Page 39 of A Marquess to Call Her Own
Eventually, with a lot of patience that James didn't really want to offer, he managed to coax Jacob into speaking. "I promise you won't be in any trouble for telling me the truth," he said softly, "What's important is that you're honest and tell me everything important. All right?"
Jacob's gaze flickered up to his mother, lips parting. It wasn'thimthat Jacob was afraid of, James realized, but Mrs. Harvey. He felt a little twinge of sympathy for the poor boy and reached up to put a hand on his shoulder. Perhaps it was crossing a line of familiarity, but James needed him to know that it wasall right.
"I should go," Nora said softly then. Perhaps she thought that Jacob could be enticed to talk if there were fewer people around; or perhaps she simply couldn't bear to hear what he had to say. Taking a deep breath, she slid from her stool and vanished into the hall.
And it worked, too. With James' gentle reassurance and Nora's departure, Jacob finally spoke. "I didn't know it would hurt her," he murmured into his hands, "Lord Arvill said to put it in the tea when nobody was looking, and it just looked like a little bag of tea, so I didn't think... I didn't think it would do anything bad!"
James' heart stuttered. Lord Arvill? That meantEdwin.For a moment he couldn't even speak, the words catching in his throat. Just what was he trying to do? "It looked like tea," James repeated, "What exactly did Lord Arvill give you?"
Jacob shrugged, but by now he was so hunched in on himself that he could barely even move. "It looked like that loose tea that you like, my lord. He- he said that it was just something to make it taste better, but if I didn't put it in the tea then he'd fire Mama. So, I thought Ihadto do it, because if I didn't then she'd lose her job and- and I didn't want to be the reason Mama had to leave!"
Beside him, Mrs. Harvey stiffened. She was so red now that she looked fit to pass out, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Jacob," she said lowly, "what did you give her?"
"I don't know what it was," he insisted, "but I did it for you, Mama. Lord Arvill said you'd never find another job again if I didn't." Fresh tears bubbled in his eyes, and with a wail he dropped his head into his palms and began to sob.
James didn't know what to do. His chest hammered, pulse ringing in his ears, and he felt sick to his stomach. Edwin was behind this the entire time? Except, what reason did he have for poisoning Alicia? They had barely interacted since James had told him not to make her uncomfortable. In fact, he had the distinct impression that Alicia avoided him as much as possible; but avoidance wasn't reason enough topoisonsomeone.
Unless... unless it wasn't made for Alicia. The second theory, buried so deep in James' mind that he could hardly bring himself to think it, made his blood go cold. What if the tea was meant for James? Hadn't he given Alicia his cup because she spilled her own drink? Hadn't he planned to take tea alone, until they decided to go on a walk together?
"...My lord?"
James snapped back to attention with a grunt, turning his wide gaze to Mrs. Harvey. "Yes?"
She shifted from foot to foot as James stood, her gaze following him as he began to tower above her portly frame. She looked meek now, so unlike her strong and sensible self. Her face, once red, had gone pale. "Jacob didn't mean any harm, my lord. He didn't know the stuff would hurt her, and he was put in an impossible position-"
"I'm aware of that," James replied. Despite the thunder of his pulse, his voice somehow came out calm. He took a breath and squeezed his eyes shut, praying silently that he had somehow got this wrong. If only he had misunderstood, and this was all some ridiculous case of making assumptions. He knew, though, that this was all true.
When he cracked his eyes open again, Mrs. Harvey was standing by the enormous table used for preparing meals. Her hands were clenched into fists, and she was practically trembling. "He's just a boy. If you want to punish him, my lord, do whatever you think is necessary - but let us continue to work for you."
"I promised that he wouldn't be in trouble," James said. His voice echoed, dreamlike, in the enormous kitchen. It hardly even seemed to come from him at all; there was a disconnect somewhere in his mind that made everything seem unreal. James half expected to wake up, alone in his bed, and find that this had all been an awful dream. He wished that were the case.
Mrs. Harvey relaxed - and then she glared harsh enough to send Jacob scrambling from the room. "Thank you, my lord," she murmured, "I'll see to it that the boy is adequately punished." Then she, too, hurried from the room.
Now alone, the full weight of the truth came crashing into James like a real, tangible force. He gasped for air and doubled over, feeling sickness rise in his gut - but there was nothing to throw up. Instead, he stood there for a moment, hands braced on the table tight enough to turn his knuckles white and forced himself to breathe.
To think, he had seen Edwin not an hour ago before he went to Agatha's. Oh,Agatha.He had accused her of terrible things, shouted at her and called her such horrible names... and it was his own brother that had been the culprit this entire time. It hurt his heart to think that he had been so needlessly cruel to an innocent woman. An innocentfriend.
And the entire time, Edwin had played naïve. Pretended not to know what was wrong, when it was entirely his fault. Whether the tea had been for Alicia or James didn't matter; because Edwin had hurt the one person that James had been able to rely on. The one person he loved.
He had to find Edwin.Now.And get the truth from his own lips. Steadying himself, James stormed from the kitchen. The hallway was still unlit, but it didn't stop him from striding through without stopping, appearing in the foyer, and turning to march upstairs.
The grand staircase was drafty and cold at night, too much open space leaving it chilly even on the best of nights. James shivered as he walked, arms wrapped around himself, but didn't stop until he was at the top.
He half expected to see Edwin standing by Alicia's bedroom door, lurking there like some kind of monster or devil, waiting for her last moments to come. Except the guest wing was empty, the doors all firmly closed, with no Edwin in sight. This was an enormous manor with over a hundred rooms; Edwin could have been in any one of them.
He could have fled, like the coward he was, but James couldn't bear the thought of that. No, Edwin was here somewhere.
Doctor Ashburn slipped from the room as James was walking past; he looked exhausted, with heavy circles beneath his lidded eyes and a pinched expression on his narrow face. Ashburn had been the Arvill's physician for a long time, but this was the first time in years that he had been called to something where he couldn't do anything to help. The last time they'd summoned him, it had been for father's death, and he had already passed when Doctor Ashburn got here.
"Any news?" James asked, although he didn't expect much.
Doctor Ashburn shook his head. "She wakes in fits and starts, but never for long enough to say much. Her breathing is getting worse, and she's starting to tremble. I fear she might start going into convulsions."
James felt a fresh rush of hatred towards Edwin. How could he have done something so awful, to such a beautiful and kind woman? Alicia had never done anything to hurt him, or anyone. Itshouldhave been James to drink the poison, as intended, and he wished that he had drank his tea instead of offering it to poor Alicia. "Isn't there anything you can do?"
A shrug. "I could try to induce vomiting, to get the poison out of her system; but without knowing the exact poison I can't administer treatment, only ease the symptoms."
It was the exact opposite of what James wanted to hear, and his stomach dropped. "Thank you, Doctor," he murmured helplessly, "you haven't seen my brother, have you?"
