Sallis was entirely unsuspicious. He said, ‘Yes, of course. Hold on, I’ll prop the door open, and we’ll carry it out between us.’
And of course, gentle impractical Mr Fane was not accustomed to humping packing cases around. He was more used to sitting behind a desk, and when he needed something moving or mending or adjusting, he rang a suitable workman. A bit of a wimp, really; hopeless when it came to understanding how you walked backwards when carrying something, or how you manoevred around an awkward corner. It was inevitable that he should dither a bit, and that the dithering should result in him fumbling his hold of the heavy case.
He fumbled it quite badly, in fact. The packing case slithered from his hands just as they were going past the stairs, and Michael Sallis made an instinctive grab to stop it falling against the carved newel post. There was a moment when he took the full weight, and then the heavy corner smashed down with a rather sickening dull crunch. It might have gone on his foot – Edmund had, in fact, been aiming for that, but it went on his left hand as he snatched at the corner. Almost as good. Blood gushed to the surface from a deep gash made by the case’s sharp corner, and a huge blind weal rose across the knuckles.
Edmund was instantly and deeply contrite. He could not think how he had been so clumsy; he had just been negotiating the jutting wall by the little window recess…And oh dear goodness, that looked like a very nasty injury indeed. It might be as well to just run down to the local emergency room to get it looked at.
‘Please don’t bother. It’ll be all right in a minute – I’ll put it under the cold tap,’ said Michael. But his face was white with pain and he swayed for a moment as if the injury had made him dizzy. Edmund waited, trying to decide if it would further his plan if Sallis passed out or not. Probably not. Fortunately Sallis seemed to regain control, and he went a bit unsteadily through to the kitchen, turning on the tap full blast and wincing as he held his hand under the cold water.
‘I am so sorry,’ said Edmund in the tone of a man wringing his own hands with distress. ‘How could I have been such a fool—But just as we turned the stair corner—You know, I do think that ought to be X-rayed. It’s bleeding quite badly as well, it might need stitching. And you could have snapped a small bone or cracked a knuckle or something. You really shouldn’t take any chances with hands.’ He saw Sallis hesitate and he saw that Sallis was in too much pain to think straight. ‘I’ll drive you there at once,’ said Edmund firmly. ‘No, really, I insist. I’d never forgive myself if there was any serious damage and we ignored it. Wait a moment and I’ll see if there’s any ice in the fridge. Oh good, yes. I’ll fold some ice cubes in a towel and we’ll wrap it round your hand—Yes, like that. That might ease it a bit. It doesn’t matter about taking your jacket, does it?’
‘Yes. Mobile phone and wallet,’ said Michael through waves of pain.
‘Oh yes, of course.’
All the way to the hospital Edmund could feel how much Sallis was hating this enforced dependency. Serve you right, he thought viciously. How dare you come out here like this, pretending to be someone you’re not! Did you really think you wouldn’t be recognized? You’re Alraune’s son, for pity’s sake! Did you honestly expect to get away with that?