Page 109 of The Fortunes of Ashmore Castle

‘It’s nothing to me,’ she said.

‘I kept thinking about it. I was angry that you’d suggested it. But then yesterday I went up to her room while she was out – she sleeps in the attic, right under the roof. I thought there was a wasp’s nest under the tiles just above. I moved the small cupboard away from the window so I could reach it and I heard something fall over. So I looked inside, to make sure I hadn’t broken anything. It was a bottle of brown liquid. No label. It smelt like mould or mushrooms.’

Now she looked up.

‘I took it away to my room. I thought she’d say something about it being missing, but she didn’t say a word. This morning, at breakfast, I brought it out, I asked her what it was. She said it was medicine. So I – I pushed it into her hand, I said, “Let me see you take some, then.” I was rough with her – I was afraid, you see. Afraid of what I might find out. Then she said it was rat poison. I asked where she’d got it, with no label on it, and she said she made it herself. I asked where she was planning to use it, and she said, “I’ll poison any rats that come in this house.” She said, ‘They’ll not take you away from me.”’

Rose let out a breath that sounded like a sigh. His face looked so worn she felt sorry for him.

He rubbed his eyes wearily and went on: ‘So I asked her if she’d put the stuff in the cake she made for you. I asked her quite quietly. I still couldn’t believe . . . She didn’t answer, but she gave me such a hard look, I knew then. I said, “Martha, don’t you realise what you’ve done? Something like that is a matter for the police.” And that’s when she went wild. She screamed at me. She threw the bottle at me. I ducked and it hit the floor and smashed. I tried to grab hold of her to quiet her and she fought me off. We struggled. Chairs fell over. The tablecloth got dragged off and everything smashed on the floor. I tried to subdue her but she’s tall and strong and – well, I was trying not to hurt her, which didn’t help. Then I trod on something sharp and lost my balance and fell. Cut my hand on a piece of glass as I tried to save myself. It was while I was trying to get up that she – she stabbed me with the big kitchen knife.’ He put a shaky hand up to his shoulder. ‘Back here. Twice. I managed to get up. She kept on coming. I – I couldn’t hit her. Not a woman. Not my sister. I had to try and grapple with her. I was bleeding and I couldn’t use my right arm properly. I—’

He stopped. Rose said gruffly, ‘I’m sorry you got hurt.’

He shook his head. ‘She kept saying, “I won’t let you leave me.” She said, “I’ll not let her take you.”’

‘You don’t have to tell me,’ Rose said, feeling uncomfortable. Mr Afton – he was a very clever man, wasn’t he?

‘I got the knife away from her. I held onto her in the end, and suddenly she gave up, stopped struggling. She was weeping. I – I didn’t dare let her go. I tied her apron round her, round her arms so she couldn’t move them, tied her to a chair. But she didn’t struggle, just sat there, weeping. I was bleeding and feeling faint. I went outside to call for help.’

‘I know. The police came.’

He raised haunted eyes to her. ‘What could I do? She’d tried to kill me. She might do it again. How could I trust her? She has to be—’ He didn’t want to say it.

‘Locked up.’ The words were flat as the smell of stagnant water.

He was silent, drawing on his reserves. ‘Down at the station, the doctor came, gave her something to make her drowsy. Looked at my wound. He said I was lucky, half an inch and it would have struck an artery and I’d be dead.’

He stopped. She waited, but he didn’t seem to be going to continue. She said, ‘Where is she now?’

‘They took her to Asham Bois,’ he said starkly.

She’d expected that. It was where the insane asylum was.

He looked at her as if she had accused him. ‘What else could I do? I couldn’t have her here, never knowing if she’d poison me, or stab me in my sleep. But she’s my sister!’ He shook his head miserably. ‘She’s always been a bit strange, but she was never a danger, not to me, not to anybody.’

Rose said, ‘You’re blaming me.’

‘I’m not!’ he protested.

‘Yes, you are. You think it’s you and me walking out that tipped her over. She thought I was taking you away from her. Well, I could have set her right on that score.’

‘Rose, don’t!’

She got up. ‘I’ll get out of your way now. I won’t bother you again. You can have her back here for all it matters to me. I’ll make sure to keep out of the way.’

‘Please don’t be angry. Please—’

‘I’m not angry,’ she said curtly. ‘You and me – that was always daft. We’re from different worlds. What do I want with a man, anyway? They’re nothing but trouble.’

She took her coat from the nail on the back of the door. He said, ‘Please don’t go,’ but she made no answer. She went out and closed the door quietly behind her.

Fly stood with a rattle of his chain and looked up at her hopefully, swinging his tail. ‘I don’t know what you’re laughing at,’ she addressed him. ‘Clown face.’ And she walked off. She felt scoured inside, with the raw satisfaction of one who expects the worst and is proved right.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

‘He’s moved back in with the Gales for the time being,’ Richard said. ‘He can’t use his right arm properly, so he needs help with washing and dressing. And he can’t cook for himself.’

‘It’s a grim business,’ Giles said, fiddling with a letter-opener on his desk. Richard walked restlessly over to the library window, then back. The dogs, lying in a patch of sunshine in front of the desk, watched him both ways, turning their heads in unison. ‘And there was no indication before?’