Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

“Sir, we’ll walk you home. You make sure to take good care of the girls tonight, and the duke and I will continue with the search,” Beth gently explained as she tried to manoeuvre Philip from the Cromwell property.

Griffin’s eyes had caught glimpse of Marina in the window, and he had no other response than to nod. Something deeply inside of him had never hurt so bad, he was afraid that he was starting to love her. Who was he fooling- he had already started to love her. Unrequited love, undoubtedly.

He shifted his gaze quickly, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. Leilah’s husband and his two daughters.

“B-but,” Philip stammered. Griffin couldn’t help but see him as a small child who had lost his mother, desperately searching for her in a market crowd. “Leilah.”

“We’ll search for her, we promise,” Beth hesitated. Griffin could tell she was cautious to say that they’d find her, not wanting to brew false hope in Philip. The question between Beth and Griffin remained silent, but prominent. If they were to find her- would she be alive?

The assurance that someone would be searching for his wife led Philip to take a couple steps from the property, following in Beth’s words. Griffin saw the older girl lingering near her father and he couldn’t help but think that she was cold and tired, so he offered to carry her. So, with a swift scoop, he picked her up.

“I-I can’t sleep without k-knowing where s-she is,” Philip mumbled. He walked at front to guide the way toward their home. His arms were scrawny and cold, but he held on to the little girl in his arms as if his life depended on it. He had already lost one girl today, so he clung to his daughters with all his might.

“I understand, Sir. It’s an extremely difficult situation,” Beth said, still attempting to comfort Philip though it appeared to be a hopeless task.

“The c-coppers chased me away, s-said I was just paranoid a-and that she would p-probably stumble back t-tonight,” he said, looking hurt at the fact that he was ushered away by those he sought help from.

“We will be out all night if we must, Sir,” Griffin commented. He let Beth to the majority of the talking, slightly unsure on how to comfort the man in distress. All he knew was that his heart ached for him.

“T-thank you, Your G-grace,” Philip said, looking over his shoulder to face Griffin.

The walk continued mostly in silence, the one being more unsure of what to say than the other. Eventually, Philip started to turn on a dirt road.

“Down u-under is ours,” he said, pointing a crooked finger into the dark. “Watch your s-steps, there is a couple of rocks on t-the left s-side.”

Griffin moved toward the right side of the dirt path, keeping his tracks slight as he didn’t want to fall with the girl in his arms. He had gathered her to have fallen asleep, exhausted from walking around at such late hours.

“I’ll get a l-lamp now, it’s q-quite dark,” Philip said, alarming Beth and Griffin that they had reached their destination. As they neared the entrance, Griffin felt himself kick something over, but was unable to see what it was in the dark.

“Oh, my apologies,” Griffin said. Philip looked at him confusedly.

“I don’t know w-what that could be,” he said. Beth and Griffin lingered outside until Philip emerged with two lamps. He wordlessly handed one to Beth before he took hold of the older girl in Griffin’s arms. He carried her in, possibly on his way to put her to bed alongside her younger sister.

Beth took a step inside, but stopped as she noticed Griffin kneel down. He was picking up the foreign tin he had kicked over.

“What was it, Your Grace?” Beth asked Griffin as he titled the can back upright.

“Unsure, just a simple beige tin,” Griffin commented. At this point Beth jumped as she saw Philip to have reemerged at the front door, looking at the two.

“My apologies, M-miss,” Philip said to Beth who brushed it off. He then turned to look over at the tin near his front door. “What might t-that be?”

“Oh, it hadn’t been here before?” Griffin asked. Philip shook his head, but reached out his hand for Griffin to hand him the tin.

“B-bit of a strange d-delivery,” Philip said as he turned the tin around in his hands. Griffin noticed his hands to be those of a hard-working man. Chipped and filled with blisters, his fingernails nearly black. “N-not even an address or n-name.”

Griffin trailed off from the conversation, his thoughts stuck to Marina in the house of horrors. A part of him wanted to arrive at the front step on a white horse, ask her to run away with him and escape the cruel hands of her uncle. But why would she possibly agree to spend a life alongside him? She was difficult to read, her emotions mostly held to herself. How was he to know if she shared an interest?

“Ah, I’ll b-boil some water,” Philip said as he ventured into the door of his home, turning around a corner and vanishing from sight. “At least o-offer you something b-before you go o-off again. A s-small thank you.”

Beth’s expression looked thankful for a second, before turning strikingly horrified. “Philip!” she yelled as she entered the doors of the home, Griffin having no choice than to follow after.

“Philip!” Beth yelled gain as she finally caught up with him as he was about to light a fire in the fireplace. “What was inside the tin?”

“S-someone sent me some b-bags of t-tea,” Philip replied rather startled, stopping in his actions near the fireplace.

Griffin finally caught up to Beth’s trail of thought, realizing what the tin could hold. “Don’t drink it!” he instinctively called.

“I ain’t r-real thirsty, b-but wanted to give you t-two a cup,” Philip said, still perplexed by the reaction coming from Griffin and Beth. Griffin felt his heart palpitate at the thought that Philip could’ve unwillingly poisoned the two if Beth hadn’t realized.

“I’m not confirming it is, but we suspect the tea to be poisonous,” Beth said. “It’s likely infused with deadly nightshade.”

Philip’s eyes grew wide at the explanation, for a moment not wanting to believe what the pair was relaying to him.

“Poisonous t-tea?” he chuckled slightly. “From who?”

“Most likely the Earl of Lyford, it’s a pattern he enjoys following,” Griffin said. He no longer had a fear of admitting to the earl’s crimes and his ongoing investigation, since the one he feared already knew about it. “I think it’s best if we take the tin with us, possibly allowing it to serve as a piece of evidence.”

Philip’s brow started to twitch. “He wanted to poison me?” he mumbled in anger. “What if I gave my daughters of the tea?”

“He’s a bad man,” Griffin said, that being the only statement he could offer on Josiah without using any vile terminology.

Philip ushered his way to the tine, turning it around in his rough hands a couple times. “It has no a-address, I d-don’t know h-h-h-h.”

Philip closed his mouth, his stutter worsened by his elevated emotions. He took in a deep breath. “I don’t know h-how to c-connect it to him, but p-please lock him up.”

“Even if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll be sure to see him behind bars,” Griffin assured, the anger Philip felt having infused him as well.

“We best get back in the road then,” Beth said, knowing it best to start their search again. Griffin put the tin underneath his arm, unsure of how to use it against Josaih, but well determined to do so.