Poison

Chapter 37

The next few days in the house saw the end of the feast for the guest and the beginning of chaos for the inhabitants. For some reason, Nancy's fever only increased by the day, leaving Derek in a confused state of anger and guilt. Since she passed out that night, it was two days already and she had not woken up, even the sores on her back were beginning to close but the fever only burned stronger as the scalds disappeared on the open wound, almost like it was closing on the outside and opening on the inside.

Derek spent the two days pacing his parlor, racing his horses in the morning or drinking himself to stupor. What manner of anger had possessed him to the point of beating a woman almost to death was something he was struggling to understand. He was not known to be so temperamental, especially not with women. But there were not many women around him, his mother knew him well and so there was never a need for him to be offended by her. Lucille, Daniel's wife rarely spent a