, she couldn’t. An unease took hold of her that she was unable to shake. She couldn’t tell if her worry was for Giles or Jonas or something else entirely. Darkness descended, forcing her to put on her lamp. She had heard Mrs. Crane’s humming, wafting in from the kitchen, earlier but for the last half hour Margaret had heard nothing. An insatiable thirst brought her to her feet and forced her to walk to her door. There she stood for a moment listening for any sign of the housekeeper.
“Mrs. Crane,” she called out. “May I bother you for a glass of water?”
Margaret’s heartbeat quickened when there was no immediately reply. Like a good mother hen, Mrs. Crane had been doting on her since the beginning of her illness, but now Margaret realized it had been a good while since Mrs. Crane had ventured to the second floor. If the woman had gone out, even for a brief period of time, she would have announced it. And Margaret had no doubt Peter wouldn’t have left knowing Margaret would be all alone. One of them would have stayed just in case.
In case that woman comes—
Margaret froze at the thought, unsure of the root of it. Was Eloise capable of such a thing? Poison was such a sterile method of murder, so very distant compared to other devices. Could Margaret imagine the woman coming to the house?
In that instant her concern for Mrs. Crane doubled. Margaret walked the length of the hall and stood at the top of the stairs. She listened and heard nothing. No humming, no movement, no creaks of any kind. A carriage passed by on the street, casting a shadow on the window of the front door. For a moment Margaret thought it could be her brother and Jonas returning.
Margaret felt a cold draft on the landing and decided to return to the room to retrieve a shawl or blanket to cover her night shift before she ventured any further from her room. As she walked she saw a brief movement of light that streamed from her room and she stopped midstep. After five minutes standing motionless in the hall there were no further movements or sounds.
A figment of your imagination, she told herself. My, what a cynical old goat you have become, Margaret. With this internal chiding ringing in her ears, Margaret walked the rest of the way to her room and rounded the doorframe.
Eloise stood at the bureau. A small box sat on the top. In her other hand Eloise held a ring.
Margaret froze.
“Isn’t this lovely?” she said, without pulling her gaze from the gem as she inspected it in the lamplight. “I was there when Jonas picked it out for you. He never knew it, of course.”
“How did you get in here?” Margaret asked.
“I’ve been coming here for months, darling.” Eloise’s voice was steady and unnerving. “I’ve been following Jonas a lot longer than that.”
Margaret took a step back and felt the wood of the doorframe through her shift. “Get out,” she said. “Get out of here or I’ll summon the constables.”
Eloise didn’t acknowledge anything Margaret had said. Not once had she moved her eyes from the ring. She flexed her fingers and slid the gold band down her ring finger. “So pretty.” It was then that Eloise turned her head, revealing a rage in her eyes Margaret had never seen before. “It’s a pity you won’t ever see it on your finger.”
Margaret recoiled and fumbled into the hall. She ran for the servant’s stairs. Two flights. Could she make it two flights of stairs and lock herself in the maid’s room? Her head was heavy with exertion but she was determined to try.
At the top of the stairs she slammed the door, but Eloise had been right behind her and was pushing her way in. With her weak body pressed against the door, she tried to reach for the two keys on the nightstand. One was for the servant’s stairs door, the other … Margaret looked up and saw the door to John’s laboratory. But which key?
She could feel herself growing tired. Her will to live would only take her so far in her weakened state. She could make it. She had to. After a steady inhale of breath, she ran deeper into the room, snatched up both keys as she passed the bed, and ran for the second door. Thankfully, the shelf on the other side was still pushed to the side and Margaret could squeeze her way in. Again she slammed the door and fumbled with the keys, slipping one into the lock. There was no way to know if she had chosen the right one. They both looked identical.
As she turned it in the lock she heard the mechanism latch followed by incessant pounding from Eloise on the other side a second later.
Satisfied it was locked, Margaret ripped the iron key from the keyhole and slowly backed away. She scrambled around in the darkness. All of the windows in John’s laboratory were covered. No ambient light penetrated to the attic room, leaving Margaret in the pitch dark. She did her best to manoeuver his maze of tables and experiments, and was thankful when she reached the main door, expecting it to be locked. It had been secured when he had first showed the room to her. His experiments were too previous. His work too vital to leave vulnerable.
She twisted the knob to check and the door opened. Opening the door a crack, she groped on the other side for a key,
but found nothing. She knew she could not hold the door against Eloise, not after her illness. There was no telling how long Jonas and Peter would be away. Two choices existed for her: hide or run.
The pounding at the door in the maid’s room ceased. In that instant there was no choice. If what she had said was true, if she had been coming to the house undetected Eloise would eventually find her way to John’s laboratory. If Margaret was going to run, she couldn’t wait another minute.
She barrelled down the stairs to the third-floor landing, skirted the bannister and ran the next flight as quickly as she could. One more flight, she told herself. One more flight and then she could run for the front door and scream for help. Someone would be passing by, someone would answer her screams.
As she rounded the bannister on the second floor, she felt a nudge from behind, a quick push on her back that sent her off balance. She felt her feet tangle beneath her. Her arm hit the bannister rail, but she could not catch hold. Her cheek hit the stairs, and then her shoulder and her back as she tumbled, finally landing with a thud.
“You can’t hide from me,” Eloise said evenly as she descended the stairs.
Margaret couldn’t move for the pain. She feared her arm was broken, her back felt even worse. With one eye open she could see Eloise coming for her, slowly taking each step, a self-assured smile on her lips.
“I know every rusty door hinge and every hiding place,” Eloise said as she drew closer. “I know every creak of every floorboard.” To emphasize her point she lowered her left foot to the next step and then moved it to the far right. Her movements gave no sound. It was if she wasn’t actually there.
Margaret rolled from her side and began backing away, moving toward the front door. She felt the door behind her but could not stand. She reached above her head with her good arm for the doorknob but could not get a grip.
“I know everyone’s secrets,” Eloise continued, coming to the bottom of the stairs. She was standing right over Margaret when she bent down low, bringing her nose level with Margaret’s. “And now you know mine.”
Shadows of Madness Page 24
