Now, standing outside the chamber door, Lucy pulled her hood over her face, adjusting it so she could see through the eye holes. Duncan did the same then signaled he was ready. Lucy opened the door, keeping a hand on it to ensure it didn’t knock against a wall or creak loudly, and Duncan stepped inside. There were three lumps in three separate beds, but Lucy had told him Ada’s was the one closest to the door. Unfortunately, there was a bed to the left of the door and one to the right. Both were close to the door. He glanced at Lucy, and she gestured to the bed on the left. Duncan sidled closer, took his time allowing his eyes to adjust, and then when he could see well enough, he pressed a hand over Ada’s nose and mouth.
She came instantly awake, her body going rigid. He pressed down harder against her mouth with one hand and with the other arm lifted her out of bed. She was small and light, and it took nothing to carry her. She didn’t even fight him. Lucy beckoned to him, and he carried her through the door and down the corridor toward the door to the yard.
Lucy made sure neither of the other maids woke and then silently closed the chamber door and followed him. Once in the yard, Duncan paused to wait for Lucy to catch up. “Not a word,” he told Ada, who was shaking with fear now. “Do what we say, and we won’t hurt you.”
He felt the wetness of a tear on the hand covering his mouth and forced himself to stay strong. He couldn’t allow a few tears to make him soft. This woman had tried to kill a child—more than once. She didn’t deserve his sympathy.
Lucy emerged from the house and found a lamp she had placed behind a laundry tub. She made quick work of lighting it then held it aloft so they could make their way to the summerhouse. Duncan had made this trek enough that if he hadn’t been carrying a woman, he wouldn’t need the light. He appreciated it now, even though he worried anyone who might stir in the house could look out and see the thin blade of yellow moving across the grounds.
He let out a sigh of relief when they were out of view of the lodge and then another when they reached the summerhouse. Lucy led them inside and indicated a chair she’d placed in the center of the room along with rope to bind the maid. Duncan set the servant in the chair and Lucy tied a gag around her mouth while Duncan bound her hands and feet to the chair. Then he stood back, tore his hood off, and poured a cup of water from the jug on the table, and wondered if he should take a seat to watch Lucy work.
They hadn’t needed to discuss who would do the interrogation. Just as they hadn’t needed to discuss who would decode letters they received. Lucy’s talent was extracting information, just as his was deciphering codes.
Lucy removed her own hood and stood in front of the maid. Duncan was behind the servant, so he couldn’t see her expression, but he could read her body language. She jumped when she saw Lucy’s face.
“I see you recognize me,” Lucy said, standing with her feet braced apart in front of nightgown-clad Ada. “But I don’t think I’m who you were expecting. To tell you the truth, you weren’t who I expected either.” She moved casually toward one of the other chairs, took it by the back, and pulled it so it was in front of Ada. Then she took a seat, prim and proper as though she were wearing a dress of fine silk.
“I pictured the assassin as a man, which I suppose is remarkably short-sighted of me. While some of the manservants could get close to Johnny, none could get as close as you or the nurse.” Lucy cocked her head. “I can already see you thinking about how you might foist blame for this latest assassination attempt on someone else.”
Duncan saw the maid shake her head.
“You should know,” Lucy continued, “that I have spoken to Wilhemina. She told me you were the one who brought the porridge. I assume it was also you we saw returning from the summerhouse a fortnight ago. And it was probably you who scared the last nanny away when she spotted you coming through a window.”
Lucy crossed her arms and sat back. “Ada, you are in a great deal of trouble. You realize that, don’t you?”
The maid didn’t respond, but Duncan saw her shoulders shaking and knew she was weeping. He set the cup down, but Lucy shot him a glare that clearly saiddon’t interfere.
“But we can help you, can’t we, Duncan?”
Ada turned and her eyes widened when she spotted Duncan without his hood behind her. Her eyes were wet with tears, her lips trembling around the gag.
Lucy leaned forward. “All you need do is tell us who is paying you to murder Master John. Tell us his name, and we’ll help you.”
Ada started sobbing again and shook her head. Lucy seemed to visibly soften, trying another tactic. “Listen, Ada, we know you didn’t want to hurt Johnny. I know you would never want to hurt a child. But I can’t help you if you don’t tell me who does want him dead. I know you were meeting someone here. Who was it?” Lucy reached up and took hold of her gag, tugging it down so she might speak.
But she didn’t speak, she just began to cry harder.
“Let me get her some water,” Duncan murmured.
“She doesn’t need water,” Lucy said, hardening her features again. “If she won’t talk then we should call the magistrate and have her taken to jail.”
“No!” Ada cried.
“There’s no hurry to call the magistrate,” Duncan said, going to the jug and pouring water. He knelt before Ada and held the cup to her lips, tilting it as he might to allow a child to sip. When she signaled she’d had enough, he set the cup on the table.
“Ada,” he said, crouching before her. “May I call you Ada?”
She nodded.
“I know you didn’t want to hurt Johnny.”
“If she didn’t want to hurt him, she certainly went about it the wrong way. If he’d had just a little more of that poison she put in his porridge, Lord John would be planning a funeral right now.”
“I’m sorry,” Ada wailed.
Duncan felt a pang of sympathy for the maid rise within him, but if Lucy felt any, she didn’t show it. “You should be sorry. Do you know who we are?”
The maidservant looked from one to the other. “The nanny and the footman?”
