Poison, then?
Charlie worked to keep her voice steady as that thought hammered her brain. “Do you think something has been added to the wine?”
Melissa cast her a startled glance. “Charlotte, what are you talking about?”
“Does anyone in the house use laudanum drops?” Angus asked.
Melissa hesitated for a few seconds. “I do, which I suppose is no surprise. But I don’t use them very often. They make me feel too fuzzy and sometimes upset my stomach.” Then her eyes popped wide. “But I never gave them to Johnny, I promise!”
“Of course ye didn’t,” Angus said, patting her shoulder. “Does yer local sawbones make the drops up for ye? Do ye ken what he adds to the bottle?”
Charlie frowned. “What sort of things might he add?”
“The drops themselves taste very bitter,” Melissa explained. “You add sugar and other flavorings to make it more palatable.” She looked at Angus. “When the chemist makes up my drops, he adds cloves and cinnamon.”
When he held the glass out to Melissa, she took a sniff and nodded.
“Yes, that’s what my drops smell like.” She grimaced. “Johnny must have taken them from my room and added them to his wine. To help with the pain, I’m sure.”
“Nae doubt that’s what he did,” Angus said in an easy tone. “The lad just overdid it a bit.”
Given the way Johnny had twitted Melissa about her drops in the past, Charlie knew very well that he’d not given himself a dose of laudanum. She could tell that Angus was also keeping any doubts to himself, thank God. If Melissa were to find out that Sir Leslie had possibly attempted to poison poor Johnny, all hell would break loose.
Her hand curled into an involuntary fist as she struggled to keep her anger from showing.
All hellwouldbreak loose soon enough, and it would come from her. Because if Sir Leslie had indeed dosed Johnny, and she had little doubt that he had, Charlie would haul the bastard to the top of the tower and toss him right off.
She took a deep breath, forcing calm. “Is Johnny going to be all right?”
“Nae worries, lass,” Angus replied. “Yer sawbones will likely give him a purgative, which is nae fun, but it’ll help. And we’ll give him lots of strong tea and get him drinkin’ water, too. He’ll be right as rain in no time.”
Melissa expelled a shaky breath. “Thank goodness. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to poor Johnny.”
Angus winked at her. “It was just a foolish mistake, ye ken. My grandsons were always gettin’ into trouble, back in the day. Johnny’s nae different.”
Yes, it was a foolish mistake, but it was on Sir Leslie’s part, not Johnny’s. Because Charlie was now coming for him, and the villain would live to regret it.
CHAPTER21
“Taking the day off, are you, Kendrick?” Morgan commented as he strolled into the drawing room. “You’ve got a concerto or some such to finish, don’t you? Odd, then, that I find you sitting at your leisure this morning, reading the papers.”
Angus, trailing in behind Morgan, rolled his eyes before wandering over to have a chat with Colin on the other side of the room. Kade had tasked his grandfather with keeping an eye on their suspect at breakfast, because it would leave him free to search Morgan’s room. While doing so, he’d had to dodge a chambermaid’s sudden appearance by ducking out an open window and hanging about on the windowsill until she left, but that barely qualified as an inconvenience.
All in all, keeping an eye on Morgan hadn’t exactly been a stretch, since the blighter had made it blindingly easy.
Kade gave him a polite smile. “Yes, I thought I’d take the day off.”
“How delightfully madcap of you,” Morgan drawled. “But how will you fill the hours, old boy? You’re such a slave to your work.”
Kade studied him for a moment, pondering how to answer.
Why not push it?
“As a matter of fact,” he replied, “I thought I’d go on a treasure hunt. Now that Johnny’s feeling better, I’ll look for Miss Charlotte’s brooch. It’s not going to find itself, after all.”
Morgan’s left eye twitched, but he mustered a credibly amused smile. “Oh, ho, so that’s the way the wind blows. Didn’t know you intended to throw your hat in the ring for that one.”
Kade folded his paper and set it on the gateleg table beside him. “I’m only trying to help recover a cherished family heirloom, although Miss Charlotte’s gratitude will certainly be a bonus.”
