William Monk 06 - Cain His Brother

banishment as a gesture, not something to last forever.”
    “And it seems he was right,” Monk pointed out. “They did want him back.”
    “But not at the price of bringing Gisela with him. He did not understand that—but she did. She was far more of a realist.”
    “The accident,” he prompted.
    “He was taken back to Wellborough Hall,” she resumed. “The doctor was called, naturally. I don’t know what he said, only what I was told.”
    “What were you told?” Monk asked.
    “That Friedrich had broken several ribs, his right leg in three places, his right collarbone, and that he was severely bruised internally.”
    “Prognosis?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “What did the doctor expect of his recovery?”
    “Slow, but he did not believe his life to be in danger, unless there were injuries that he had not yet determined.”
    “How old was Friedrich?”
    “Forty-two.”
    “And Gisela?”
    “Thirty-nine. Why?”
    “So he was not a young man, for such a heavy fall.”
    “He did not die of his injuries. He was poisoned.”
    “How do you know?”
    For the first time she hesitated.

A NNE P ERRY is the bestselling author of two acclaimed series set in Victorian England: the William Monk novels, including
Execution Dock and Dark Assassin
, and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels, including Buckingham Palace Gardens and
Long Spoon Lane
. She is also the author of the World War I novels
No Graves As Yet, Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade
, and
We Shall Not Sleep
, as well as seven holiday novels, most recently
A Christmas Promise
. Anne Perry lives in Scotland. Visit her website at www.anneperry.net .