“Once. Briefly. He said something I could not make out and went under again. Dr Bainbridge believes the worst of the crisis has passed, but the next twelve hours will determine whether the organs have sustained permanent damage.”
Violet looked at her mother. “Thank you, Mama.” She looked at the Mrs Bickle and her daughter. “Thank you for bringing the tincture all this way.”
“Do not thank us,” Mrs Bickle said. “I want to hear it from the duke himself when he awakes.” She smiled mischievously.
Violet kissed Henry’s forehead. She placed her lips close to his ear and whispered, “I love you. Come back to me.”
When she entered the drawing room, Kit was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his expression unreadable.
“How is he?” Kit asked.
“Improving. His pulse is dropping.” She looked at Vexley who was sitting in a settee, his head drooping. “How is our guest?”
“He proved cooperative, in the end. Sleeping now.”
“I hope you did not torture him.”
“He resisted for the first quarter of an hour. After that he was forthcoming.”
“You were not gentle with him, I gather.”
A shrug.
Kit glanced at Vexley, then back at her. “He and Sarah Baker had an affair. Eleven years ago. They met once. He has been providing for their child with what he had. He did not know she was extorting from the duke. Said he was embarrassed when he heard about it at dinner. He confronted her right away.”
“And the poisoning?”
“He claims he had no knowledge that Baker was harming anyone. When I told him, he went white and asked to be sick. I gave him a basin. He used it quite well.”
Violet studied Kit’s face. “Do you believe him?”
Kit considered this, his hand rubbing his jaw. “Yes. I do.”
She looked at the man whose head was still bobbing. “I would like to speak to him.”
Kit tapped Edmund’s shoulder who lifted his head and looked around the room, his eyes red and bleary. His attention settled on Violet.
“Is he alive?” His voice cracked. “Please tell me he is alive.”
Violet sat in a chair opposite him. “He is alive. His condition is improving.”
Edmund’s head dropped. A breath came out of him that shook his whole body. He pressed his bound hands to his face and stayed like that for several seconds.
“Thank Heavens,” he said.
Violet saw that his face was blotched and wretched.
“You told Kit about Sarah. About the child.”
“Yes. All of it.”
“Why did you never tell Henry?”
His mouth twisted. “Because I was ashamed. Because she told me it would ruin her reputation and employability. I did not realise she was telling lies to Henry.”
“Have you met him? Your boy?”
“No.” His voice was barely audible. “I asked in the beginning. She would not let me see him. She used it to gain what she wanted. I complied a few times then realised she would not perform her promise. Other than sending quarterly allowance for the child, I stopped our association altogether.”