Once he is sure that Bennet's footsteps are no longer on the stairs, Matthew gets up from the bed and crouches down next to it. Reaching under the frame, his fingers lift up the loose floorboard, revealing his stash of substances he knows he shouldn't be taking.

He takes out the bottle of laudanum, by far the quickest to take, needing only to uncork the bottle and swig it down. Replacing the bottle, and the floorboard, when he is ready, Matthew wipes the evidence from his mouth with the back of his hand and takes up his stick, heading downstairs after Bennet.