Poison shadows
| Language | en |
|---|---|
| First published | 2025-12-01 |
| Rights | Public domain in the USA. |
| Gutenberg ID | #77378 |
Description
"American medicinal barks" by Alice Henkel is a scientific publication written in the early 20th century. It likely catalogs North American tree barks used in medicine, explaining how to identify, collect, process, and market them, with practical notes for pharmacists, field collectors, and botanists. The opening of the provided text, however, plunges into a very different tale: a society intrigue and mystery. A spendthrift countess, Etta Wyndcliffe, and the deformed gambler-guardian Gordon Routh scheme to force spirited Sibell Dare to wed a rich libertine, while she loves the penniless doctor Brinsley Otway. Sibell unexpectedly inherits a fortune and the long-shuttered Guest House at Hampton Court, a place linked to sudden, unexplained deaths; when it is reopened, an auctioneer suffers a terrifying heart-like seizure, and a constable reports a fleeting green glow within. Sibell and Brinsley explore the dust-caked rooms; he finds rare volumes, including a Venetian compendium on poisons, then collapses at home after biting a peach—tests show no toxin, yet he hovers near death before slowly recovering. As Sibell plans to take him to the Riviera, a final scene reveals Etta in secret collusion with her “butler,” Ashe, fretting over a man named Rupert and hinting at a concealed past—tightening the web of money, manipulation, and a possibly lethal house. (This is an automatically generated summary.)