“What did the rest of them have?”
He glanced at her. “Why do we not ask them?”
“Drink all of that, Mary,” Thea ordered. “We will be right back.”
Liam and Thea walked among the cots with the maid, asking those that could speak what they had eaten that day. The answers they received were the same – each of them had ham even if they dined on other food as well. Even as they straightened from the cots, the door swung open and Mr. Noonan entered. As did three more ill servants.
“Find more cots,” he ordered as the healthy footmen half carried in two male servants and a scullery maid. They set the ill in chairs that had been pushed against the walls to make room for the cots, then rushed out, no doubt concerned that they, too, might catch whatever made the others ill.
“You think these people may have been poisoned?” he asked, offering Thea a cursory bow.
“Yes, Mr. Noonan,” she said. “They all say they had ham at their midday meal.”
He strode to the door and flung it open. Liam caught a glimpse of Jack’s face as the steward said, “Fetch me the ham in the servants’ hall. Quickly, before anyone else eats of it.”
Jack bowed then once again bolted down the hall. Mr. Noonan bent to the newcomers to the sick room and asked each of them what they had eaten. Liam and Thea listened in shock as their answers were the same as the others – ham. Mr. Noonan straightened and his normally placid face had grown dark with anger.
“You just may have saved many lives this day, Mr. Carter,” he growled, pulling from his coat pocket a small book. “Will you please take this and look up poisons while I administer feverfew to these poor people.”
Liam accepted the book as Thea assisted the steward in dosing the broth with the herb and offering the cups to the ill. He sat at a table, reading, hardly paying attention when the footmen returned with cots, blankets, and pillows. Tuning out the distant talk, he ran down the list of potential poisons, comparing what he read with the symptoms the ill servants displayed.
Just as Jack returned with the big plate of ham, Liam found it. “Mr. Noonan,” he said, standing, feeling the excitement rise within him. “I think I have it. I believe the ham may have been laced with foxglove.”
Mr. Noonan, setting the plate of ham on the table, sniffed it closely, examining it. “I think you may be right, Mr. Carter. I can smell it. Faint, but there.”
“So everyone will be all right?”
“I will order brandy given to them along with the feverfew,” Mr. Noonan replied, reading the page Liam pointed out to him. “Yes, as long as they do not ingest more of the tainted food they should be fine in a few days.”
Liam exchanged a warm, happy, look with Thea, who clapped her hands together. “You are a genius, Liam. I am going to find my brother and inform him of all this.”
He gave her a quick bow, and watched her exit the sick room, then strode quickly into the bedchamber to his mother. Mary watched him enter, a tiny grin on her lips.
“I heard ye talkin’, lad,” she said, lifting her hand to reach for him. “I be right proud ‘o ye fer figuring all this oot.”
“I am just glad you will recover fully, Mum,” he said, taking it and sitting on the stool. “You will be fine in a couple of days.”
“I ken it. Noo leave me tae sleep, son. I dae be weary.”
“Of course.” Rising, Liam bent to kiss her brow, still hot with her fever. Still, he felt reassured that with the feverfew, it would soon return to normal. “I will be back later to see you, Mum.”
Picking up his wig from the post, he put it on as he strode through the sitting room, Mr. Noonan and Anne busy administering doses of brandy to the weakened servants. Mr. Noonan glanced up to give him a brief nod as he passed, and Anne threw him a grateful smile. Jack still stood outside the door as he went through.
“Was it poison, Liam?” he asked, his plain face expressing his worry.
“Yes. But they should all be fine in a few days.”
“That is good. I am glad you found out what was wrong before anyone died.”
“Me, too.”
Giving his friend a warm grin, Liam strode rapidly down the hallway and the stairs, only then noticing darkness had fallen when he glanced through the windows. Wondering where Thea might be, he first thought to head to the lake to find her. Then he dismissed that idea, as he knew she would not go down there without him following. It was far too dangerous.
Hearing voices drifting from the half-opened door to the drawing room, Liam went in that direction. Sure enough, he heard Thea and Lord Willowdale talking. Knowing he could not enter without an expressed invitation, he stood outside, waiting for Thea to emerge. As the brother and sister stood near the door, he heard every word.
And what he heard chilled him to his very core.
“I know you have feelings for Mr. Carter,” Lord Willowdale said, his tone cold. “And he for you. I forbid this relationship. You should have known better, Thea.”
