“I know. We shall have to increase our security. But it is certainly safer here than anywhere else.”

He knew she was right, but it galled him to sit around and do nothing. And sitting was all he would be doing with this damned ankle. He growled something that was meant to convey his agreement and continued hobbling home.

“Why don't we go through the side entrance?” Ellie suggested. “We'll see if Mrs. Stubbs can give us a nice cut of meat.”

“I'm not hungry,” he grumbled.

“For your ankle.”

He didn't say anything. He hated feeling foolish.

By the middle of the following day, Charles felt a little more in control of his situation. He might not be well enough to hunt down his enemy, but at least he had been able to do a bit of detective work.

An interrogation of the kitchen staff had revealed that the most recently hired maid had mysteriously disappeared the night of Ellie's poisoning. She had been hired only one week earlier. No one could remember if she had been the one to deliver the custard to the master bedroom, but then again, no one else could remember doing it, so Charles felt it was safe to assume that the missing maid had had ample time to tamper with the food.

He had his men search the area, but he wasn't surprised when they found no trace of her. She was probably halfway to Scotland with the gold she'd undoubtedly been given to dispense the poison.

Charles had also instituted new measures to protect his family. Claire and Judith were expressly forbidden to leave the house, and he would have issued the same edict to Ellie and Helen if he'd thought he could get away with it. Thankfully, both women seemed inclined to stay indoors, if only to keep Judith entertained so that she didn't complain about not being able to ride her pony.

No progress had been made in the search for the person who had placed the nail under Charles's saddle, however. Charles found this particularly frustrating, and decided to inspect the stables himself for clues. He didn't tell Ellie what he was doing; she'd only worry about him. So while she was busy having tea with Helen, Claire, and Judith, he grabbed his coat, hat, and walking stick, and hobbled outside.

The stables were quiet when he arrived. Leavey was out exercising one of the stallions, and Charles suspected that the rest of the stablehands were taking their afternoon meal. The solitude suited him; he was able to give the stables a more thorough inspection without anyone looking over his shoulder.

Much to his frustration, however, his search produced no new leads. Charles wasn't exactly certain what he was looking for, but he certainly knew when he'd found nothing. He was just preparing to head back to Wycombe Abbey when he heard someone enter the outer door to the stables.

It was probably Leavey. Charles ought to let him know he'd been snooping around. Leavey had been instructed to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, and if Charles had disrupted anything during his search, the stablemaster would surely notice and grow worried.