Chasing Eliza (10 page)

Was he a
fop? A dandy? Eliza scoffed at that one and eyed the dark clothing
he wore. The colour suited him to perfection. The jet black of his
hair, added to the blackness of his clothing, even his boots were
black, giving him an air of menace that made everyone he came into
contact with suck in a deep breath and take a respectful step
backwards. Eliza wondered if his clothing had been chosen for that
reason entirely. After all, why wasn’t he dressed in a white shirt,
silk waistcoat and breeches like everyone else of his ilk? What had
he been doing that required him being dressed like he was going to
mug somebody?

As she
tucked into her own food she realised there was a lot she had to
learn about the man opposite. She still couldn’t be certain whether
he was one of Scraggan’s men or not.

She
froze in the act of putting some potato into her mouth and stared
at him.

“
What?” Edward’s eyes met and held hers and he flicked a brief
assessing glance around the room, looking for the cause of the
alarm that had entered her eyes.

“
How did you find me?” Eliza eyed him warily, glancing out of
the window for any signs of their pursuers or Scraggan.

“
I wasn’t trying to believe me. I sat and waited in the
barn
as we had planned.”

Inwardly
she winced at his pronunciation of the last four words. It took
every ounce of self control she possessed to steadily meet his gaze
and nonchalantly ignore his pointed reminder.

“
When it became apparent you weren’t going to show up
as you promised
, then I
decided to head back to Havistock. Whether you know it or not,
Murray is only a few miles away from my brother’s residence,
Havistock Hall. It is just outside Melton.”

Eliza
felt her stomach dip. She hadn’t stopped to consider exactly where
she was headed last night, or was that early this morning? She had
failed to consider that she could be making it easy for Edward to
simply follow her. Cursing herself for being every type of fool,
she watched him eat for several moments before turning her
attention to her own meal.

The
silence stretched between them for several long moments until Eliza
was certain he was trying to unnerve her with his reticence.
Determined not to buckle under his intimidating glowering, she
gazed back at him defiantly and sat back to wait.

Edward
smiled to himself, pleased that despite everything she stood up to
him. Although he was loathed to admit it out loud, he was damned
pleased to see she was safe and unharmed, if exhausted. He eyed the
dark smudge of shadows beneath her eyes that he was certain hadn’t
been there the night before. Luckily he had given the innkeeper
several coins to ensure that their presence in the inn remained
confidential. They had the night to themselves.

He
poured them both a brandy, pushed one across the table towards her
and settled back in the chair. Knowing she was safe and secure, and
they were both away from prying eyes ensured he was able to relax
for the first time in a long time. Exhaustion began to pull at him
but he refused to give in to it until he had the answers he
needed.

“
Do you want to tell me what the bloody hell is going on?” His
soft murmur was betrayed by the cold glint of steel in his eyes.
Although his legs were crossed casually at the ankle, Eliza could
see the hard muscles of his shoulders twitch and knew he was
anything but relaxed.

“
I am nothing to you. Why are you bothering with me?” She
murmured, struggling to understand why someone of apparent wealth
and independence would take up someone else’s problems so readily.
Was he a thrill seeker? Someone who had so little to do in his own
life, he sought out anything that would challenge him? She was
certain that his actions of last night went far beyond friend
helping friend.

“
I told you, I need to know if you are Jemima or Eliza.”
Edward crossed his arms, clearly intended to wait for as long as it
took to get the truth out of her.

“
How many more times do I have to tell you that I am Eliza?
Jemima went missing a few weeks ago.” Eliza’s voice rose with
frustration. “Why do you not believe me?”

“
I need to be certain.”

“
Then be assured that I am Eliza.” She snapped, taking a sip
of her brandy without thinking. She immediately broke into a
coughing fit as the potent liquid burned her throat.

Although
he didn’t show it, Edward was vastly relieved. “Then who are the
men chasing you?” He leaned forward in his seat and drew his legs
up to prop his elbows on his knees. “Don’t try and tell me that you
don’t know. You know exactly who they are, and exactly what they
want.” His blue eyes were cold and hard as he stared at her, daring
her to tell him a lie.

Eliza
struggled not to feel completely overwhelmed by the sheer dominance
of the man before her. Even seated, once again menace seemed to
shimmer around him and she knew he would be a forbidding adversary
if she pushed him too far. The image of herself being draped over
his knee while he paddled her backside swam before her gaze and a
tiny thrill of feminine anticipation swept through her briefly
before it was immediately replaced with embarrassment at the
thought of someone like Edward resorting to such endeavours. She
had no doubt he was capable if she pushed him far enough and she
didn’t really know him well enough to be assured he
wouldn’t.

From her
experiences of the past day, she knew she couldn’t make the trip to
Padstow on her own. Not only was it incredibly risky for a single
lady to travel alone unchaperoned, with Scraggan giving chase the
odds were decidedly stacked against her. Luckily today she had met
an innkeeper who was more than understanding and reliable enough to
be helpful. Next time she may not be so lucky. She needed the
protection of the man opposite.

Although
she hated to draw him into danger, and couldn’t bear the thought of
him being hurt, she had spent enough time on her own chasing
through the night to know she couldn’t face the prospect of doing
it day after day. The curious stares she had encountered as she
passed through the village some miles back reminded her of the
attention she would attract simply by trying to go about her
business. It would be a miracle indeed if she wasn’t accosted by
every ne’er do well within a hundred miles. And unfortunately in
her circumstance, there would be nobody to report her missing if
she didn’t turn up at the other end.

That
thought made her feel so acutely alone that a wave of grief settled
over her. Immediately she felt the sting of tears in her eyes and
had to swallow against the choking hold the swirling emotions had
on her throat. She blinked rapidly to prevent the tears from
falling and wasn’t aware of Edward’s steady gaze and sympathetic
understanding.

