Page 114 of Ravished

The hallway seemed darker than usual, Harriet noted with a frown. Someone had snuffed some of the candles in the wall sconces. Owl was no doubt attempting to economize.

She opened the door to her bedchamber and stopped short when she saw that it, too, was in darkness except for a candle on her escritoire.

Harriet knew she had not left a candle burning on the little desk. She started forward with a frown, wondering if her maid had lit the taper.

Then she saw the hunched figure bending over the open drawer. In a flash she realized what was happening. It was the drawer where she kept her fossil tooth.

"Stop, thief!" Harriet yelled.

She rushed forward, brandishing her only weapon, her fan. "Stop this instant. How dare you?"

The shadowy figure jerked upright. He slammed the drawer shut and whirled around in a crouch to face Harriet. The candlelight revealed the scrunched-up features of Mr. Humboldt.

"Damn and blast," Humboldt hissed. He sprang toward the door, knocking Harriet to one side.

Harriet fell to the carpet and fetched up against the bed. She flung out a hand and encountered the chamber pot. She grasped it and tried to get to her feet.

"What the devil is going on here?" Gideon roared from the doorway. "Damnation,Harriet."

At that instant the fleeing Mr. Humboldt ran straight into the immovable object that was Gideon. Gideon caught him by the scruff of the neck. He flung the little man aside. Humboldt crumpled to the carpet with a groan.

"See to him, Dobbs." Gideon took two long strides across the room, bent down, and scooped Harriet up into his arms. "Are you all right?" he demanded harshly.

"Yes, yes, I am fine," she gasped. "Thank goodness you caught him. Gideon, I believe he was trying to steal my tooth."

"More likely he was lookin' for your jewels, Lady St. Justin," Dobbs said from the doorway. "Sneaky little devil. He even looks like a thief, don't he? Not that you can always tell by their looks, mind you. But this cove could certainly pass for a member of the criminal class."

Gideon turned around with Harriet in his arms. Harriet glowered down at Mr. Humboldt, who was sitting up slowly on the carpet.

"Really, Mr. Humboldt. How could you stoop so low?" Harriet demanded. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

Humboldt groaned and looked sulky as Dobbs yanked him to his feet. "I was just wandering around and I got lost in here. I certainly was not attempting to steal your ladyship's jewels. What would I want with jewels?"

"If you were looking for jewels, which I doubt, you probably intended to sell them to finance your fossil collecting habit," Harriet declared.

Humboldt glared at her. "That is not true. Very well, if you must know, I heard rumors to the effect that you had found something interesting in the caves of Upper Biddleton. I did not believe them, of course. Explored those caves myself years ago quite thoroughly and I know there is nothing of great importance left in them. Nevertheless, I wanted to see if, by the merest chance, you might have stumbled across something."

"Hah. I knew it." Harriet shook her head in disgust and looked at Gideon. "I have been telling you all along that fossil collectors are an unscrupulous lot, my lord."

"So you have." Gideon looked thoughtful. "Are you quite certain you are unhurt?"

"Quite certain. You can put me down now." Harriet straightened the skirts of her gown as Gideon slowly lowered her to her feet. Her garter had come completely undone and her stocking had fallen to her ankle. "How did you manage to get here in time?"

"I assigned Mr. Dobbs to keep an eye on the crowd this evening," Gideon explained. "If you will recall, we invited every suspicious person on my list. I decided not to take any chances."

Harriet smiled brilliantly. "What an excellent plan."

"It was, until you took a notion to go dashing upstairs at the wrong moment," Gideon retorted.

"Well, it only goes to show you should have kept me informed, my lord. I have told you that often enough. One would think you would learn."

Gideon's brows rose. "One would think so."

Harriet's eyes widened. "I just realized something, my lord. Mr. Humboldt was not on our guest list."

"No, he was not," Gideon agreed. "Which only goes to prove that my mother's observations about guest lists was correct. At a crush such as this, anyone who is suitably dressed can get inside, if he is clever."

The conversation at the breakfast table the next morning centered on the capture of Mr. Humboldt.

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