“You have been giving her the poison, haven’t you?” I was shocked by his disclosure, but Laura’s rabid fevers and quick demise made all the more sense now. Yes, she had been ill with a lung ailment, but the belladonna had hastened her death.
Brice’s face contorted with barely contained fury. “I trusted that you would release us all from her tyranny. You do not witness the things she does. You live in opulence and do not see how she beats the maids or holds us here by threats. She often tells us that if we leave, she will report us to the authorities for thievery. You promised me you would help me return to England. I have waited patiently, but now I believe you to be a liar.”
“I am not! I will return you to England, I swear it. But this is neither the time nor the place to discuss such things.”
“If she dies, you inherit her wealth and we will be free.”
“Do you not think it suspicious if she dies so soon after the deaths of Sir Stephan and his wife?”
“The city is full of illness. This winter will be the death of many.” Brice’s tone was laced with venom and his eyes were cruel. “Kill her and none will know the difference.”
A strangled cry from within the room drew my attention. Pressing past Brice, I pushed open the door. Csilla stood near the window, drawing back the heavy curtains to gaze down into the frozen gardens.
“Csilla?”
“A wolf was dancing in my dreams and when I went to the window, it was on the ledge staring at me.” She turned to look at me with a dazed expression, and I was not certain she was truly awake.
“Madam, you were sleeping,” Brice said as he hastily rushed to help her back to bed.
She clung to his arm as he guided her back to her enormous canopy. Confusion and fear played across her face as she settled back beneath the covers. “There was a dragon, too. It kept calling my name.”
I wedged myself between Brice and Csilla to lean over her. Her skin was hot to the touch and she was flushed. Though she did not have the horrible cough Laura had endured, her other symptoms were strikingly similar. I glanced at the cup of tea set next to the bed and then at Brice. He merely stared at her with barely disguised contempt.
“Vlad is sending you nightmares again. Pay them no heed,” I urged her.
“He doesn’t want me. He wants you,” she whispered as her fingers tangled in her hair and she tugged at it in her distress. “He cries out for you.”
“Sleep, Csilla. Sleep.” I did not want to feed from her if she was poisoned. I was not certain if the belladonna would affect me. I ushered Brice out of the room and took hold of his arm. “Listen well. I will deal with her in my own time. Do you understand?”
With a curt nod, he stormed off.
Frustrated and disturbed by his words, I hurried back down stairs to speak with Ignatius. When I reached the final step of the staircase, I was surprised to see Percy standing in the foyer speaking with Ignatius. Percy’s hat and shoulders were covered in snow and he stamped his frozen feet as he shivered.
“Percy! What on earth are you doing out on such a night as this?” I rushed to him as he smiled at me ruefully.
“It appears we shall soon be snowbound and I wanted to give you and Laura gifts for Christmas. I was just telling Father Ignatius that I can only stay a few minutes. The storm is worsening and my driver will not wait long.”
“I am pleased to see you, but you shouldn’t have.” I was a little nervous about Percy seeing Ignatius in my new home, but I tried to not let my feelings show.
“I sent Magda to get Laura,” Ignatius informed me.
“Thank you, Father Ignatius. Percy, you are so pale!”
Percy pulled off his gloves before taking my hands, but still they were icy and chapped from the cold. “Don’t fret over me. I am fine.”
Laura rushed out to greet him. I stepped aside so she could embrace him warmly. It was as if we were all family and I could not help but smile.
“I must hurry, but I brought you gifts. I was telling Father Ignatius that I found the perfect gift for both of you, and I had to bring them over tonight before the blizzard snow bounds us all.” He produced two small matching jewelry boxes and placed them in our hands. “Open them now. I doubt I shall be here for Christmas, so let this be a little celebration for all of us.”
Together, we opened the small boxes to reveal elegant cameos. Mine was a beautiful ivory relief upon a blue background with a gold filigree setting, and Laura’s was ivory upon coral, and both cameos were strung on delicate gold chains. Laura and I gasped with delight
“They’re lovely!” I exclaimed, embracing him.
