Chasing Eliza (33 page)

“
What do you mean?” Peter added, thinking over the afternoon’s
events carefully, wondering if he had missed anything.

“
I mean that Rogan is wealthy and has many men in his employ.
So why was his camp set up in the middle of the woods, unless I am
mistaken on the very edge of the Havistock estate?”

Everyone
lapsed into silence for several moments before Dunnicliffe coughed
and shifted uncomfortably.

“
Do you think he was set up by his father?” Dominic murmured,
trying to fathom the logic.

“
I think that Rogan is incredibly confident, and feels he can
do as he pleases. The camp you were taken to isn’t his main camp;
it is something his men set up late last night. We have been
watching them carefully and knew they were in the area.”
Dunnicliffe declared flatly, his eyes calm and matter of fact as
they met hers. “My men were watching and moving to help. The
arrival of Edward and his brothers expedited things a
little.”

He
turned solemn eyes on her. “I am afraid you must prepare yourself
my dear.” Whatever else he was going to say was stopped by the
sudden loud scream that came from the back of the house.

“
God, not again!” Edward cursed, lunging to his
feet.

“
What is it?” Dunnicliffe snapped, his hand going to the
pistol resting on his hip.

“
It’s alright, you can stand down. It’s the maids.”
Sebastian’s eyes slid uncomfortably to Eliza, unwilling to explain
further and upset her again.

“
Jemima is in one of the rooms. The maids are a little
frightened having a body in the house.” Eliza murmured gently,
shivering at the seemingly endless scream. She frowned at the
hesitation she could see in Dunnicliffe’s eyes as they met and held
hers for several moments. Eliza could almost see him assessing,
wondering and immediately she felt chilled to the bone. He had news
she wasn’t going to like, she was sure of it. Briefly she wondered
what the scream had interrupted, but had no time to question
him.

“
Good God, make it stop!” Edward snarled, lunging to his feet
and stalking towards the door.

Eliza
jumped up to follow him, aware that Sir Dunnicliffe and the rest of
the family were behind her as she followed Edward down the hallway
towards the back of the house.

As soon
as the door to the servants’ area opened, the deafening screams
increased in volume and Eliza felt her patience begin to
wane.

Didn’t they realise there was a body in the house and respect
was required? Jemima wasn’t
that
scary. Had none of them ever seen a dead body
before?

“
What the hell is wrong this time?” Sebastian snapped,
struggling to see down the dimness of the corridor. The sudden rush
of movement as the maid flew past them and into the kitchens
startled them all and they stared at each other in consternation
for several moments.

“
Sweet Jesus.” Edward whispered, his eyes locked on something
over Eliza’s shoulder. His hard hands on her shoulders prevented
her from turning around as his eyes rounded in sheer disbelief at
the latest turn of events.

The story continues in The Gallows Bride, due out on
25
^th
April 2013.

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Other
books in the Cavendish Mysteries series include:

If You Were Mine – Book One (released
18
^th
December 2012)

Cinders and Ashes – Book Two (released
15
^th
January 2013)

Capturing Sir Dunnicliffe will be released summer
2013.