Delaney stood close behind her husband, waiting to see who would open their door. She was surprised when it revealed a red-faced Ms. Bird with an expression of fear.

"What is it?" Vincent demanded, frowning and stepping forward.

"My Lord and Lady," she shook her head, "I\'m terribly sorry to bother you at such a late hour after Lord Adair has had an exhausting day but... but this just couldn\'t wait!"

"Of course" Delaney assured her, "Come in."

When Ms. Bird stepped in she turned in a strange way and Delaney realized she was pulling something along beside her. The maid closed the door behind them before pushing the other person forward in front of her. Delaney was shocked to see it was little William dressed in his nice new clothes but with a tear-stained face.

"Oh William what is it?" the duchess swept forward but when she reached for the small boy he pulled back and tried to hide himself behind Ms. Birds\'s skirts.

"No you don\'t young man," the maid scolded and grabbed his arm, pulling him forward again, "You\'re not getting out of this."

"What is this?" Vincent frowned at the scene, "What\'s going on?"

Ms. Bird looked between Delaney and Vincent nervously. At last, her eyes landed on Delaney.

"My Lady... You know the boy has been very upset of late. He\'s been hardly eating or talking to anyone and I\'ve caught him crying in the corners when he thought no one was looking."

Delaney was shocked to hear the extent of the boy\'s sadness.

"Is that true?" she asked him gently, looking into his brown eyes, "Have you been doing these things?"

The child only nodded and wiped his nose on his sleeve, keeping his eyes from hers.

"Well you asked me to have a talk with him so I did," Ms. Bird continued, "I took the boy to the library and pressed him to tell me what was wrong. Well, after much persuading and promising he finally gave in."

Delaney stepped back until she felt Vincent\'s warm hand on the small of her back, steadying her. She looked down at the boy and felt uneasy now. Sweet little William. What had he gotten himself into?

"Go on then," Vicent insisted, "Tell us whatever it is you\'ve learned."

Ms. Bird hesitated, "My Lady... My Lord... I promised the boy you would show him mercy if he came forward and told you the truth of what he\'s done. He\'s very afraid of your wrath."

Vincent and Delaney turned to one another, meeting each other\'s eyes. Her husband held her gaze for a moment before turning back to the older woman and nodding.

"Alright," he said, turning to look at William, "You have my word that whatever the crime is, I will show mercy."

The boy looked at him in fear before looking at Delaney with equal fear. He turned to Ms. Bird and shook his head but the woman stared at him with a steady, encouraging gaze. After a moment he turned back to the Duke and Duchess and dropped his head.

"I-I-I did sssomething b-bad," he stammered, closing his eyes tight as he tried to force out the words, "I-I-I c-came h-h-h-here..."

His words trailed off as he frowned. He was trying to speak but his fear of what would happen was making it nearly impossible. A sort of humming sound came from him as he tried to form the next word.

Delaney couldn\'t stand the sight of it. It made her heart ache for him. It was cruel to try to force him to speak when he was so scared. She glanced at Vincent who looked just as unhappy with the scene as she was.

"Wait," she held out a hand and the boy quickly stopped, eyes wide again assuming he\'d ruined something.

Looking to Ms. Bird, Delaney sighed.

"He\'s already told you whatever it is he\'s going to tell us. Is that correct?"

"It is my Lady."

"Good," Delaney sighed, "Then you tell us so he doesn\'t have to. If not, we may be waiting here for quite some time. His fear is making his speech impossible to understand."

"Of course my Lady," Ms. Bird nodded, "I will tell you everything he has told me."

Delaney and Vincent stood together while Ms. Bird held Williams\'s arm. Neither one was sure what to expect. The maid opened her mouth to begin but was cut short.

"W-wait!" the boy cried and they all turned to look at him. William met Delaney\'s eyes for a moment before fishing around in the pocket of his vest. He pulled something out and gripped it tightly in his hand. He moved to stand before Vincent and took a deep breath before thrusting his arm at the Duke.

Vincent frowned in confusion but William looked up at him unhappily and thrust his arm forward again as he took another step towards the man. At last, it dawned on Vincent what the child wanted him to do and he held his hand out. William dropped the contents of his hand into Vincent\'s before jumping back and rushing to Ms. Bird\'s side once again.

Delaney looked at her husband\'s hand and saw that sitting in it was a tiny brown vial with a red wax seal. Vincent and Delaney both stared at it for a moment before looking up at William and then Ms. Bird.

"I don\'t understand," Vincent shook his head, "What is this?"

Ms. Bird took a breath to steady her nerves.

"It\'s a vial of poison, my Lord."

Delaney\'s breath caught in her throat and Vincent\'s hand locked over the thing. He looked at the maid now with eyes flashing.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded loudly, "What do you mean it\'s poison?"

"The vial of poison was given to him before he left the castle. The person who gave it to him promised him all kinds of rewards if he would use it to poison someone... To poison you, Lord Adair..."

Delaney gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. She looked down at the child in horror before looking at her husband.

"Oh my God Vincent," she whispered, feeling her breath coming unevenly and her heart race, "Oh my God... We\'ve been so afraid of someone trying to kill you and... and he was here... he was right here under our roof the whole time... we... we invited him in!"

Seeing his wife begin to panic, Vincent sat the vial carefully on her dressing table before stepping quickly to her and catching her as her knees buckled beneath her.

"It\'s alright love," he assured her, "I\'m right here with you. Nothing has happened to me. I\'m fine."

"B-but he works in the kitchen," she shook her head as her breathing became more like gasps, "He could\'ve..."

"Shhhh," Vincent eased her down onto the end of the bed and winced as he kneeled down in front of her. He took her cheeks in his hands and told her to breathe.

"Look at me," he whispered over and over, "We\'re alright. Just look at me."

Delaney\'s heart was beating so fast and hard she thought for sure it would be overwhelmed and suddenly stop but she stared into her husband\'s green eyes and held onto his wrists where he was cradling her face. She listened to his words and let them sink into her mind. He was here with her. He was safe.

Slowly she began to relax and her breathing eased back to a normal rhythm. As soon as he was sure she was alright, Vincent turned back to the boy standing with the maid. His green eyes turned cold.

Ms. Bird saw this change in her master and moved until William was partially protected behind her.

"Please my Lord," she pleaded, "He knows it was wrong to take the poison but he felt he had no choice. Living here with us he\'s had more chances than we can imagine where he could\'ve slipped that poison into your drink or food but he didn\'t. William loves you and Lady Adair and has been eaten up with guilt for even taking the poison in the first place. He told me he never thought he would be able to actually use it. Then once we left the city and came here he thought he was free and he would never have to. The guilt came from having it at all. He knows now he should have told you right away that someone had given it to him. He was just scared!"

Vincent\'s eyes narrowed on the boy, "You knew someone was threatening my life. My wife went down to the kitchens and spoke to the cooks. You asked her about it. She explained to you that a bad person wanted to kill me, didn\'t she?... Didn\'t she?!"

A choked sob escaped the little boy\'s throat but he nodded now as tears poured over his cheeks.

"Then why didn\'t you tell her that very day that you had the poison? Why hide it? Or is Ms. Bird wrong and you did actually intend to use it to kill me?"

"N-n-no!" the child exclaimed, shaking his head vigorously.

"Then why hide it, William? Tell me who it was that sent you here to kill me."

Little William looked up at his master with big brown eyes and fought to form the words but Vincent\'s anger was palpable.

"Tell me!"