"Well, the poison was meant for you, not her. But now that it's all out in the open it doesn't even matter."
"Doesn't matter? She coulddie." James leaned forward and snatched Edwin by the collar of his shirt. Edwin didn't even try to struggle as James hauled him upright and stared him down with narrow, dark eyes. "Why would you do this in the first place? What have I done, that means I was supposed to die?"
Edwin's face darkened. His entire body wentrigid,and James had never seen him so angry in all his life. "What did you do?" he asked with an eerie calm, even as his face twisted in disgust, "You dideverything.You were always father's favorite; you got his favor, his title, themanor.And now you've even got Alicia. You've gotten everything in life handed to you while I was left in the background, inyourshadow. James Arvill, everybody's favorite. While I had to pick up your scraps and admit that it's all I'd ever get."
James' heart thudded against his ribs like it was trying to break free. He felt sick and his mind reeled. There was no way that this was truly happening. Did Edwin really think that he wanted this? "I only got father's title because hedied,Edwin. What kind of trade is that? A meaningless title and an empty house, in return for my father's death? I didn't ask for that. Nobody could have predicted how father would die."
"Except I did, James! I did because I was the one that killed him." Edwin's face twisted into a look of sheermania,his eyes going wide until the blue of his iris was dwarfed by the white surrounding it. "I'd had enough of being ignored and neglected, treated like less. So, I pushed him down the stairs and watched as he landed in a broken heap right at the bottom. And do you know what? He deserved it."
James couldn't breathe. He wanted to scream, but his lungs were empty. Edwin... he killed their father because he didn't feelspecialenough? What kind of awful, twisted mind came up with something so revolting? Edwin had kept this to himself for all these years... was this why he travelled so much; to keep the truth of his murder a well-kept secret.
Now that Edwin had started speaking, he couldn't seem to stop. Words tumbled from his lips in a jumbled mess of half-finished thoughts. "But I didn't think. When he died, you got everything, and once again I was shoved to the back of everyone's thoughts. All anybody cared about was howyouwere grieving; how difficult it must have been to raise your siblings. Nobody spared a thought to how I was coping with it all." His hands clenched, knuckles white, and he shoved James.Hard."Then Alicia came along, and I thought she was so pretty - but as always, you had to have what you want."
Alicia.James hadn't done anything except give her a job and try to make her happy. He had never acted on his feelings, shoving them deep down inside... but Edwin didn't care. He saw what he wanted to, used it as fuel for this self-sabotaging fantasy that everyone hated him. Well, by admitting all of this he had ensured that hatred was all anyone would ever feel for him again.
"You always get what you want, James, but you can't if you're dead. I'm lucky that hemlock is so easy to come by in these woods out back."
Hemlock.James' heart stuttered in relief, and he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. It left him all in a rush and his head spun, but then he turned to Edwin with an icy stare. "You're coming inside, and you're going to tell the doctor exactly what and how much you gave Alicia."
"You can't make me-"
James' fists curled around Edwin's collar, and it was tight enough to make him gasp. The adrenaline thundering through his veins gave him enough strength to haul Edwin past the rose gardens and out onto the path. Edwin struggled and writhed, hands clambering at James' grasp, but it was no use. James simply used his other hand to clamp around Edwin's arms and towed him back toward the house.
"Doctor Ashburn?" he called into the quiet house. Most of the staff must have been asleep, but James didn't care. All that mattered was making sure Alicia was safe. "Doctor Ashburn, I know what Alicia drank. It was hemlock!"
As they struggled to tread upstairs, James still dragging Edwin behind him, Doctor Ashburn appeared in the hallway. He had a lamp in his thin hands, illuminating the paleness of his wrinkled face. "Hemlock?" he murmured, eyes shifting from one man to the next, "And it was Lord Arvill here who did it?"
"Yes, he admitted everything."
"Then I'll get to Miss Sempill right away." He paused then, brows furrowed. "I should make you aware that there is no cure for hemlock poisoning, but I've managed to get the worst of it out of her already. I can prescribe treatments that will help Miss Sempill through, but she'll need to do the rest of the work herself, my lord."
James shuddered, his stomach dropping. "I understand. Thank you, Doctor Ashburn."
"How much did you give her?" His pale gaze turned to Edwin, who continued to twist and writhe.
Edwin only shrugged. "However much that stupid child deemed was enough. I hope it was the whole damn packet!"
With a coldness spreading through his chest, James hauled Edwin backwards and strode back towards the stairs. "Summon the authorities," he called to whoever was listening, "and tell them that Lord Edwin Arvill has poisoned our governess."
It took a long time to get Edwin into the study - where James threw him down onto the nearest chair without care. He landed with athudand almost toppled to the ground, and he only managed to steady himself because the chair was so sturdy. "It should have been you," Edwin snapped, "but you always have to win, don't you?"
Win.It was as if he thought that having the woman he loved poisoned, and knowing his own brother was behind it, was supposed to be thegoodoutcome here. James said nothing as he slammed the study door, then came to sit by Edwin's side. If he tried to get away, James wouldn't hesitate to grab him again.
"She's a sweet girl, that Alicia," Edwin continued with a scowl, "she doesn't deserve this. If you think about it, it's your own fault for giving her your teacup. Jacob only put the hemlock in after your cup was poured."
So that was why the tea had arrived already poured. James felt bile rise in the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down. It tasted sour. "Everything here is your fault, Edwin. You've nothing to blame but your own selfishness. You know, I blamed my best friend for all of this, because it never even entered myhead,that it would be you. This whole time, you've acted like the perfect big brother to Samuel and Jenny. Pretended to grieve over father's death. Butyoukilled him."
Edwin scowled. He didn't even try to run; why? Had he accepted that this was it, or was he simply too angry to even know what waited for him? "I grieved too," he muttered then, "I loved father, even if he acted like I wasn't there. He doted on you for being the oldest, and he loved the children because they were young and sweet. The middle child is always ignored - but that doesn't mean I wanted him to die-"
"Yetyoukilled him?" James had always thought thatseeing redwas some silly phrase that didn't really mean a thing. Now, he knew just how literal it was. His vision dimmed as anger filled his chest, and it took every lastshredof self-restraint not to leap across the desk and shove Edwin to the ground. Every fiber of him felt hot and he had to clamp his hands onto the arms of the seat to keep from tearing at his skin.
Edwin, by contrast, seemed to deflate. He shrank before James' eyes, sinking deeper and deeper into the chair until his legs splayed out before him. "I had to," he murmured, "you gave me no choice. It was the only way to make him stop; to makeyoustop. But after he was gone, things only got worse. You got more attention than ever, so I left."
"Then you decided to come back and kill me too." James finished. "What about Jenny and Samuel? If you'd killed me, what would have happened to them?"
"Nothing would havechangedwithout you," Edwin insisted quietly, but there was no more enthusiasm in his voice. He sounded as empty as James felt. "I'd have taken on the marquess title and carried on without you. The children would have still had Alicia, except she would have fallen in love withmeinstead."
How ridiculous. James might have laughed at the absurdity, had he not felt so physically ill. His hands clenched tighter, until ithurt,but he couldn't let go of the chair for fear of what he might do otherwise. Through gritted teeth, he managed to utter, "You're despicable. I hope you know that, and I hope that the knowledge tears you apart inside."
