Hello everybody! I'm here with one more splendid chapter for your perusal...
The crowd parted, revealing an old lady lying still on the floor. Her eyes had rolled back and there was foam seeping out through her mouth. A younger woman knelt next to her, clutching her desperately and Molly assumed that the scream from earlier had come from the younger woman. She recognised the two women as Mrs. Hudson and her mother, Mrs. Brakens. They had moved to Meryton after the demise of Mrs. Hudson's husband, Frank Hudson. Although Mrs. Hudson was still young enough to marry again, she didn't seek out another husband and decided to open a bed and breakfast instead. Molly was quite fond of her and despite what Mrs. Bennet says, Mrs. Hudson is a kind and caring woman.
She made a move towards the pair, hoping to be of some comfort and saw Mr. Holmes doing the same. 'At least he seems to care for people.' was what she thought before plopping down next to Mrs. Hudson and examining Mrs. Brakens with whatever knowledge she had acquired from reading medical books that her father had brought home a month ago. She calmly patted Mrs. Hudson's hand, who was sobbing hysterically into Molly's shoulder. Molly looked around. Several women had already fainted and their spouses, brothers or fathers were fanning their faces, hoping to bring some colour back into their faces. Mary stood shocked next to Mr. Watson and locked eyes with Molly. Molly simply shook her head and nodded once, indicating that nothing had happened to her and that she was fine.
Mr. Watson began walking towards them, shouting, "Let me through, I am a doctor!" This made the most of the stunned people in the room to move out of Mr. Watson's way and many families gathered there shawls, fans, coats, and hats and started leaving the area. Miss Harriet showed each family out, quickly clearing the area and called over her shoulder, "I'm ringing up the police..."
By then Mr. Holmes had knelt down opposite Molly and began pulling on gloves. Molly watched the methodical way in which he worked - checking for pulse, collecting samples of the foam, examining the jewellery, and collecting samples of the broken champagne glass. The Bennet family stood some ways off, Mrs. Bennet was half unconscious and kept mumbling that she needed her smelling salts. Mr. Bennet held her up and propped her against a chair and rang for his carriage. "What about my girls! Oh, my girls!"
"Hush Mrs. Bennet nothing's happened to them see...there's Molly helping out and Mary and Irene are over here." He motioned the two girls to approach and they came barrelling into their parent's arms.
Mrs. Hudson clutched Molly's hand too tightly but she bore the pain on account of Mrs. Hudson's grieving. She instead focused on Mr. Holmes and Mr. Watson. Mr. Watson soon after declared Mrs. Brakens to be dead. Mrs. Hudson broke into another fit, crying out," Oh! What has happened to my poor mother!"
"She's been poisoned." whispered Molly.
