Seduce Me at Sunrise (The Hathaways #2)(84)

Miss Marks was at his side in an instant, crouching on her hands and knees. "Is it labeled?" she asked breathlessly.

"No. Damn it all." Leo was gripped with volcanic fury.

"Let me have it," Miss Marks said, prying the vial from him.

Leo jumped to his feet immediately, hurling himself at the wardrobe. He slammed it with both his fists. "Damn you, Harrow, what is it? What is this stuff? Tell me, or you'll stay in there until you rot."

There was.nothing but silence from the wardrobe.

"By God, I'm going to-," Leo began, but Miss Marks interrupted.

"It's digitalin powder."

Leo threw her a distracted glance. She had opened the vial and was sniffing it cautiously. "How do you know?"

"My grandmother used to take it for her heart. The scent is like tea, and the color is unmistakable."

"What's the antidote?"

"I have no idea," Miss Marks said, looking more distressed by the moment. "But it's a powerful substance. A large dose could very well stop a man's heart."

Leo turned back to the wardrobe. " Harrow," he bit out, "if you want to live, you'll tell me the antidote now."

"Let me out first," came the muffled reply.

"No negotiating! Tell me what counteracts the poison, damn you!"

"Never."

"Leo?" A new voice entered the fray. He turned swiftly to see Amelia, Win, and Beatrix at the threshold. They were staring at him as if he'd gone mad.

Amelia spoke with admirable composure. "I have two questions, Leo: Why did you send for me, and why are you having an argument with the wardrobe?"

" Harrow 's in there," he told her.

Her expression changed. "Why?"

"I'm trying to make him tell me how to counteract an overdose of digitalin powder." He glared vengefully at the wardrobe. "And I'll kill him if he doesn't."

"Who's taken an overdose?" Amelia demanded, her face draining of color. "Is someone ill? Who is it?"

"It was meant for Merripen," Leo said in a low voice, reaching out to steady her before he continued. "But Cam took it by mistake."

A strangled cry escaped her. "Oh God. Where is he?"

"The Gypsy campsite. Merripen's with him."

Tears sprang to Amelia's eyes. "I must go to him."

"You won't do him any good without the antidote."

Win brushed by them, striding to the bedside table. Moving with swift deliberation, she picked up an oil lamp and a tin matchbox, and brought them to the wardrobe.

"What are you doing?" Leo demanded, wondering if she had lost her wits entirely. "He doesn't need a lamp, Win."

Ignoring him, Win removed the glass fount and tossed it to the bed. She did the same with the brass wick burner, exposing the oil reservoir. Without hesitation, she poured the lamp oil over the front of the wardrobe. The pungent odor of highly flammable paraffin spread through the room.

"Have you lost your mind?" Leo demanded, astonished not only by her actions, but also by her calm demeanor.

"I have a matchbox, Julian," she said. "Tell me what to give Mr. Rohan, or I'll set the wardrobe on fire."

"You wouldn't dare," Harrow cried.

"Win," Leo said, "you'll burn the entire damned house down, just after it's been rebuilt. Give me the bloody matchbox."

She shook her head resolutely.

"Are we starting a new springtime ritual?" Leo demanded. "The annual buming-of-the-manse? Come to your senses, Win."

Win turned from him and glared at the wardrobe door. "I was told, Julian, that you killed your first wife. Possibly by poison. And now knowing what you have done to my brother-in-law, I believe it. And if you don't help us, I'm going to roast you like a piece of Welsh rarebit." She opened the matchbox.

Realizing she couldn't possibly be serious, Leo decided to back her bluff. "I'm begging you, Win," he said theatrically, "don't do this. There's no need to- Christl"

This last as Win struck a match and set the wardrobe on fire.

It wasn't a bluff, Leo thought dazedly. She actually intended to broil the bastard.

At the first bright, curling blossom of flame, there was a terrified cry from inside the wardrobe. "All right! Let me out! Let me out! It's tannic acid. Tannic acid. It's in my medical case; let me out!"

"Very well, Leo," Win said, a bit breathless. "You may extinguish the fire."

In spite of the panic that raced through his veins, Leo couldn't suppress a choked laugh. She spoke as if she'd asked him to snuff a candle, not put out a large flaming piece of furniture. Tearing off his coat, he rushed forward and beat wildly at the wardrobe door. "You're a madwoman," he told Win as he passed her.

"He wouldn't have told us otherwise," Win said.

Alerted by all the commotion, a few servants appeared, one of them a footman who removed his own coat and hastened to assist Leo. Meanwhile, the women were rummaging for Harrow 's black leather medical case.

"Isn't tannic acid the same as tea?" Amelia asked, her hands shaking as she fumbled with the latch.

"No, Mrs. Rohan," the governess said. "I believe the doctor was referring to tannic acid from oak leaves, not the tannins from tea." She reached out quickly as Amelia nearly overturned the case. "Careful, don't knock it over. He doesn't label his vials." Opening the hard-sided case, they found rows of neatly arranged glass tubes containing powders and liquids. Although the vials themselves were not marked, the slots they fit in had been identified with inked letters. Poring over the vials, Miss Marks extracted one filled with pale yellow-brown powder. "This one."