She felt the strength in him and, more importantly, the restraint.
He held her securely without forcing her closer.
Mabel moved closer herself.
His breathing changed.
She smiled against his mouth.
Gideon pulled back slightly.
“What?”
“You are nervous.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I am trying very hard to behave.”
That made her laugh softly.
“Why?”
“Because I have wanted to do this since the church.”
Mabel stared.
Gideon realized he had confessed too much.
She touched his beard.
“Then stop behaving quite so much.”
He kissed her again.
The storm continued outside.
The rest of the night belonged to them without explanation.
Not payment.
Not debt.
Not obligation.
Two adults who had entered marriage through coercion choosing, for the first time, something within it freely.
Doctor Merritt arrived four days later.
He was sixty-one, thin, irritable, and unimpressed by snow.
He examined the powder.
Then Mabel.
Then the powder again.
“This isn’t enough to establish dosage.”
Mabel’s stomach sank.
“But?”
“But it contains arsenic.”
Gideon’s expression hardened.
Merritt continued.
“And something else.”
“What?”
“Likely antimony.”
Mabel frowned.
“Why both?”
“To produce chronic vomiting, weakness, intestinal distress.”
He looked at her.
“Over time?”
“Yes.”
Mabel sat.
The room seemed to tilt.
Not because she was surprised.
Because confirmation was different from suspicion.
Gideon’s hand rested on the chair beside her.
Not touching.
Waiting.
Mabel reached for it.
He closed his fingers around hers.
Merritt noticed.
Said nothing.
“Could it explain swelling?”
“Yes.”
“Weight changes?”
“Some.”
Mabel closed her eyes.
Years.
How much of her body had been hers?
How much illness?
The question felt dangerous.
Then she opened her eyes.
No.
Her body was hers regardless.
Illness did not make her more legitimate.
Nor would recovery.
Gideon seemed to understand her thoughts without hearing them.
“You don’t have to become different for this to matter.”
Mabel looked at him.
Merritt raised an eyebrow.
Gideon ignored him.
The doctor cleared his throat.
“There is another issue.”
“What?”
“The reducing medicine.”
Mabel handed him the remaining packet.
Merritt smelled it.
Tested a trace.
His face darkened.
“Who prescribed this?”
“Doctor Bellamy.”
Merritt swore.
“What?”
“This contains thyroid extract.”
Mabel frowned.
“Is that bad?”
“Used improperly? Yes.”
He looked at Gideon.
“Could disrupt heart rhythm.”
“Combined with arsenic?”
“Worse.”
Gideon stood.
“I’m going to Ridge Creek.”
Mabel grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
“Mabel.”
“No.”
“They tried to kill you.”
“And if you ride down there threatening a doctor and Jonah, what happens?”
“I feel better.”
“You hang.”
Merritt coughed.
“She has a point.”
Gideon glared.
Merritt shrugged.
“I disliked you before this marriage.”
Mabel almost smiled.