Quietly, they’d circled back, heading down the tunnels where they’d followed Niall yesterday. Vanessa reached into her bag and retrieved some folded parchment. She scanned it, then glanced up at the cavern walls.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Research,” she said. “While we’re in these caves I would like to find additional evidence to prove Mr. McElroy’s theory.”
“Who?” Graeme asked.
She handed him the notes that she held. “Mr. McElroy was a farmer who did a bit of exploring on the side and came across a bone he claimed proved the existence of the water kelpie.”
“Our beastie?” Graeme chuckled. “Interesting.”
“Indeed.” She took back her notes. “Somewhere in these caves is the cavern where he found that bone. He also has an illustration of a cave he could see, but not get into, that had several bones. I intend to find them,” she said. But then she abruptly stopped walking, and Graeme nearly slammed into her. “Oh my.”
“What?” he asked.
“Dynamite. A lot of dynamite.”
Graeme pushed Vanessa behind him and stepped over to where she’d been. Inside a small alcove were several sticks of dynamite.
Graeme glanced at his wife. She seemed as unruffled as she had been when facing down the corpse.
“The explosion,” Vanessa said.
“I was hoping that had been a one-time event,” Graeme said. “But it does appear there are plans for additional blasts.” Using such material could make these caverns far more dangerous than they already were. Cave-ins occurred naturally, but to accelerate such events with explosives—Niall must be desperate.
“We need to leave,” Graeme said. He needed to have a conversation with his cousin. Warn him to cease his blasting or else he’d chain the bastard in that damned house of his. And he’d leave the man there until he decided to stop behaving like a lunatic.
“Leave?” Vanessa asked.
“No more exploring until I know for certain this area is safe.” Graeme put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her gently toward the cave’s opening. “Besides, Duchess, we have the party tomorrow night. I’m assuming like most women you’ll need at least a day to ready yourself.”
“I need no such amount of time. Without the army of my mother’s servants, I should need only to put on a dress.” Then she paused and looked up at him. “What party?”
“Our party. To celebrate our marriage.” He paused a moment, noting that only days ago his life had seemed so simple. But now he had a bossy bride, and the new marriage had given his mother an excuse to muck around in his life. “My mother is organizing the entire thing.” Then he shook his head and continued to guide her back down the tunnel.
“I don’t have party clothes,” Vanessa said, although judging from her weak tone he’d guess that wasn’t precisely true, but rather an excuse she thought he might accept. “At least not the sort for a wedding party.”
“You’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear. By the by, I sent a telegram to your family announcing our nuptials and your safety. There will also be a formal posting in the newspapers.”
She stopped so quickly that he ran into her. She turned to face him and he grabbed her arms as her large eyes peered up at him in wonder. “You did?”
He shrugged. “Seemed the appropriate thing to do.”
Graeme left Vanessa in the care of his mother and grandmother to help her decide what she should wear to the party. He then made quick work of the stairs leading to Niall’s front door. There was no need to bother with propriety; instead, he stormed into Niall’s house, not waiting for an invitation or announcement. He made his way into his cousin’s study and threw the door open.
Niall immediately came to his feet from behind his desk. “Graeme, what are you doing here?”
“What kind of bloody fool are you?” Graeme asked as he breached the threshold.
Niall shook his head. “What are you talking about?” he stammered. Odd, because Graeme had never noticed Niall stammering before.
“The dynamite in the caves. Are you mad? You could destroy the entire system of caves. Bring that side of the hill sliding into the loch.”
Niall’s face went tight, his lips nothing more than a line. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The hell you don’t. I saw you the other day. Saw you sneaking around, building that wall.” Graeme glanced around the room. Unlike the other day, where everything had appeared neat and orderly, today everything sat in shambles. All of the furniture remained the same, but now stacks of books littered the floor, and Niall’s desk was covered with papers and maps as well. There was a large ink stain on the expensive rug. Evidently Niall had become haphazard in all areas of his life.
Graeme exhaled slowly, then moved to Niall’s large desk. He sat in one of the chairs opposite the desk and leaned forward. “My wife was nearly trapped there thanks to the addlebrained trap you set.”
