Chapter 11
Vincent and Matthew exchanged glances.They deliberately avoided looking at Miss Walden, though from the corner of his eye he saw her gulp.He took a long drink of his tea and carefully set the cup on its saucer.
“Smugglers are using the tunnels,” Vincent finally said, aware Gert would quickly grow impatient if he stalled further.“We set out to find proof of who is impersonating Mother Hobart and instead found a cavern full of contraband.”
Gert slammed her palms on the table.“The devil you say!”
“Last night they came to collect some of their goods.I followed them into the tunnel while Matthew stayed outside.”
“You didwhat?”Agnes’s face drained of all color.
Miss Walden slowly stirred her coffee, staring transfixed at the contents of her cup.
“We planned to catch them in the middle,” Matthew added.“Apprehend them as they came back out.”
“There were two of them and two of us, and we had the advantage of surprise.”Vincent decided there was no need to mention Miss Walden’s participation.At least not yet.
“And what went wrong with your brilliant plan?”Gert set her mouth in a firm line.
“There was … I may have made a noise that alerted them to my presence.”He really, really wanted to defend himself, to explain that the noise he’d made had been in response to the sound Miss Walden made that had first alerted him toherpresence, but perhaps they could avoid the worst part of the scandal.For now.“One of them fired his pistol.”
Agnes gasped.Gertrude raised her eyebrows.
“He missed me, but his shot triggered a cave-in.”
“I was unable to clear the cave entrance by myself, so I fetched Kendall.”Matthew’s quiet admission had Agnes gasping again.“He determined we needed more help.And that’s how your male staff spent part of the night.Helping me.”
Gertrude steepled her fingers, her elbows on the table once more.“And how badly were you injured in this cave-in?”She directed her steely gaze at Vincent.
“What makes you think—”
“I smell lavender on you.”She took another sniff in his direction.“And basilicum powder, yarrow root, and other herbs.Your valet got the recipe from Kendall, you know.I believe it was after you engaged in a race down the short path to the beach and cut your head and sliced open your knee and shin.”
Ah, yes.He’d won that foot race and the wager, at the cost of new scars after he tripped on jagged rocks.His stockings and long hair hid them.He shrugged.“You know how badly head wounds can bleed, even for the most trifling of scratches.”
“Hmmpf.”
Some color returned to Agnes’s cheeks.“Was the cavern with the caved-in entrance the same one where they hid the contraband?”
“No, a little further along the tunnel, closer to the beach than the house.”Vincent turned to confirm that with Matthew, who nodded.
“Then the contraband is still in a cave in the tunnels on my property?”Gert sounded affronted.Considering the Hobart family’s history with smuggling, no doubt her ire was tied to the contraband being there without her knowledge or consent, rather than objecting to smuggling itself.
“Except for two large sacks of flour that they took with them last night, yes.”Matthew turned to Vincent.“I was surprised they didn’t drop the sacks.They ran remarkably fast for carrying them.”
“Are there more of their goods still in the cavern?”Agnes leaned forward.
Matthew nodded.“More than two men could remove in one night.”
Gertrude and Agnes exchanged alarmed glances.
“I don’t think there’s any risk of them coming back during daylight hours to retrieve what they’ve left behind,” Vincent rushed to assure them.
“But they will return.”Miss Walden spoke so softly he barely heard her.She took a sip of coffee and resumed staring into the contents of her cup.
“Unless we make it known that their merchandise is gone.”Aunt Gertrude tapped one finger on the tabletop.
“Yes, we could simply summon the magistrate.Let him fetch the Revenue men and whoever else needs to get involved.”Agnes nodded and relaxed, as though that settled the matter.
