The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(53)

"People make new homes elsewhere all the time. You already have at least one friend here."

"If you mean you, then I ain't convinced you're going to stay here. You might decide to try America."

"I have no reason to move."

"Don't you?" he asked slyly.

"No."

"The weather's warmer."

"That's hardly a convincing argument. I'm used to the cold and damp. Besides, summer is always just around the corner."

"Aye, but I'm hoping we won't be here for the summer." He cast a longing gaze at the door through which Matt had exited. "I don't think he'll last to see it if we don't fix his watch."



There was nothing for it. We had to resort to spying on our suspects. We'd achieved very little through interrogating them, so it was time for more underhanded methods.

After breakfast, Matt assigned Cyclops to watch Mr. Pitt, Duke to watch Mr. Clark, and himself to spy on Mr. Oakshot. Willie protested that she had nothing to do, and didn't want to sit around sipping tea with Miss Glass and me until she died of boredom, so Matt allowed her to go to the London Hospital to try to learn anything useful about Wiley and Ritter.

"I could help too," I said. "I could check all the medicines for any that feel magically warm. When I find one, I simply ask a nurse who handled it last."

"You'll slow me down or get caught," Willie declared. "You ain't coming."

"Why would I get caught?"

"You're too distinctive."

"I am not. I'm the sort of woman who blends into the background. I hardly ever get noticed by anyone."

Willie snorted. Matt, Duke and Cyclops politely and diplomatically disagreed with me.

"Besides," I said, "if either of us is going to get noticed, it's you in your men's clothing."

"India's got a point," Duke said to Willie. "You're like a lighthouse beacon. Ships see you a mile offshore."

"And avoid me?" She stamped her hands on her hips and settled her feet apart. "Is that what you're implying? That men change course when they see me?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "You said it, not me."

"Willie's right," Matt said. "You're not going, India. You can't just wander into their dispensary and ask nurses who handled the medicines."

"I don't plan on wandering in," I said, placing my hands on my hips as Willie had done. "I plan on tricking my way in."

"No. You'll get in Willie's way."

"Ha!" Willie shot me a triumphant look.

"Don't get cocky," I snapped. "He's only refusing because he's protecting me. He thinks I can't take care of myself."

"You can't," Willie and Duke both said. She winked at him. He frowned back at her and apologized to me.

"You can't, India," he said. "Sorry, but it's the truth."

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much," I said snippily. "I have a mouth and a brain. I can talk my way out of a situation. If Willie is cornered, she'll shoot her way out. My method is far more civil and involves no bloodshed." I spun round and marched out of Matt's study only to have him grasp me by the arm and stop me in the corridor.

"You're mad with me," he said.

I rounded on him. "I understand your point, Matt, but I think you're wrong. I'm not delicate, so stop treating me as if I were a snowflake that'll melt at the first sign of heat."

His grip tightened ever so slightly before letting me go. "You're forgetting one vital thing."

"That I'm a woman, and Willie is…whatever she is?"

That almost coaxed a smile from him, but his lips quickly flattened again. "The main reason you shouldn't go to the hospital is because you're known; not only by Wiley and Ritter but several nurses have seen you too. You couldn't possibly sneak about. And before you try telling me nobody notices you, I'd like you to know that I vehemently and categorically deny that claim."

"I…I'm not sure what to say to that." I may not have known what to say but my face certainly knew how to react. It blushed to the roots of my hair.

"Say, 'Thank you, Matt, I agree with you.'"

I arched my brows at him. "Now you're being silly."

"Say 'I'm lovely.'"

"I will not."

"Go on, it's easy. 'I'm very pretty. I have a lovely face and figure. In fact, my figure is more than lovely, it's—'"

"Matthew?" Miss Glass emerged from her bedroom, her lips pinched in horror. "Why are you telling India that your face and figure are lovely?"

Matt and I laughed.

"Never mind, Aunt," he said. "If you'll both excuse me, I have to get ready to go out for the day."

"Is India going with you?" she asked.

"Yes," I said as Matt said, "No."

"Good. India and I shall pay a call on our friends, the Mortimers."

It sounded as good a plan as any, since I wasn't allowed to spy. The Mortimers were nice people anyway, and I liked their company very much. It would be a pleasant outing.