Page 29 of His Lady

Chapter 10

Wayne yawned but thenshook the sleep out of his head as he focused on today’s task. He tightened his fingers around the reins and continued to the abandoned warehouse where Harold had been last night. Knowing the lord’s habits, Wayne suspected the man was probably still in bed since it was early morning.

After leaving Regina’s place last night and returning to his room at the boarding house, he hadn’t been able to sleep. His mind tried many different ways to make things right with Regina without causing Jane to dislike her childhood friend. But ultimately, he couldn’t think of anything. Jane acted as if she was very much in love with him, and it was bad enough that she would despise him when he finally ended things between them. He didn’t need to tear the two friends apart, as well.

For now, he had to put those women behind him and focus on finding proof. This was another thing that had kept him awake last night. His gut told him that Harold had planned all along to take Wayne to the tavern to put the poison in his drink. Why else would a wealthy lord take his soon-to-be son-in-law to a rundown tavern?

Harold must not have approved of his daughter marrying an untitled man, but he didn’t know how to tell his daughter no. The earl wanted Wayne to look like the uncaring person in this scenario so that Jane didn’t blame her father.

It didn’t matter who won or who lost. The end result would be Harold arrested and sent to the gaol. Jane would be crushed, and rightly so, but it was Wayne’s duty as a Bow Street Runner to bring justice to England any way he could.

As he neared the warehouse, he searched for the horses he’d seen yesterday. Thankfully, none were anywhere around the building. He sighed with relief and dismounted. He tied his horse to a post before going inside. Keeping his pistol where it would be accessible, he crept toward the spot where he had noticed the light coming from the floor.

There was no light now, but the spot was easy enough to find. The warehouse floor was filthy dirty, yet the location of the trapped door had been wiped clean, and there was a rope attached to the floorboard in which to lift the door. The hinges on the door creaked, but he continued to pull it open. Because the room was underneath, the area was dark.

Wayne glanced around to find a lantern, expecting one to be close by. How else would Harold and his men work in the dark?

Thankfully, a lantern stood on a crate nearby. It didn’t take him long to get it lit, and then he carried it down the steps leading underground. There was a rope on the underside of the trapped door, but he wasn’t going to close it. Seeing the proof was all he needed to make arrests.

The moment he was in the cellar-type room, he noticed other lanterns. He lit two more, giving him more light in which to see. The room was larger than his bedchamber at the boarding house. Then again, this place would have to be large to hold the many crates and barrels scattered around. There were two long tables in the middle of the room and one small desk perched against the far wall in the corner.

Several canisters sat on the tables. Curiosity drew him closer, and he lifted the lid to the first canister and sniffed. Immediately, the overwhelming bitter scent of almonds filled the air. He jerked his head away and quickly placed the lid back on the canister. There was only one poison that he knew about, which smelled so strongly.Laurel Water. He knew this was used as a sedative, but if used in large doses, it would surely cause death.

He moved to the next canister that was shaped differently. He lifted the lid but was cautious not to smell too deeply. He didn’t need to smell this one, only because he recognized the plant.Opium.

Slowly, he moved around the table, looking into each canister. He found Camphor, Hemlock, Prussic Acid, and Tobacco. Although Tobacco hadn’t caused death, the others did if used in large doses. Yet, Harold was a clever man. The man’s purpose was to make a concoction that gave one the symptoms of each plant – excitement of the brain, dizziness, fainting, difficulty breathing, stupor, and delirium.

He moved to the desk and lifted the lantern to look at the open journal with writing inside. From what he could assume, these were specific measurements of each poison that formulated one calculation. Apparently, Harold was making his formula to sell. Since Opium was on the rise, Wayne was certain this concoction would fetch a handsome price, not only in Britain but also in other countries.

On the small table next to the desk sat bottles filled with dark liquid. Excitement shot through Wayne, knowing he had found everything needed to have Harold and his men thrown in the gaol for a very long time.

He rushed to the lanterns and turned off their glow. Keeping hold of the smallest one, he weaved around the tables toward the steps leading up to the warehouse. Footsteps echoed inside as voices ricocheted off the walls.

His heart sank. Who could be here this early in the morning?

Without another thought, he lowered the light in the lantern and crept behind one of the large crates in the room. Soon, the voices grew louder as they came closer. He clenched his teeth, wishing these people wouldn’t have come. He was too close to his achievement to have everything ruined.

A woman’s giggle and a man’s deep chuckle made Wayne aware of what the couple was probably doing in the warehouse. Out of all the places to find privacy, why did it have to be here? But when the steps groaned from their footsteps, a different confusion filled him. Apparently, this couple knew where they were headed.

For a moment, Wayne heard whispers. Seconds later, a lantern flared to life. He scooted down, not wanting to be seen.

“And this,” the woman said proudly, “is what makes my father a rich man.”

The familiar voice rang through Wayne’s ears, stunning him completely. Not trusting his ears, he peeked around the crate. Jane stood next to a man, holding on to his arm as they stared at the large table in front of them.

Jane?Wayne shook his head. This couldn’t be right. How would a sweet woman like her be involved with her father’s illegal dealings? There must be some kind of mistake. Or... maybe sniffing those canisters had messed up his head again.

“Lord Penrose makes good money selling these?” the man asked.

“Indeed, he does.” She stared up at the tall man, batting her eyelashes in a flirtatious manner. “And since my father is hiring more men to help him, I would love to give him your name.”

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