“How did you come by this sketch?” he asked, his head canted, his gray eyes ice shards in an otherwise warm room.
“Christopher Soothcoor’s nursemaid drew it. I asked if I might have it,” she said, shrugging slightly. She took another small step backward. Her foot stepped on a piece of fabric. She glanced down to see a canvas bag and a small shovel. She frowned.
“You are digging up the plant?” she asked. What was he up to?
“Yes, I need to move it.” He cut off one of the flowers and stuck it in her hair. “There,” he said. “Quite befitting.”
Cecilia felt a sudden chill sweep through her body. She thought her blood must have drained down to her toes. She didn’t think—from all Miss Rangaswamy had said—that the flower part was poisonous on contact; however, she couldn’t help fear from catching at her mind. She understood Dorothy’s reaction the previous night.
“This is the plant that provides relief for those who suffer fromarthritis deformans,” he said conversationally as he bent down to pull one of the plants out of the soil.
“Yes, I know. Many plants can provide us with medicines to help. From what I read, we are just beginning to learn the benefits of nature,” Cecilia said, striving for as conversational a tone as he.
She watched him pull one of the rhizomes from the plant and use his gloved hand to rub the dirt away.
“Some people have mistaken this rhizome tuber for sweet potato, to disastrous effect,” he said. He looked at her. “They died.”
“That’s very interesting,” Cecilia said. “It makes me look around this conservatory with a new consideration. How many other of these beautiful specimens can cause problems for us?” She turned to sweep the conservatory with her gaze as she stepped away.
He grabbed for her wrist, but she twisted away. “No!” she yelled as she ran back the way she came. He chased after her, catching hold of her gown.
“James!” Cecilia screamed. She fell forward into the pepper plants. As she scrambled to get away, her hands grabbed ripe peppers, her fingers digging into the flesh.
“Shut up!” Dr. Lakewood growled, as he hauled her toward him. She was child-sized compared to his height. She struggled and kicked against him as he brought the rhizome to her lips.
She clenched her teeth, swinging her head from side to side. She got a hand free from where he’d caught it between her body and his and pushed against his face. She pushed her bare fingers across his eyes. The juice from the peppers she’d crushed in her fingers touched his eyes. He howled in rage and pain and released her.
Then James was there, tackling Dr. Lakewood. They fell into one of the planting beds, crushing the luxuriant green foliage, dirt spilling into the cobbled walkway.
Soothcoor grabbed Cecilia by her shoulders. “Are you all right?”
All she could do was nod.
“Jonathan!” wailed Lady Soothcoor.
Soothcoor pulled a small knife from his pocket. He grabbed Lakewood by his coat where he rolled on the floor, fighting to get away from James. He pressed the knife against his neck.
“Stop. Ye twitch again and I’m afraid the knife will cull ye,” he ground out.
Lakewood, his eye red and watering, looked sideways at Soothcoor. He let go of James.
“You have it wrong! I stopped her! She was going to steal theGloriosa Superbaplants,” Dr. Lakewood protested. He looked over at Lady Soothcoor.
“Lydia!” he cried out.
Lady Soothcoor looked from Dr. Lakewood to the Earl.
“Alastair! What is going on?” asked Lady Soothcoor. “Jonathan! Why did you attack Lady Branstoke?” She looked around the ravaged beds with broken and uprooted plants and loose dirt strewn across her neat cobblestone walkways.
“That woman was going to steal theGloriosa Superbaplants. She has a sketch so she would know which ones to take. I couldn’t let her do that,” Dr. Lakewood babbled.
Soothcoor dragged Lakewood to his feet, while James untied his cravat and wrapped it around Lakewood’s wrists, securing them behind his back. Soothcoor grabbed his upper arm and turned him about.
“Don’t let them do this!” Lakewood pleaded over his shoulder to Lady Soothcoor.
“And I was not believing you could be guilty. A man o’ medicine.” Soothcoor shook his head as he pushed Lakewood toward the dining room.
James gathered Cecilia in his arms. She rested her face against his chest as her heart slowed its rapid drumming.
