Snobbery With Violence - M. C. Beaton [72]
“He said that I showed no sign of the infection. He would not discuss Lord Hedley, but he said that people at the latent stage of the disease were not infectious. They were only infectious in the first and second stages. So I assume I have no fear of the disease developing in me.”
“Thank goodness for that. But maybe Mary Gore-Desmond was determined that he should honour his promises. Maybe that’s why she had to die.”
“But Colette!”
“Perhaps Colette found out somehow and was blackmailing him. You should tell Kerridge.”
“No, and if you do, I will deny the whole thing. Lady Hedley puts it about that you are a liar and make things up.”
“She does, doesn’t she?” said Rose slowly.
Harry burst into the study after luncheon and said to Kerridge, “What fools we’ve been!”
“Enlighten me.”
“Dr. Jenner was in correspondence with a certain Dr. Pal-verston in London over using arsenic as a treatment. If you confront Dr. Perriman with the fact that we know about the syphilis and the arsenic, he will assume that Dr. Palverston said something. Accuse him of having valuable evidence and threaten to throw the book at him.”
“I’ll go over to his surgery now,” said Kerridge.
Harry went back to his room and rang for Becket. When the manservant appeared, he said, “I want you to keep close to Lady Rose. I do not want anything to happen to her before we get out of here. I think Hedley could be dangerous and I think his illness is beginning to affect his brain.”
Becket went up and knocked at Daisy’s door. When she answered it, he said, “The captain says I’m to keep an eye on Lady Rose. Where is she?”
“She said she was going to see Lady Hedley. She’s just left.”
“Orders are orders. I’d better get down there and wait outside Lady Hedley’s sitting-room door.”
“We’ll both go,” said Daisy.
Lady Hedley looked up as Rose entered her sitting-room. “You are supposed to knock,” she said crossly. She was still working on the piece of tapestry. “Sit down.”
Rose sat down on the other side of the fireplace. Lady Hedley stitched steadily, the needle flashing in and out.
“I came to ask you something,” said Rose nervously.
“What?”
Rose was beginning to wish she had not come. The marchioness looked so small and frail.
“I believe your husband takes arsenic for an ... er ... illness.”
Silence. The needle continued to flash.
“I believe,” said Rose, steeling herself, “that he slept with Mary Gore-Desmond sometime at the end of the season because he believed that sleeping with a virgin would cure his illness. I also think Colette knew this and tried to blackmail him. I believe it was he who threw me off the castle roof.”
“You are a dangerous and vicious liar,” said Lady Hedley. “I love my husband and no one is going to take him from me. You silly young things. What do you know of love?”
Rose stared at her, her mind racing. One of Lady Medley’s lace sleeves fell back as she continued the ply her needle, revealing a surprisingly strong-looking arm.
“I had the money, you see,” said the marchioness suddenly. “A chain of grocery shops. Ifou’ve heard of Crumleys?”
“Yes,” said Rose. “I believe the shops are all over the country.”
“My father. He rivalled Lipton. But it was trade. I was classed as the daughter of a shopkeeper, no matter how many millions we had. My first season was a nightmare. I was snubbed and patronized all round. It was then that my father, God rest his soul, who was a very shrewd business man, decided to get me a title. His spies told him that Hedley was in debt. Hedley agreed to the marriage, and a good few of those dreadful women who had snubbed me had to watch me take precedence. I did not enjoy the intimate side of marriage and told him to take his pleasures elsewhere, provided he was discreet.
“I believe he went to brothels. But when he contracted syphilis, he began to become foolish. Someone has to look after him,” she ended with a sigh. She picked up her needle again.
Rose stared at her. Could it be possible? she wondered. Could the inoffensive-looking Lady Hedley be the strong one in the marriage? If that was the