Page 34 of Grave Expectations
She nodded. "It's my own that I used to make for my last mistress. She found it soothing."
"I'm not sure I'm in need of soothing."
"I ain't," Gus said with a chuckle. He too sipped and pulled a face. He caught Mrs. Webb's pained frown, sighed, and took another mouthful. "It's…unique."
It was bloody awful, but I too took another sip so as not to upset Mrs. Webb's feelings, then put the cup down. Just in time too as everything went a little blurry and I felt unstable for a moment.
"There are several suitable candidates for the position of maid," Mrs. Webb said.
"Yes?" The room spun, making my head swim. I put my hand out for balance.
"Shall I make inquiries into their references?" she droned on.
I tried to nod, but it felt as if my head would roll off so I stopped. My heartbeat slowed, and the blood oozed through my veins like sludge.
"Charlie!" Gus rasped in a loud whisper. "Charlie! Something's been put in the tea."
I turned my heavy head in his direction, just in time to see him list to the side like a sinking ship. He slumped against the arm of the chair, his eyes closed. Oh God, what was happening?
"Mrs. Webb?" That surely wasn't me slurring. "Help."
I too must have fallen to the side because Mrs. Webb walked toward me at an angle. The smile on her face was now genuine. Not cruel, but satisfied. "You're coming with me."
Chapter 7
Gus was there, nearby.
That first thought dodged the hammer blows in my head and reached my numbed brain. The body beside mehadto be his. Nobody else snored like that. Thank God he was alive. We both were.
I cracked open a dry eyelid and reached out a hand to his sleeping form, but couldn't move. My hands were tied behind my back. My feet were tied together too. I lay on my side on a lumpy bed, my back to Gus. We were in a room surrounded by damp brick walls and little else. There were no windows and a stone staircase led up to a door. The only light came from a torch flickering in a wall sconce. We were alone.
"Gus," I whispered. "Gus, wake up."
He murmured something under his breath then resumed snoring. I nudged him with both feet and he awoke with a jerk. "Huh? Charlie?"
"Here, behind you."
He rolled over with a groan. His eyes fluttered. "Me head's splittin' in two."
"Mine too, but I think I'm otherwise unharmed. You?"
He opened his eyes and wriggled. "A few sore spots at the back of my ankles, but nothin' bad. What happened? Where are we?"
I sat up. My head swam and everything turned foggy. It took a moment to clear, but the pounding remained. I tried to ignore it and think. "A cellar?"
Gus sat too, wincing. "I'll throttle that bloody housekeeper when I get my hands on her. I only drank that disgustin' tea so as not to upset her."
It galled me to think that Mrs. Webb had tricked me into hiring her, but not as much as it galled me to think I'd fallen for her lies. There was some comfort in the fact that Lincoln had also been fooled.
"If I spin round," Gus said, swiveling on his rear so that his back was to me again, "I can try to untie you."
"Good idea. Do it quietly. I don't want to alert Mrs. Webb that we're awake. I'm in no hurry to find out what she wants with us."
"Shoutin' for help's out of the question then."
"Agreed. I don't think any passersby would hear us anyway. We're in a cellar, and those walls look thick."
He fumbled with the ropes tying my wrists, muttering obscenities under his breath as he failed to make headway. "The devil take the bitch."
