I coughed drily. 'Well, madam, you have told us all. What do you expect to happen now?'
She said nothing, only smiled. I was aware my heart was pounding very fast. I could not understand why. I heard voices from the hall, then the closing of the front door.
'Shit,' Barak said. 'My eyes. I'm seeing double.'
I looked at him. The pupils of his staring eyes were enlarged, enormous. I remembered Sabine's eyes on the day of my first visit and that nightshade was extremely poisonous. I had seen its effects before, at Scarnsea monastery.
'They've poisoned us,' I breathed.
'It's working quickly,' the old woman said quietly. Needler crossed quickly to the door and locked it. He stood against it and looked at us, a grim set to his fleshy jaw.
'The servants have all gone?' Goodwife Wentworth asked.
'I told them there's nothing more to do this morning, to go out and enjoy the air while it's fresh after the storm.' He turned to me. 'You thought you were unseen that night you went down the well, but my mistress heard someone in the orchard. She told me to wait at a window and see what happened. I saw the pair of you sneak in, saw baldy there go down the well.'
The old woman laughed, a brutal, ugly cackle. 'The blind have wondrous hearing, Master Shardlake, After that we feared the constable would come for us. When nothing happened we realized Elizabeth must still be refusing to plead.'
Barak tried to get to his feet but fell back, his eyes staring wildly. 'I can't see,' he said. His head began to shake. Whatever this stuff was, he had drunk more of it than me.
I tried to say something, but my voice would not come. I remembered standing by the nightshade bush at Scarnsea, Guy telling me about the poison. The only way to counteract it, if taken quickly enough, was an emetic.
Needler returned to his place behind the beldame. 'We knew you would come here,' she continued. 'It was all you could do.' She smiled evilly as I took deep breaths, trying to ease my pounding heart. 'The well, is empty now, by the way, the carcasses in the river. It's ready for you. Then we will deal with Joseph.' Her voice was low, a whisper, she was listening for us to fall on the floor. 'An old countrywoman knows many poisonous plants and we have a large herb garden. They are weakening, David. Kill them now.'
The steward swallowed hard. His face grim, he drew a dagger and came round the chair slowly, deliberately.
And then I remembered the mustard, what Guy had said about its emetic properties the day I first told him about the Wentworth case. Knowing it was my last chance, I hauled myself to my feet. I was shaking from head to foot. Barak too managed with a herculean effort to rise unsteadily and fumble for his sword. He seemed unable to focus. Needler, looking between us, appeared suddenly uncertain. I reached out for the mustard pot and, before Needler's astonished eyes, grasped it and thrust a big spoonful into my mouth. I swallowed, my throat on fire.
The old woman called out, a note of fear in her voice. 'What's happened, David? What have they done?'
Barak made an uncertain lunge with his sword. He cut only air, but Needler retreated quickly behind the chair.
I felt my stomach turn, then leaned over and vomited its contents onto the floor with a horrible retching sound. 'Jack!' I cried. 'Here, take this!'
He grabbed the pot and swallowed what was left. He gasped and leaned back against his chair, sword still raised at Needler. I put a hand on the back of my chair, my head spinning.
'Stay up, sir!' Barak shouted. 'We must stay up!'
I took long, deep breaths. It was horribly frightening, knowing if we allowed ourselves to pass out now it could be the end of us. But my heartbeat was steadying a little. I pulled out my dagger. The old woman stood too, trembling, hands stretched out before her. 'David!' she called in a shrill howl. 'David! What is happening?'
Needler's nerve broke. He stepped away from his mistress and ran to the door. Barak started to follow, but staggered. The old woman turned to the sound of Needler's footsteps, her hands waving helplessly. 'David! David! Where are you? What's happening?'
Needler unlocked the door and threw it open. He ran down the steps and out of the house just as Barak leaned forward and vomited as spectactularly as I had. He sank to his knees, gasping.
The old woman turned towards the noise, panicky now. 'Where are you?' she shouted. 'David! David!' She stumbled, lost her balance and fell with a cry. Her head struck the wall and she collapsed to the floor with a moan.
I staggered to the open door of the parlour, down the stairs and through the front door which Needler had left open. I leaned on it for support and called 'Help!' in a cracked voice, making heads turn along the crowded street. 'Murder! Call the constable! Help!' Then my legs seemed to disappear beneath me and I fell into blackness.
Chapter Forty-six
I CAME TO WITH A START, jerking away from a vile smell under my nose. I gasped and looked round in confusion.
I was back in the Wentworths' parlour, but sitting in a chair now. A thickset man in a constable's jerkin stood watching me. Beside me stood Guy, holding the bottle he had just thrust under my nose. I stared around – the constable and Guy in his apothecary's robe both looked completely out of place amid the luxurious domesticity of the room. Barak sat sprawled in another chair, looking pale – but alive, the pupils of his eyes reduced to their normal size.
'The old woman-' I croaked.
'It's all right,' Guy said. 'She has been taken away. And her granddaughters. It was quick thinking to use the mustard to make you sick or you and Barak would both be dead by now. You've been unconscious nearly an hour. I was worried.'
I took a deep breath, aware that I had a mighty headache. 'It was you that told me about vomiting and poison.'
'I remember. You always had the best memory I know.'
'By Jesu.' I managed a hoarse laugh. 'I dread to think of the bill I will have for all you have done this last month.'
'You can afford it. Can you move your arms and legs?'
'Yes. I feel weak.'
'That should pass soon.' Guy reached to a bowl covered with a cloth on the table. He lifted the cloth and a sharp smell filled the room. 'I want you to drink this now,' he said. 'It will act against any poisonous humours remaining in your system.'
I looked at it warily, but suffered him to take my head and tip the stuff gently into my mouth. It was bitter. 'There,' he said, 'sit back now.' I did so, gasping.
The door opened and Joseph came in, his face ashen. But he smiled when he saw I had come to. 'Ah, sir, you are recovered. Thank God.'
I clasped Guy's arm. 'Did Needler get away?' I asked.
'Yes. There's a hue and cry out for him.'
'How did you get here?'
'You called for the constable.'
'Yes, I remember that. But nothing else till just now.'
'The constable found you, Barak and the old woman all unconscious. But you came round for a moment and asked for me.'
'I don't remember. Jesu, is my mind going?'
Guy laid a hand on my arm. 'It will come back to you. But you and Barak are both weak. You must rest.'
The constable spoke up. 'David Needler's been taken, sir, that's what I came to tell you. He tried to ride out through Cripplegate, but the gatekeeper took him. He didn't put up much of a struggle. He's in Newgate now.'
Barak looked at me seriously. 'Sabine and Avice have been taken there already with the old woman, though she
