The Hands of Time (16 page)

“Please, no more bleeding,” I begged.  “I feel better.”

“Now, Mistress Crane, you will either let me do my job
,
or I will call Mr. Whitfield to restrain you, which he will gladly do since he wants to see you get better.  Shall I summon him now?”

“No, I mumbled.  Where is Mr. Whitfield anyway?”

“He went down to get washed and have
something
to eat, Miss.  He sat with you all night.”  Betty looked tired as well
,
and I felt terrible for all the trouble I caused. 

“Betty
,
would you open the window, please.  It smells horrible in here.”  Betty rose to open the window, but the doctor ordered her to sit back down.

“Woman, are you daft?  Opening the window will let germs in.  You are ill enough as is.”  Right, I thought.  I
would open the window as soon as he left.
  That took another half an hour
,
and I was blissfully happy to feel a gentle breeze on my face once Betty opened up the casement window to let in some fresh air. 

“You can go now, Betty,” Alec said, walking into the room and taking a seat on the side of the bed.  He looked at me closely
,
and seemed satisfied with what he saw
, giving
me a light kiss on the forehead
.  “You look much better
, Valerie
.  I
was so afraid
we were going to lose you yesterday.  You were so
pale
,
and you seemed to be looking at me, but not really seeing anything.”  He held my limp hand in his
,
and I felt much better. 

“Alec, I am sorry.  I have no idea what happened.”

“The physician says
that
you have been poisoned.”  So it wasn’t a hallucination.  “The baby is fine.”  And that wasn’t either.

“Am I really pregnant?”  I whispered not believing that it could be true. 

“Six weeks along,
according to Dr. Marsh
.  He
does not
think the baby was harmed by the poison.  Finn will be so happy that you are well and with child.  May I?”  Alec put his warm hand over my belly, which was still totally flat.  He looked wistful
,
as
I put my hand over his.  “You will have a child too, Alec.  You’ll see.”  He just nodded, not looking at me. 

“Now, tell me everything you did from the moment you woke up yesterday. 
I
need to know what
happened
.” 

“I didn’t really do anything.  I woke up
,
and Nell brought me a breakfast tray that Mrs. Dobbs sent up. 
There was tea and blueberry scones, which tasted perfectly normal. 
After that I fell back asleep for a while
,
then I came to find you in the study.  That’s all.”

“Was the tea sweet?  Do you normally
take
it with sugar?”  Alec looked at me intently and I tried to think. 

“Yes, it was sweet.  I don’t normally drink it very sweet, but it was good.”  What did that have anything to do with it?

“Betty,” Alec called out, “fetch Cook to me right away.”

“
Aye
,
s
ir.”  I heard Betty call out from the hallway, her steps fading as she went down the stairs. 

Mrs. Dobbs arrived a few minutes later, looking flushed and confused
, slightly out of breath from climbing the stairs
.  “I
did not
do it
,
Mr. Alec.  I swear it.”  She looked genuinely scared
, as
Alec asked her to take a seat in the chair, closing the door to my room.

“Mrs. Dobbs, did you bake the scones yourself?”

“
Aye
, sir
, I did
. 
I was alone in the kitchen.  No one came or went.”  Her face got redder
, forcing Alec to modify
his tone so as not to scare her further.

“What about the tea?  Did you brew that yourself?”

“Why, yes,
s
ir
.  Mistress Valerie likes tea in the morning instead of
small
ale, so I
‘
ave it
ready for her when she wakes.”  Her hands were trembling
, making me feel
sorry for the poor woman.  I had no doubt that she didn’t do anything to harm me.

“Did you put sugar in the tea?”  Alec wasn’t giving up.

“
Nay
,
s
ir.  I never do.  The Mistress
does not
like sugar in
‘
er tea.  She never takes it when she comes down to visit me in the kitchen.”

“Where was Betty? 
Does she not
she usually take up the breakfast tray?”

“She does, but I sent her to bring me some milk from the spring house
,
and Nell came by and offered to take the tray up.”  I saw the expression change on Alec’s face. 

“Thank you, Cook.  You have been very helpful.  Would you be so kind
as
to make some beef tea for Mistress Crane
?
  She will need something to help her regain her strength.  Is Nell about?”

“
Nay
,
s
ir.  She did not come today.  I have the beef tea all ready.  Shall I bring some up with a slice of freshly baked bread?  Surely that will settle the Mistress’
s
belly.”

“Yes, please.”  Alec opened the door for Cook, who dashed out of the room with more energy than I would expect.  The poor woman must have been scared
out of her wits
, although I could see that Alec did not suspect her for a
moment
.  He had other ideas.  “Valerie, I need to go out for a little while.  Will you be all right?  Shall I send Betty to sit with you?”

“I
’m
all right.  Don’t worry.”  I really did feel better and was ready to eat something light.

“Make sure you drink all the beef tea and eat the bread.  It will settle your stomach.  I will be back shortly.”

Chapter
2
6

Alec did not return for a while after I heard him
galloping
through the gate.  Betty insisted on spooning broth into my mouth and feeding me bits of bread, clucking all the while about how I needed to feel better for Mr. Finlay’s sake
, so
I complied with no complaint.  The hot broth felt good on my tortured stomach
,
and the bread helped to absorb whatever bile was still there, making me feel much better. 

Dr. Marsh left after luncheon
,
and I fell back asleep, my dreams fragmented and frightening. 
By the time I woke up it was near dark
. 
I heard a commotion as something was dragged, screeching up the stairs.  Alec opened the door, pushing Nell inside roughly and forcing her to her knees.
  I sat up against the pillows
,
trying to understand what was happening.

“
Speak
.  Now.”  Nell was white as a sheet, her eyes and nose red from crying.  She looked terrified
,
and for a moment I felt sorry for her, until I realized that she must have confessed
to Alec
. 

“I am sorry, Mistress.  I did it.  I took the poison from m
e
Da.  He uses it to kill the rats in the barn.  I put it into your tea with the sugar, so y
e
would not
notice nothing.”  She was shaking like a leaf
,
and Alec looked as if he would have like
d
to tear her apart limb from limb very slowly.   “Go on.”

Nell was sobbing so hard now that I had a hard time making out the words.  “I wanted to kill y
e
.  I hate y
e
.
I tried to put a charm under y
e
r pillow that would make you barren, but heard a noise and ran away,
” she
continued.
 

“Why, Nell?  What did I ever do to you?”  I was
bewildered
.  I had never known anyone who hated me, especially enough to actually do me harm.  It was surreal to look at this young girl and know that she had plotted my death.

“Y
e
took Mr. Finn.  He loves y
e
and wants to marry y
e
.  I
could not
stand that.  I wanted to see y
e
dead rather than be
‘
is wife.  Y
e
are not worthy of
‘
im.  He would have married me if
ye did not come along
!”  She was screaming now and I could see the venom in her face
.  I cringed as Alec slappe
d
her
hard
,
making her fall to the floor
.

“Did Finlay ever make any promises to you?” Alec
growled
, hauling her to her feet.  “Did he tell you he loved you
, you silly bitch
?”

“
Nay
, but
‘
e would
‘
ave in time.  I know it.  He would
‘
ave married me if
‘twasn’t
for this whore, spreading her legs for
‘
im in the woods and bewitching
‘
im with
‘
er charms.  I wish y
e
’d died, y
e
bitch!” 
s
he screamed
,
as Alec dragged her out of the room. 
I was shaking
uncontrollably
, unable to believe that the girl could be so deranged.  She must have seen us that time by the Abbey
,
and felt as if Finn had betrayed her somehow. 
Had she followed us? 

I closed my eyes
,
wondering what Alec was going to do with her.  Was there a court he could turn her over to
,
or
would he deal with her by himself?  I was afraid to ask.  I heard her screaming as he dragged her outside
,
and put my hands over my ears to muffle the sounds.  It sounded as if he was taking her to the stable
s
.  Maybe he would take her to a magistrate and accuse her of attempted murder.  Would they hang her? 

No matter how scared I felt, I wouldn’t want her to be executed.  She was just a girl, no older th
a
n fourteen.  Surely there was hope for her. 
I wondered if Finlay had innocently led her on. I never saw him pay her any attention
,
and I would have noticed if he found her even the least bit attractive.  She might have read something into his actions, convincing herself that he was suppressing feelings for her.  Having me come on the scene and turn his head
,
was not something she could forgive
,
and she obviously believed that if I was out of the way
,
Finlay would turn to her.  It must have been Nell outside of my room, her charm in hand, ready to put it under my pillow as I slept. 

I froze as I heard a horrible shriek come out of the stable
s
.  The screaming went on and on
,
so
I forced myself to get out of the bed and close the window.  What was he doing, I wondered?  I crawled back into bed and closed my eyes trying to block out the
noise
.  Obviously
,
Alec has decided to take matters into his own hands rather than turn her over to the authorities
,
and by the sound of
it;
he was doing a very thorough job. 

It wasn’t until much later that Alec came back into the room.  He sat down in the chair looking tired and worn.  This had not been an easy day for him.   “Finn should be
back tomorrow.  I sent Robbie to Plymouth to
fetch
him back.  He should be here with you.”

“Alec, what did you do to her?”  I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I had to ask. 

“I gave her a choice, being turned over to the magistrate
,
or taking a whipping from me.  She
wisely
chose the whipping.  The magistrate would have her hanged, so this way she still has her life and her liberty.  She will leave tomorrow at dawn
,
and never come back here.  That was the condition
I put to her
.
”