“
You are not going to get rid of me Eliza.” He murmured
gently. “You need to understand that here and now. You can either
work with me and we can try to resolve your current situation with
as little bloodshed as possible, or you can fight me and draw this
entire scenario out unnecessarily. I will fight for you. I will
kill to protect you and keep your pursuers from taking you, but in
return I need you to be honest with me.” His eyes met and held hers
meaningfully. “I need you to be
totally
honest with me.”

Eliza
nodded reluctantly. He was right she knew but she was still
reluctant to involve him in her problems. She could understand his
need for the truth, especially given the adversary he had yet to
face but didn’t know how much to confide in him.

“
I need to ask you a few questions first.” She murmured,
picking up an apple and a knife.

Edward
simply stared at her in return, and waited.

“
Who are you?” Although her attention was seemingly on slowly
peeling the apple, it was in fact locked firmly upon the man
opposite. Even with the solidity of the table between them, he
positively throbbed masculine intent.

“
My name is Edward Michael Cavendish, Lord Entwhistle.” His
voice was calm and steady as her world rocked. She stared at him,
knowing from the steady reassurance in his gaze that it was the
absolute truth.

“
So why are you here?” She waved her hand to stop his answer
and paused for several moments. “I mean, why are you involving
yourself in this? I know you said you had dropped in to the tavern
to help search for Jemima, but you know that I am not her. Peter
doesn’t know anything about me and probably won’t want to be
burdened by my arrival, so why are you insisting on remaining with
me?”

Edward fought the urge to squirm under her penetrating gaze.
He suddenly felt uncomfortable in his own skin as he considered
whether he should tell her the truth. The thought was enough to
make him pause. If he expected
her
to tell
him
the truth, wasn’t it better to confide in her in
return?

“
I have recently purchased my own estate from my brother. He
inherited a house from my late uncle but unfortunately it was
raised to the ground. I have commissioned a new house to be built
and had gone to Yorkshire to purchase a flock of sheep and make a
few business contacts. Before I left for Yorkshire, I was asked by
Peter to follow a lead he had been given about Jemima’s
whereabouts.” Sensing her question his eyes met and held hers. “His
aunt Elspeth had died and he had to attend the funeral and sort out
her will, and so on and so forth. Needless to say he couldn’t be
checking out the lead and dealing with urgent family matters as
well, so I agreed to drop by on my way home. The lead took me to
you.” He stated plainly, his tone so matter of fact Eliza knew it
to be the truth.

“
But you could now go home and report back to Peter that you
cannot find Jemima, but her sister is safe and well. The battle
isn’t yours Edward.” Her voice was soft but challenging. She tried
desperately to ignore the shiver that swept through her. Although
she longed for him to stick by her, she couldn’t ignore the risks
involved especially given who he really was.

Suddenly
the distance between them loomed greater than ever. A small part of
Eliza’s heart broke away and crumbled with grief as the possibility
of this man leaving her life and going his own way stood in stark
contrast to her own uncertain future.

“
I don’t – won’t - back down from a fight Eliza.” Edward
replied, his long tapered fingers running absently over the smooth
sides of the goblet. “I cannot and will not leave you to deal with
this on your own.”

Swamped
with relief, she slowly began to peel and core an apple. It helped
to alleviate some of the discomfort she felt from his unrelenting
stare. She had to fight the urge to squirm on her seat like a
recalcitrant child and gave in to the inevitable.

“
I can never repay you.” She murmured huskily, staring
absently at his fingers.

“
I don’t expect repayment. My reward will be seeing you safe
from harm.” He didn’t add that he really wanted her safe from harm
in his arms. The thought of marriage sat uncomfortably on his broad
shoulders as it meant that he had a level of commitment towards her
he had considered beyond him – until now.

His
attention was drawn by her absent destruction of the apple she
peeled and he waited patiently for her to take that final step
towards trusting him implicitly.

Chapter
Five

“
My father was a magistrate in Cornwall covering Padstow,
Moushole, Looe, St Ives and the small fishing villages in between.”
She began on a sigh, thinking of her tall, proud father with a wave
of grief. “He was a firm but fair man. He knew all about the
smuggling gangs who worked the area.” She offered him a small
smile, aware of his startled look.

“
Although in most cases he often chose to look the other way
and probably didn’t do as much as he should to stop them. The
majority of the small smuggling gangs that ran the area were
fishermen who were just trying to earn a little extra to feed their
families. There was no malice intended; no intimidation or threat.
Most of the fishermen’s families were involved in some way or
other, often hiding the goods in the strangest places to avoid
detection by the Revenue. Redcoats were in the area when the
smuggling became rife, but they struggled to catch the families
involved purely because the locals became adept at hiding the
goods. My father didn’t help them as much as he could have and that
earned him – us – the respect of the villagers.”

She
didn’t add that her father was ‘treated’ occasionally for his
unofficial assistance with an occasional barrel of finest French
brandy.

“
He wasn’t a bad man.” She hastened to reassure him, slightly
annoyed at the look of scepticism on his face. “He certainly didn’t
help the fishermen; just didn’t stop them.” Unable to sit still
under the penetrating gaze of his sharp blue eyes, Eliza stood and
moved slowly to the fireplace, dragging her chair with her. She
needed the warmth of the flames to heat the chill deep within.
“Until Scraggan arrived.”

Waiting
until Edward drew his chair to sit opposite her, she let silence
settle between them for several moments as she chopped the apple
into thin slivers. “At first, all seemed to be well. The fishermen
continued going out for their daily catch - and night-time
collections - and eventually accepted him into their fold. He went
out on their boats as fishing crew to begin with. I don’t know too
much about the smugglers’ activities, but I do know that he became
involved.”