Dark Assassin - Anne Perry [141]
“I don’ need no one,” he said instantly. “I’m almost better.”
“No, you aren’t,” she retorted. “And whether you need anyone or not, I need there to be someone here, so I can stop worrying about you and keep my mind on what I’m doing. Don’t argue with me! I’ve made up my mind. And you’ll like Margaret, I expect.”
“Mr. Monk said yer as stubborn as an army mule.”
“Did he indeed! Well, Mr. Monk wouldn’t know an army mule if it kicked him!”
Scuff giggled. Obviously the idea entertained him.
“But I would!” she added, before he got any ideas of insubordination.
“Yer’d kick it back,” he said with immense satisfaction, and moved the last couple of inches until he was next to her. She put an arm around him, very lightly. In five minutes he was asleep.
In the morning she sent one of the local boys to take a message to Margaret, wait for her answer, and return with it. She gave him fare for a hansom both ways, and something for himself. It was extravagant, but she judged it necessary, not only for her own peace of mind but for Monk’s also. She had not misread the affection in his face for Scuff, no matter how carefully he tried to mask it.
She arrived at the Argyll house a little after ten o’clock. It was strange to realize that the rest of the world still believed Argyll guilty and Sixsmith innocent. For a moment terror overtook her as she walked across the pavement to the steps up to the front door. What if Sixsmith was there already? If he and Jenny were lovers, they might have celebrated their victory together.
No, that would be foolish, even if Argyll had already been arrested. It might arouse suspicions. In order to preserve any dignity or belief in her, Jenny Argyll would have to play the shocked and grieving wife rescued in time by the innocent man. They would be two victims together of Argyll’s wickedness.
Hester straightened her shoulders and mounted the steps to the front door, head high.
The bell was answered by a red-eyed parlor maid, and Hester told her that she was here to see Mrs. Argyll on a matter of great importance and urgency. Hester guessed from the girl’s appearance that Argyll had already been arrested.
“I’m sorry, madam, but Mrs. Argyll is unwell,” the maid began. “She isn’t receiving today.”
“I was in court yesterday,” Hester replied. “What I have to say will prove Mr. Argyll’s innocence.” She did not add that it would also prove Mrs. Argyll’s guilt.
The parlor maid’s eyes opened wide, then she stepped back and invited Hester in. She was flustered, happy, and still frightened. She left Hester in the withdrawing room, the only place even remotely warm from the embers of the previous night’s fire. Such domestic duties had been utterly neglected that day.
Ten minutes later Jenny Argyll came in. Her black gown was very well cut and flattered her slenderness. Her hair was styled less severely than earlier, but her face was almost bloodlessly pale, and there were bruised shadows around her eyes. She looked feminine and vulnerable. Hester’s last doubts that Jenny was in love with Sixsmith were swept away. Jenny could have helped her actions, but her emotions were beyond her mastery.
“Good morning, Mrs. Monk,” Jenny said with faint surprise. Her voice trembled a little. Was it tension, exhaustion, or fear? “My maid tells me you know something of urgent importance about my husband’s arrest. Is that true?”
Hester had to force herself to remember Rose Applegate’s humiliation in order to say what she must. She was certain now that it had been Jenny who had poisoned Rose’s food or drink with alcohol, not Argyll. It was she who had the motive, and surely it could only have been she who had known of Rose’s weakness. Had Rose’s resolve slipped before, or had she confided in someone in a moment of weakness, perhaps as her reason for not joining them in wine, or a champagne toast to some event? One might require such an excuse to avoid giving offense, for example at a wedding.
Jenny was waiting.
“Yes, it is true,” Hester replied. “I went into court believing, as did my husband, that Mr. Sixsmith was innocent