She had no doubt Lord Vane did not intend to deliver her to the castle. But whatdidhe intend?
Perhaps if she got him talking he might reveal something useful to her. “What is it your men are doing here, Lord Vane?”
“As it happens, I have a few things stored here, and as I will be leaving for the foreseeable future, I deemed it best if I took my possessions with me.”
“Let me guess,” Annabelle said. “You’ve been dealing in stolen merchandise—gemstones—and using the kilns as a storage facility.”
Vane gave her a long look, then shrugged. “No harm in admitting as much at this point, I suppose. You already overheard more than you should have. More than is safe.”
She smiled inwardly. Shehadglimpsed a diamond.
Then she replayed his words. He did not intend to let her go, period.
He ambled toward her. “It’s been a lucrative operation, or it was until Lord Randall decided to move here permanently. You see, I needed funds to maintain the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed over the years. Unfortunately, my property’s resources—limestone, mainly—have become decidedly less valuable. I was approached by a certain Scottish money lender who offered me a chance to recoup my losses if I agreed to run his little venture through England.” He shrugged. “As Holy Island is near my home in Beadnell, and a perfect location into which to unobtrusively offload certain goods, l decided to make it my home base. All I needed to do was come up with a reason for being here.”
“Hence your interest in the priory,” Annabelle surmised.
He sent her an admiring smile.
Using their conversation to distract him, Annabelle was slowly edging away from the kiln pot chambers toward one of the more narrow exit paths—but the open keyhole was a good ways off. Still, she had to try something. Sterling was off the island, and no one knew where she’d gone. She was on her own.
“Things were going so well,” Vane went on, surprisingly forthcoming. “I found buyers, my men, here, enlisted a local guide to move the product off the island, and I began plotting an expansion into spirits, tobacco, what have you.
“Then Lord Randall showed up and set up camp. I’ve had neither access to my stones, nor a place to store my other products, since. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the idiot local guide my head man hired got greedy and added to my woes—by trying to rob the viscount’s snooty relative.”
She sniffed, understanding she was the snooty relative in the scenario. “Mr. Blackwell, I presume?”
He inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Tell me, Lord Vane, was that you who played that nasty little trick on me the last time I was here?”
He eyed her. “What are you talking about?”
“You don’t know? I was exploring on my own. I saw something in one of the kiln pot chambers, and thought to take a closer look. The next thing I knew I was pinned inside by the rubble. I thought the walls had spontaneously fallen. It was Lord Randall who told me otherwise—that someone had shoved the sacks and stones before the small opening, effectively sealing me.”
Vane pinched the bridge of his nose, and moved in close. So close, she backed into the wall to maintain distance between them. A mere foot now separated them.
“No, I did not know, Lady Woodville. I tell you, it is impossible to get good help in these parts.” As he spoke, a feral, predatory gleam shone in his eyes, making her skin crawl and her stomach flutter.
“Lady Randall,” she corrected.
He snorted, and his gaze drifted over her, hungry and assessing in the weak light. “My lady,” he amended, his voice low and suggestive, “had I discovered you here, alone, I would not have dreamed of locking you in—leastways not on your own.” An avaricious smile curved his mouth.
A shiver of revulsion went through her. She looked past him, hoping he’d take the hint and step back. “How much longer will we be here? I’m certain my husband will be missing me by now.”
His upper lip curled. “Let us dispense with the pretense. The men will be finished soon. And then…” He licked his lips, and his hot breath wafted over her. “And then we shall have a bit of fun, you and I, here, on our own. I have enjoyed watching you attempt to sneak toward the exit, by the way. So much more fun this way.”
Fear skittered up her spine. “What on earth are you talking about? You know, never mind. Do not bother to reply. I really must be getting back.”
He chuckled and leaned one forearm against the wall to her right, bracketing her in on one side.
“My lord, we got the last of the containers.”
Lord Vane shifted to address his men as they emerged from the kiln pot chamber where they’d been tinkering. Dust covered their clothes. Evidently they’d stored their boxes within the walls themselves.
“Excellent. Leave those with me, and head down to the shore. Signal to the larger craft to come closer to collect us. I’ll join you presently.”
The man called Grogan glanced down at the wooden box in his hands as if reluctant to part with it, but eventually, he handed it to Vane, and then offered a word of advice.
“Sir, the viscount will be back soon. We need to leave.”
