Page 15 of Ravished

A few minutes later she turned a corner in the passageway ahead and halted at the entrance to a large cavern. Harriet stepped through the opening and held the lamp higher to throw light on the array of canvas bags that sat in the center of the rocky floor. She looked at Gideon as he followed her into the chamber.

"This is it, my lord." She waited with a sense of expectation for him to appear properly astounded by the sight of the stolen goods stacked in the stone chamber.

Gideon said nothing as he moved farther inside. But his expression was satisfyingly serious as he stopped near a canvas bag. He crouched beside it and untied the leather thong that closed it.

Harriet watched as he held his lamp higher to peer inside the sack. He studied the contents for a moment and then plunged his gloved hand inside. He withdrew a beautifully chased silver candlestick.

"Very interesting." Gideon watched the light gleam on the silver. "Do you know, when you told me the tale of this cavern yesterday, Miss Pomeroy, I confess I had a few doubts. I wondered if you were perhaps indulging an over-ambitious imagination. But now I have to agree there is something illegal going on here."

"You see what I mean when I say the items must be from some other locale, my lord? If something very fine such as that candlestick had gone missing around Upper Biddleton, we would have heard about it."

"I take your point." Gideon retied the thong and rose to his feet. His heavy greatcoat flowed around him like a cloak as he moved to another sack.

Harriet watched him for a moment longer and then lost interest. She had already given the goods a cursory examination when she had first discovered them.

Her main interest, as always, was the cave itself. Something deep within her was certain that untold treasures lay in wait here in this place, treasures that had nothing to do with stolen jewelry or silver candlesticks.

Harriet wandered over to take a closer look at an interesting jumble of rock. "I trust you will deal with the villains quickly, St. Justin," she remarked as she ran her gloved fingers over a faint outline embedded in the stone. "I am very eager to explore this cavern properly."

"I can see that."

Harriet frowned intently as she bent closer to view the outline. "1 can tell from your tone of voice that you think I am ordering you about again. I am sorry to annoy you, my lord, but I really am getting most impatient. I have been forced to wait several days already for you to arrive and now I suppose I shall have to wait a bit longer until the villains are apprehended."

"No doubt."

She glanced back at where he was hunkered down beside another sack. "How long will it take you to act?"

"I cannot give you an answer just yet. You must allow me to deal with the matter as I see fit."

"I trust you will not be long about it."

"Miss Pomeroy, if you will recall, you summoned me here to Upper Biddleton because you wanted to turn the problem over to me. Very well. You have done so. I am now in charge of clearing the villains out of your precious cavern. I will keep you informed of my progress." Gideon spoke absently, his attention on a fistful of glittering stones that he was removing from the sack.

"Yes, but—" Harriet broke off. "What have you got there?"

"A necklace. A rather valuable one, I should say. Assuming these stones are genuine."

"They probably are." Harriet shrugged the matter aside. She had no particular interest in the necklace except insofar as she wanted it out of her cavern. "I doubt anyone would go to the trouble of hiding a fake necklace in here." She turned back to her examination of the fossil outline and peered intently at it. There was something about it…

"Good heavens," Harriet whispered in gathering excitement.

"What is it?"

"There is something very interesting here, my lord." She held the lamp closer to the surface of the stone. "I am not precisely certain, but it may very well be the edge of a tooth." Harriet studied the outline in the rock. "And it appears to be still attached to a portion of the jaw."

"A great thrill for you, apparently."

"Well, of course it is. A tooth that is still embedded in a jaw is ever so much more easy to identify than one that is not. If only I could use my mallet and chisel to get it out of this rock today." She whipped around anxiously, willing him to understand the importance of retrieving the fossil for study. "I do not suppose I dare…?"

"No." Gideon dropped the glittering necklace back into the sack and rose to his feet. "You are not to use your tools in here until we have cleaned out this nest of thieves. You were quite right to hold off on your work in this cavern, Miss Pomeroy. We do not wish to alarm this ring of cutthroats."

"You think they might move their stolen goods elsewhere if they thought they had been discovered?"

"I am far more concerned that if anyone saw evidence of fossil collecting in here, the trail would lead straight back to you. There cannot be that many collectors in the district."

Harriet eyed the rocky outcropping in frustration. The thought of leaving this new discovery behind was very upsetting. "But what if someone else finds my tooth?"

"I doubt anyone will notice your precious tooth. Not when there is a fortune in gems and silver sitting in the middle of this chamber."

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