Page 49 of A Fearless Heart
“You took the chipped cup,” he noted.
“Oh, I’ve had it for years and years. I like the chip.” When she took the first sip of her tea, she frowned and reached for a jar of honey.
“This crop is more bitter. Interesting.” After adding the honey, she made a note in her little book.
Gabe drank his own tea, watching her. “I’m surprised you allowed me in here again.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t quit on me,” she replied, her gaze challenging. “Calderwood can’t be the most coveted post.”
He shrugged. “I do the job I’m told. And right now, that’s working here.”
“That sentiment comes from your time as a soldier?” she asked.
“Maybe. I’ve never liked leaving things undone, even when I was young. I suppose it’s ingrained in my personality.”
“What were you like as a boy?” she asked, leaning in. The scent of witch hazel wafted toward him, mixing with the steam from the teas. The combination made Gabe a little dizzy. Or was that the proximity of Cady, and her exquisitely full lips?
“Terrible, probably,” he said, after a second. “I was ill behaved, wild, rude. Hated school even though I liked reading. Spent time with the dogs and horses whenever I could. No one really wanted me around, so I had a lot of free time.”
“No one? But your family must have. You said you have brothers.”
“I’m not saying I was abandoned in the streets. I had a very comfortable life. It’s just that everyone was always busy with something else. I was an afterthought. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”
“I do.” She smiled. “Your tea tonight contained a quarter dram of verocine.”
He blinked. “What’s that?”
“Its primary effect is mental. It makes the user less able to dissemble or lie.”
His stomach lurched as the words sunk in. “What?”
“Lying is very complex, you know,” Cady said, keeping her eyes on him as she spoke. “One must hold two different versions of the world in one’s mind: the world as they know it to be, and the world they wish to present to others. Truth and falsehood. And this substance seems to make a person unable to hold both views of the world at once. They have this urge to pick one—the real one. It’s been used for centuries to interrogate prisoners and spies…or so I’m told. Anyway, that’s what I just gave you.”
“But…I thought I was here to watch you drink your weird mushroom tea.”
“And I told you that I had no need to test this particular tea. I’ve used it many times before. No, Gabe. Tonight’s experiment has you for a test subject. Honestly, considering everyone thinks I’m a murderess, I’m astonished you drank anything I offered you.”
He stared into bottom of the cup with horror. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Well, I can’t believe a lot of what you told me,” she retorted. “You show up claiming to be an ordinary man just happy to have a position as groundskeeper. That’s fine, as far as it goes. But then you turn out to be inordinately curious about my house and gardens, particularly about everything behind a lock. Perhaps you’re just a thief?”
“I’ve stolen nothing from here,” he said, grateful that he could say that.
“Nothing a person can hold in their hand, perhaps. I do recall a few stolen kisses. I’d like to think that you simply were bewitched by my perfect appearance and attire, since I’m the model of a young miss. But somehow I doubt that.”
“Cady, believe me that I wanted to kiss you.”
“Do you mean you enjoyed it?” Her expression changed to one of vulnerability. “You weren’t lying when you said I had natural talent?”
The truth came easy this time. “Hell, no.”
“That’s something at least. But the fact remains that you’re not what you say you are.” She held up her notebook, open to the page where he’d written the note about Cady’s eyes being so dilated. “You speak and write with far more skill than the usual laborer. Your handwriting and language are that of a man who’s been well educated.”
“Perhaps I’m down on my luck?” he suggested.
“I should also tell you that I wrote to the people who you offered as references when you got yourself hired by Rundle. He records all that information, you know.”
Gabe sighed. “You…wrote?”