Laura also tossed her arms about him, elated with the gift. “But we have nothing for you!”
“Your smiles of delight are the only gifts I would ever ask of you,” Percy answered.
I saw his blue eyes flick toward Ignatius as my love leaned over Laura to view the necklace as she showed it to him.
“Father Ignatius just arrived a few nights ago,” I explained. “He’s a dear friend.”
“I can see that.” Percy regarded me in such a way that I was afraid I was blushing. “I wish I could stay and visit with the good Father and my favorite young ladies, but time is short. I must go.”
“Oh, Percy! We shall miss you!” Laura sighed wistfully.
“Spring will come soon enough,” Percy assured her. “Wear your necklace and I shall always be close to you in spirit.”
“Always.” Laura clutched it to her heart.
With the tenderness of an older relative, Percy touched her cheek and then mine. For an instant, I sensed great sorrow in him and I stepped toward him. I do not know what I would have said, but the moment passed as he whirled about and departed into the white world beyond. His form was immediately obscured by the storm. The door shut with a loud boom.
“I miss him already,” Laura wailed.
“I do, too.” I helped her put on her necklace and she rushed off to show Katya. In silence I gazed down at the cameo in my hand. I felt a pang of sadness so deep, I could not fathom what it meant.
“He loves both of you like a father would,” Ignatius stated, his words slicing through the quiet.
“He is such a dear man.”
Ignatius kissed my cheek before plucking the necklace from my palm. Gently, he strung it about my neck and fastened it. I pressed my hand to it and wondered what had brought about the sorrow in Percy’s gaze.
“You are far away from me,” Ignatius said in a hushed voice. “What concerns you so?”
Forcing my thoughts away from my friend, I told Ignatius about Csilla poisoning Laura and hastening her death. “And Brice is now poisoning Csilla with the same belladonna.”
Ignatius pressed his mouth into a grim line, shaking his head. “Dramatic lot, aren’t they all?”
“She is fading away swiftly. I can see death upon her. I knew I was drinking quite a lot of her blood, but the poison is only making her death approach that much more swiftly. If she dies too soon, I fear that we may draw the suspicion of the local authorities. Laura was buried alive and her parents murdered. That is scandal enough.”
“Yet many will die this winter. If you are intent on killing her, what difference will it make when she dies?” Ignatius asked.
“You think me cruel for doing this, don’t you?” I stomped my foot at him and walked briskly in the direction of the parlor.
Ignatius strode along behind me. “I don’t think you cruel, Glynis. I think your desire for vengeance is understandable.”
I whirled about on him. “Yet, I can see it in your eyes that you do not approve.”
“Darling I do not approve. I have seen what the consuming need for vengeance can inflict upon a person’s soul.”
“I have no soul!”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“I don’t know! But I do know that she helped murder my family and that she inflicts cruelty among others as well. Is it so wrong that I seek my own justice?” I sounded desperate even to myself. I was trying so very hard to justify my actions I realized that perhaps I did feel guilt. The deaths of Sir Stephan and Maria had horrified me. At first I thought perhaps it was because Laura had killed them and not me. But they were dead all the same and in some way by my own actions. Yet I could find no solace in their demise.
“No, it is not wrong if it is justice you truly seek.”
A scream echoed through the palace and we all started at the sound. I realized it was Csilla and rushed to her room. The sound of footsteps informed me that my companion was close behind. Dashing up the staircase, I heard her scream again.
“Who is screaming?” Laura’s voice called out from below.
“Csilla! Something is wrong.”
Another scream rang through the house.
I dashed down the corridors, my passing causing the candlelight to flicker as I swept by. Adem appeared out of a side hall and joined me. Together, we burst into her room. We found the Baroness collapsed on the floor, tearing at her hair and crying. In misery, she wailed. Falling to my knees beside her, I enfolded her in my arms. She clung to me, her face buried in my bosom.
