Sheen on the Silk - Anne Perry [190]
Eirene opened her sunken, clouded eyes and stared at Anna.
Anna ached with pity for her, but Eirene was beyond physical help. “Would you like me to send for Demetrios?”
“Given up at last?” Eirene’s lips were dry and her throat tight. “Give me some more of that herb that tastes like gall.” She blinked and stared at Anna. She must know she had not long, and the breaking of her body consumed her.
Anna ached to help her, but if she gave Eirene another dose of the poppy, it might kill her. She decided to do it anyway.
Anna nodded and turned aside to reach for the small bottle. She would put it with a lot of water—in fact, mostly water. The illusion of opium might help as much as the reality. After Eirene took three or four sips, Anna laid her back as gently as she could, straightened the covers, then went to the door and called the servant.
“Fetch Demetrios,” she told him. “I think she has not long left.”
The servant went away, footsteps rapid on the tiled floor. He returned ten minutes later to say that Demetrios had gone out earlier and not yet returned. Apparently, he had not expected to be needed so soon.
“If he returns, tell him his mother is dying,” Anna answered, then turned away and went back into the room.
The candle guttered. She lit another.
Suddenly Eirene opened her eyes again, and her voice was quite clear. “I’m going to die before morning, aren’t I.”
“I think so,” Anna replied honestly.
“Fetch Demetrios. I have something I need to give him.”
“I already sent for him. He’s not in the house, and the servant cannot tell me where he is.”
Eirene was silent for a few moments. “Then I suppose you’ll have to do,” she said at last. “Gregory thought Zoe loved him, but she betrayed him with Michael,” she said. “You didn’t know that, did you?” There was satisfaction in her. “Michael is Helena’s father. Imagine that! That would have given Bessarion a double right to the throne, don’t you see?”
A chill thought struck Anna. This could alter more than she could imagine. It explained Helena’s part in the usurpation totally. “How do you know that Helena is really Michael’s child?” she asked.
“I have letters,” Eirene said, biting her lip as the pain washed over her again. “From him to Zoe.”
Anna was skeptical. “How did you get them?”
Eirene smiled, although it was more a baring of the teeth. “Gregory took them.”
“Does Zoe know you have these letters?”
“She knows Gregory did. She didn’t know I took them from him. He never dared challenge me for them back.”
Anna’s mind was in turmoil, racing from one new meaning to another. “Helena doesn’t know?” she asked yet again.
“It is better she doesn’t,” Eirene repeated wearily. “She would become impossible to manage.”
“Why should I believe all this?”
“Because it is true,” Eirene replied. “I bequeathed some of the letters to Helena. My cousin will give them to her in time But the rest are there in my safe box. The key is under my pillow. Give them to Demetrios.” She smiled slightly. “Once Helena knows, then she’ll have the power. That’s why Zoe has never told her.” She took a long, shuddering breath. “But now I don’t care. It’ll be hell for Zoe … every day.” A faint smile parted her lips, as if to taste something sweet.
She closed her eyes, and gradually all expression emptied out of her face. She slept for perhaps half an hour.
There was a noise in the corridor outside, and the door swung open. Demetrios came in, dalmatica swirling, wet from the rain, his eyes dark and angry.
“Mother?” he said quietly. “Mother?”
Eirene opened her eyes, taking several moments to focus.