![]() ![]() An intuitive understanding that something must be avoided.īut what unwritten warning could reside on a single sheet of parchment, shrouded beneath pen strokes? None at all, I assured myself this letter was no omen. Instead, the disquiet brewed inside of me. It was not the subtle, woodsy odor of the parchment or the way the lower left corner curled forward slightly, as though once damp with tears. But for a reason yet unknown to me, something about the letter left me unsettled. ![]() The preparation would take mere minutes the poison was within reach. Immediately the remedy most suited to this request: a chicken egg laced with nux vomica. And with an instinct perfected over the last two decades, I knew At once, I drew to mind a middle-aged housemaid, called to do the bidding of her mistress. ![]() For my mistress’s husband, with his breakfast. Her request was simple and straightforward. I ran my fingers over the ink of her words, imagining what despair brought the woman to seek out someone like me. I lifted the blush-colored paper, illuminated by the dying flame of a single rush wick candle. A nursemaid or a courtesan.īut despite all that I did not know, I understood this: the woman knew exactly who she wanted dead. I did not know her rank in society nor the dark things of which she dreamed when night fell. I knew neither her age nor where she lived. She would come at daybreak – the woman whose letter I held in my hands, the woman whose name I did not yet know. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |