Victoria Holt - Road to Paradise Island

I undressed, thinking of the next day. I must speak to Raymond as soon as I was alone with him. I would make him see that what had happened was inevitable. He would understand; and there would be Felicity waiting to comfort him. I think he loved Felicity more deeply than he realized. He had been so concerned for her, so eager to look after her.

Yes, it was all working out very satisfactorily indeed.

I undressed and brushed my hair.

I saw the milk by the side of my bed and remembered Milton's face, the brightness of his eyes which shone so blue in his sunburned face, his triumphant pleasure because I had betrayed my true feelings.

I picked up the glass and took a sip.

There was something rather sickly about coconut milk at times. I set it down again. I had no inclination to drink it.

I sat up in bed for a while thinking of the fire and that moment when I had seen him coming towards me.

I took more of the milk. I thought it tasted a little strange. I put it

down and in doing so spilt some on the table. I got out of bed to find a cloth and when I came back to the table I saw that there was some sediment in the milk on the table.

I had never noticed that before.

I wiped the table. I was beginning to feel amazingly sleepy. I got into bed. The room was slipping away from me. I lay down and must almost immediately have fallen into a deep sleep.

Usually I awoke early, but the next morning it was the sound of Maria in my room which brought me out of a heavy sleep. I felt a twinge of alarm. Something had happened to me. My limbs felt leaden and I found I could arouse myself only with the utmost effort.

Maria was standing by my bed. She was looking at me in some consternation.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes, I think so. I slept very heavily."

I sat up in bed and put a hand to my head. Memories of yesterday came back to me. The fire... Milton ... my arriving back at the hotel.

"I feel strange," I said.

I remembered Milton's saying that he would tell Maria to take up some milk for me. I turned my head. There was nothing on the table, and it looked as though the wood had been freshly polished.

"You did not drink your milk," said Maria.

"I drank some of it."

"You spilt some. I cleaned up."

"Thank you."

"Would you like hot water now?"

"Yes, please."

When she had gone I got out of bed. I felt vaguely light-headed. Something had happened to me last night. I had been emotionally shaken. I shall never forget that moment when I had seen the fire and how I had ridden through that acrid atmosphere and heard the crackling of the flames. I could still see the terrified rats scuttling frantically away from the burning canes.

It had upset me more than I had realized at the time. Mostly it was the horror of thinking something terrible had happened to Milton... and the joyous discovery that it was nothing at all.

Then the milk.

Oh yes, the milk. What an extraordinary thing to happen! Of course Maria would take it away and wash the glass. It was her job to keep the room in order.

I sat on the bed thinking... and I was still thinking when she came back with the hot water.

I washed and dressed.

There was a knock on my door.

It was Felicity. She looked at me in some surprise.

"Oh ... you're just up."

"I overslept."

"That is unlike you. I have had breakfast downstairs with Raymond on the terrace. I want to show him the island. Will you come with us?"

"Not this morning. I have a slight headache. You two go on your own."

She could not hide her pleasure at the prospect.

"It must have been all the excitement of last night. That fire and everything... and you riding off like that."

"Yes," I said. "I expect so."

She went out.

How different she was! She had changed completely. If ever anyone was in love that was Felicity. Raymond must see it. It was so obvious. And he cared for her... deeply.

I sat down trying to cast off this feeling of vagueness. What was the matter with me? I had never felt like this before.

I must have been in a very drowsy state because I did not think immediately of the milk and it was only after I had been downstairs and had a late breakfast on the terrace that I remembered it.

The milk! I had taken only a little... and there had been a sediment.

I could not remain on the terrace and went back to my room.

I kept thinking: The milk. The sediment. Could it really be that someone had put something in the milk?

Why? To send me into a deep sleep? For what purpose? But I had only taken very little of the milk. If such a small amount could have such an effect on me, what would have happened if I had drunk the entire glassful?

I used to dissolve Felicity's pills in milk. That was the best way to take them, the doctor had said.

An alarming thought came to me. I went to the drawer. The bottle was there. With trembling fingers I unscrewed the top. There were only six pills in the bottle.

But only a few days ago I had looked at them and there had been ten!

I felt dizzy. Where were those four pills? I asked myself. I saw my reflection in the mirror. Pale face, eyes wide with speculation... alarming, horrible.

Someone had put those pills in my milk. Had I drunk all the milk where should I be now? Someone had tried to kill me.

I was remembering what the doctor said. One had been enough to give Felicity a good night's sleep. Never more than one a day, he had said. Two might not be exactly dangerous but it was not advisable to take them. More than that would be fatal.

And someone had put four pills in my milk!

I tried to think back. Milton had told Maria to bring my milk. I had found it waiting there when I came up. Maria? But why should Maria want to harm me? She had been very friendly. I had generously rewarded her for her services which had delighted her. She had seemed eager to look after me. She had been inquisitive, it was true. I had seen her examining my clothes, but that was natural curiosity.

Not Maria!

Felicity? Oh no. Gentle Felicity, Felicity who was frightened of so many things. She would never attempt murder. Murder? Surely no one was trying to murder me. But if I had taken four of those pills it would have been the end of me. Suppose I had. It could so easily have happened. If I had not become drowsy so quickly I might well have drunk the rest of the milk. I had thought it tasted peculiar ... but things here often did. I might at this moment ... be dead.

But Felicity? Impossible. But if I were not here Raymond would surely turn to her. She loved him wholeheartedly. He was everything to her. To see the miraculous change in her since he had come proved that. And I stood between them ... so she thought. Would she go to such lengths? How easy it would have been! She knew of the existence of the pills. She did not know where I kept them, but she would know they must be somewhere in my room and she had had plenty of opportunities to find them. I had been away from the hotel so much, leaving her in her room. How easy it would have been for her to discover their hiding place!

No, I could not believe that.

Another thought struck me.

Magda Manuel. I could imagine her planning murder more easily than Felicity. Magda? She had a reason to want me out of the way and again it was a man. How far had her relationship with Milton gone? Did she hope to marry him? Had there been some understanding between them before I came? But how could she come into the hotel... into my room. She had not been there last night when the pills were put into the milk. She could have paid one of the servants

... The more I thought of it the more possible it seemed ... She knew the island. She knew the ways of the islanders.