The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(52)

He held up his hand. "I admit I judged her before I got to know her. Guilty as charged, ma'am."

"I'm glad you got to know the real Catherine. She's quite a character, although she's prone to romanticism. Men fall in love with her too easily, you see, and she falls for their flattery without getting to know them well first. It usually ends in heartache—theirs, not hers."

He cradled his glass in his hands as if he were warming them on a teacup. "I can see how that would cause you to worry about her."

"Only when the man in question is unsuitable, whether because of his nature or hers." I sidled closer and lowered my voice. "In your case, however, I think it would be a good match. You're both—"

"Stop there, India. Miss Mason is not for the likes of me."

"You can't know that yet. It's much too soon. Why not get to know her better and then judge."

He shook his head and downed the rest of his brandy. "She's not for people like me," he said again.

"Cyclops, if you're referring to the difference in your skin colors then I'm compelled to point out that it wouldn't matter to her and shouldn't to you, not if you truly like one another."

"It'll matter to her family."

As much as I liked Mr. and Mrs. Mason, I knew he was right, but only to a point. "It would at first, but if you made their daughter happy, they'd come to accept you in time. They're good people. Anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves. You don't know one another well enough yet to decide if there's anything between you."

"Aye, agreed, but it's not just that."

"Then what is it? You're a good man, kind, loyal, and I'd wager you can turn your hand to anything. How could anyone possibly find fault in you?"

"You don't know everything about me, India."

I settled back in the sofa and regarded the unscathed half of his profile. He had bold cheekbones, smooth skin, and a soulful eye, but the patch and scar marred the handsomeness and even gave him a sinister appearance, if one didn't know his nature.

"I know you were being hunted by the law back in America," I said. "I don't know why, and it doesn't matter to me what they think you did, and it won't matter to Catherine either. You must be innocent or Matt wouldn't be your friend."

"It would matter if she—or any Englishwoman—came back home with me." He shifted his weight. "You've got it wrong anyway. By the time I left California to come here with Matt, I wasn't being hunted by lawmen no more. Only my employer was still after me."

"What for?" I bit my lip and winced. "Sorry, it's none of my business. You don't have to answer that."

He gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I don't blame you for wanting to know, India. You done well not to pry before now."

"It hasn't been easy. Sorry."

"You English apologize a lot."

"Sorry."

We both laughed.

"There's not much to tell," Cyclops went on. "I was overseer at a mine in Nevada. I worked my way up over five years and had a lot of respect for my employer and he for me. But when he died suddenly, and his son took over, everything changed. Skillitt, his name was. He tried to cut costs wherever he could. I went along with his new methods for a time, but when he told me to order cheap weaker timbers to shore up the shafts, I refused."

"Weaker timbers could mean shafts might collapse?" I asked.

"Aye, and men would lose their lives. I quit and went to work at another mine. But a week later, a shaft at Skillitt's collapsed, sure enough. Mr. Skillitt blamed me, said I was the one who ordered the weaker timbers without his knowledge. He set the law onto me and I was arrested, tried and sentenced to hang."

"Oh my god."

"I escaped on the way back to the jailhouse after the trial. I didn't know where I was running to, I just kept on going. For five months, I lived off the land or stole if my hunting failed, but I never stayed in one place for long. I wound up in California, and that's when Matt found me."

"Hiding out," I said, remembering the story Matt had told me. "You fought before both giving up."

The side of his mouth lifted. "Toughest fighter I ever met, and he a gentleman and all. Took me by surprise when he opened his mouth and educated words fell out."

I could well imagine it. Matt didn't fit into a neat mold. "Did the Californian lawmen not care what you'd done in Nevada?"

"They cared all right, but Matt sorted it out. After I told him what happened, he arranged for the best lawyer to look into my case. I was re-tried back in Nevada, in my absence, and my name was cleared. But Mr. Skillitt was furious because my defense blamed him. He was never brought to justice, on account of his fortune and influence, but his reputation never recovered. He lost some business and friends out of it, and he hated me."

"So he sent men after you?"

He nodded. "Usually word got to me before they did, and Matt hid me well enough, but I had to stay alert. Skillitt's still after me. So you see, I couldn't take a woman back with me. Not to that life."

"It sounds to me like you shouldn't go back at all. It's much safer here for you."

He lifted one shoulder. "America is my home."