The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(62)

I gasped. "That's awful! What a horrid man."

"If I were her, I'd have thumped him," Cyclops said.

Duke nodded. "You win, Willie."

"She does," Matt said. "And now I know where to go first thing in the morning."



Miss Glass tried to get Matt and I to remain home the next morning, but he refused. "I'm sorry, Aunt, but we have to go out. Urgent business."

"To do with that doctor's murder?" she asked, handing him his glove.

He blinked at her.

"I'm not a complete fool, Matthew," she said. "I know I lose my wits sometimes, but I do see things."

"Yes, it's to do with Dr. Hale's murder. We're helping the police with their investigation."

She did up his jacket button for him then patted his lapels. "I wish you wouldn't get involved in such a vulgar thing as police work."

"I'm sorry you find murder vulgar, Aunt Letitia. Believe me, you're not the only one."

"It's not just the murder but the police themselves. I do like knowing they're protecting us from criminals, or trying to, but I wonder what sort of person wants to go about chasing down murderers and thieves and other undesirable characters."

"The active sort." He kissed her forehead. "Did you have plans for India and me today?"

"You, yes. I wanted to take you to lunch with me. Lady Abbington is going, and Oriel Haviland, and your cousins, too."

"Another time, Aunt. When this is over."

"Promise me?"

He clasped her hands in his. "Promise. You can throw as many eligible women at me as you can possibly find. I just can't promise to like any of them."

"That is entirely the wrong attitude, Matthew."

He smiled. "Ready, India?"

"Oh, and India, before you go," Miss Glass said. "Wait there." She disappeared into the adjoining sitting room and came out again a moment later carrying a piece of folded soft green fabric. "I bought this for you."

"For me?" I said, accepting it.

"It's a shawl. It will look lovely with your coloring." She helped me adjust the shawl around my shoulders then stepped back and smiled. "I was right. It does."

"That's very kind of you, Miss Glass, but you didn't have to."

"It's a token of how much I value your friendship." She stepped in and fussed with the shawl near my throat. When it dragged on too long, I touched her elbows. She stepped back again, and that's when I saw her damp eyes. "You're very special to me," she said quietly. "Very special indeed."

"Thank you," I said, not quite sure how to react. Was it an apology gift because she felt guilty for forbidding me from being with Matt, or did she genuinely consider me a close friend? Perhaps it was both.

I removed the wrap and handed it to Bristow. "Please take it to my room."

"My aunt is behaving very oddly lately," Matt said as we drove off. "More so than usual, and mostly with you. Is everything all right between you?"

I nodded. I would not tell him that his aunt forbade a tendre between us. It would only embarrass me and make things awkward. I couldn't bear that. "Perhaps she's lonely. We are out of the house an awful lot. I should be home with her more."

"She's been doing quite a lot of visiting herself, lately. I don't think it's loneliness. And you're busy, anyway. I have need of you too."

The coach slowed as we approached the London Hospital. My reticule, which I'd been holding loosely, throbbed. Startled, I let it go and it fell off my lap and landed on the floor at my feet.

Matt picked it up. "Is everything all right?"

"It moved."

He held up the reticule by its ribbon. The little pouch twirled slowly until it settled, but it did not throb again. "It's not moving now," he said.

"The watch inside pulsed, like it did that day the Dark Rider attacked me. Matt, I think—"

The coach door wrenched open and a figure wearing a billowing black hooded cloak jumped in. I swallowed a scream and crowded against the far side of the cabin. Matt grabbed the man by his cloak and shook him. The hood fell back.

It was Coyle's thug!

"How dare you," Matt snarled, rising off the seat. The cabin seemed too small all of a sudden, the ceiling too low. Both men filled it, trapping me in the corner.

My watch chimed. Matt no longer held my reticule but I couldn't see it.

"Let me go, Mr. Glass, or you'll regret it," the man said to Matt in his thick cockney accent. Yet it was his calm, sinister tone that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise, not the threat itself.

Matt twisted his fist, tightening the cloak at the man's throat, forcing him to lift his chin. "You're coming with us to Scotland Yard," Matt growled.

"No, Mr. Glass, I ain't." The click of a gun cocking stopped my heart dead. "Let me go or I'll shoot."





Chapter 12





Matt uncurled his fingers and eased his fist out of the man's cloak. "There's a lady present," he said through clenched teeth.

"I ain't blind," Coyle's thug shot back.