Deryn Lake: Death at the Wedding Feast

‘Well, stap me, if it isn’t Felicity. Where are you going to my pretty maid?’

John gave a disarming smile. ‘She is going to stay with Lady Elizabeth for a few days. Recuperation and all that.’

‘Good heavens. I didn’t realize she was that ill. I’ll go and tell the others. They’ll want to bid her farewell.’

‘I’d rather you didn’t do that, my Lord. It is imperative that the patient is kept absolutely quiet. If you would be so good.’

The new Viscount stood nonplussed, his handsome face suddenly rather silly and slack-jawed.

‘Thank you so much, my Lord,’ John continued airily.

Lady Sidmouth picked up the theme and said, ‘Thank you, George. I knew you would understand.’

And his lordship could do nothing but stand there and gape as the others swept out through the front door into the dreary afternoon.

As soon as John had seen Felicity into the coach and given instructions to the driver, he hurried round to Lady Sidmouth’s kitchens where he gave great attention to a pile of unpeeled parsnips. Having sniffed and gingerly tasted the end of one of them he seemed satisfied, and without saying farewell to anyone he left by the kitchen door and rode home.

He passed the coach bearing Felicity on the way back and rode as hard as he was able to get to Elizabeth before the sick girl. He made it with about ten minutes to spare, and during that time blurted out his suspicions about poisoning and his findings in Lady Sidmouth’s kitchen.

‘And are you certain?’ demanded the Marchesa.

‘Positive. It was common Water Hemlock lying innocently amongst the parsnips, which it closely resembles.’

‘But anyone could have eaten it.’

‘Precisely. I think we are dealing with an evil and diseased mind here. Now please look after Felicity. I would advise you to sleep in the same room in case anyone tries to get at her in the night. I realize that it might sound melodramatic but there is a cruel poisoner at work.’

Elizabeth gave him a direct look. ‘Is this the same person who organized the killings at the wedding feast?’

‘Very probably, yes.’

‘Then I shall arm myself accordingly.’

Even in these dire circumstances the Apothecary could not help but smile. The Marchesa might be one of the most beautiful, most seductive women ever born, but she was also one of the toughest and strongest street fighters he had come across in his entire life. He knew that she had personally practically annihilated the gang of dross who called themselves The Angels. They had based their doings on The Mohocks of London and had terrorized the poor people of Exeter who hardly dared leave their homes after dark. And they had also killed her son by making him an opium addict. The Marchesa’s revenge had been swift and terrible but just. The Society of Angels no longer existed.

‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘And now I’ve one more favour to ask.’

Before he could say another word she smiled and said, ‘Can you borrow the coach tonight?’

‘The words saddle-sore were invented for me alone, I fear.’

‘You are nothing but a wretched Londoner, my good man.’

‘Nonsense, Madam, many people in town are fine riders. I just do not happen to be one of them.’

She laughed and threw her arms around him and he was surrounded by the heady smell of lilac and woodruff and all the wonderful scents of her.

‘I shall always love you, you know that.’

‘Yes, I know,’ she answered.

And they were just about to exchange a longed-for embrace when the sounds of the carriage approaching came from outside and broke their wonderful moment.

The day cleared of rain and began to fade gently. Tiny white clouds that looked as if they had been puffed out by putti bounced across the sky and the moon rose in a thin sliver. The air was gentle after the earlier rain, soft as a cat’s fur, and all the birds in the world began to sing their hymn to the coming night. John had always loved this time of day; dusk, twilight, eventide. He had loved it in all seasons: when the ground beneath his feet had been hard and crisp with snow and the night had been lit by a thousand crystal stars; when warm summer breezes had wooed his senses with the smell of flowers and somewhere in the distance a nightingale had started to sing; in autumn when he had kicked around the crisp, colourful leaves and had felt the first chill of coldness in the air; in the spring, that outrageous season, that despite the cool weather allowed the camellia to come into bud and delighted the eye with the first glimpse of snowdrops and crocuses.

And now, as the carriage passed through the countryside and he saw that the evening was still light and early summer was lying over the land, his thoughts flew away for a moment and he forgot the reason for his secret journey back to Sidmouth House. But they came back to him with a jolt as he knocked on the ceiling with his stick and called to the coachman to pull up.

They had stopped short of the property in the woods that centuries before had been partially cleared by labourers so that a fine house and glorious gardens could be built. The house had now been replaced and the gardens modernized, but, though thinned out, the woods still stood, and it was through the depths of these that the Apothecary silently made his way until the song of the sea sounded softly in his ears and he knew that he was going in the right direction.

No one knew of this evening visit except John, who was determined to take a look at the beach and see if the lovers who walked on it would reappear, because he now had an opinion as to who they might be. Silently he proceeded through the hushed atmosphere of the trees until at last he emerged on to the open cliffland where the gardens of Sidmouth House went down to the lawns that, in turn, swept down to the sea.

Twilight had come while he had been walking amongst the shady trees, and what he saw now was a small beach far below him lit by the crescent moon and the first stars. The sun was just spreading its last rays to the west, adding a warmth to the scene, and showing him that the beach was empty.

John paused, turning his head slightly. It seemed to him that there was a slight noise behind him as if somebody — or something — was following in his footsteps. But when he swivelled round there was nobody to be seen and he thought he had imagined it. Silently, he began to descend the tiny path that led down to the shore. And then the two figures appeared out of nowhere, giving John a fright, though he realized immediately afterwards that they must have been in a cave and had just stepped out. They were walking away from him, entwined round each other, clearly very much in love.

Quiet as a stalking cat John made his way down the path until it died away and he had to scramble over a couple of small rocks to reach the sand below. The couple were still walking away from him but he could see them clearly, their outlines etched blackly against the white of the waves and the glow of the sand. He knew who they were even before they turned around. He had suspected her, in particular, for some time. Of the identity of the man he had not been so certain. They turned at the beach’s end and John sank down behind a rock. Yet again he thought he heard a noise behind him but was in no position to wheel round and look. Very distantly he could hear snatches of the couple’s conversation.

‘… you have borne it all well, my love.’

‘… the thought of you…’

‘… you have earned that fortune…’

‘… lecherous old beast. Indeed I earned it!’

From somewhere above a pebble fell to the ground, hitting a rock as it landed and making a definite noise. The couple froze, as did John.