Eloisa's Adventure

by King, Rebecca

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Are you alright, Eloisa?”

  She squealed at the sound of Simeon’s voice close to her ear. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t even been aware of him coming back down the stairs.

  What if it had been the intruder? A cautionary voice warned her. That made her panic. She turned to look at him, only for her legs to get caught up in her ridiculous skirts. When she started to topple backward, she screamed and flailed her arms wildly in an attempt not to fall into the darkness off the hallway.

  Simeon raced down the stairs and hauled her against him before she could fall.

  “It’s all right,” he murmured, and he held her protectively against his chest. “You won’t fall.”

  Before she could say anything else, he moved to the step below her, and swung her off her feet. She was carried upstairs before she could voice a protest, and wasn’t put down again until she was in his room.

  “What are we doing in here?”

  “I don’t want you to sleep in that room again. I think it is safe to say that the intruder is back.”

  “He came back while we were asleep.”

  Simeon gave her a warning look. “He may not have gone,” he sighed and nodded to the window which was obscured by the thick layer of rainwater that pummelled it. “I think that he found the going too hard for the horse. It would be even more difficult on foot, so he was forced to come back.”

  “What does he want? Why was he watching me?” Eloisa gasped. To think of the stranger being so close to her while she had been asleep left her with the collywobbles.

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. Until we can get out of here in the morning, neither of us will go anywhere alone.” Simeon nodded toward the bed. “You can take the bed. I will sleep in the chair here.”

  “You found the secret passageway?” Eloisa asked. She knew from the look on his face that he had.

  “At least I have found a doorway into the passageways,” he sighed ruefully. “Now I just need to find out how to get it open. Then I can see where it takes me and who, or what, is inside.”

  “You can’t go in there alone,” Eloisa challenged. “What if you meet him, or get hurt or something? Nobody would know that anything had happened to you.”

  “Are you going to come with me?” he teased. He had no intention of going into the passageways with Eloisa beside him. Instead, he would wait until she had been safely delivered home, then he would come back. By then he would hopefully by accompanied by the burly support of a few of the local magistrate’s men who would help capture his quarry.

  Eloisa shook her head firmly. “Absolutely not.”

  “I have been in the army, Eloisa. I know how to fight,” he reminded her. It moved him to see the worry in her eyes and know that it was for him. No woman had ever bothered about his safety before. He wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.

  The quiet assurance in his voice drew her gaze toward his. There was a matter-of-fact confidence about him that was accompanied by a steely look of assurance in his eye. She rather felt sorry for the intruder now because she suspected that after recent events, Simeon would make sure the intruder met the full force of justice.

  “Who knows you are here?”

  “My staff in Cumbria, my friend, Jeremiah, and my solicitor,” Simeon replied. “If I don’t contact them within a few days, Jeremiah will come and find me.”

  “What do you think the intruder wants?”

  Simeon studied her and tried to decide whether to tell her about the contents that were missing from various rooms around the house. As far as he could tell, everything that had been stolen had been heirlooms which had been owned by the family for generations. They were worth a considerable amount of money. Anyone could pawn them and make a lot of money for themselves.

  Until he had completed a more thorough inventory of everything that had been stolen, he had no idea of the amounts of money the thief could earn. Given the large volume of furniture that had vanished though, it was evident that the man wasn’t working alone.

  Should he tell Eloisa that there might be more than one intruder in the house? It was a little reassuring to note that the man Eloisa had seen was the same man he had chased through the house. However, that didn’t discount anyone else lurking in the passageways they had yet to venture into.

  One look at the fear that clouded her eyes made that particular decision for him.

  “I think we need to be extra careful about what we do while we wait for this storm to pass,” he said and sat back in his chair.

  Eloisa looked outside. Although it was no longer thundering or lightning, the wind and rain had increased threefold.

  “If the man found the roads impossible to use, we will too,” Eloisa murmured. Tears suddenly loomed at the thought that they were trapped.

  When she had been thrown from the carriage, she had wondered just how bad life could get. Now she knew. She was stuck in a cold, draughty castle with a mysterious thief roaming the corridors. Although he hadn’t hurt them, he was not making too much of an effort to hide either. It was almost as though he was goading them to try to challenge him.

  “I am sorry I brought you into this mess, Eloisa. I should have taken you to the nearest village as soon as I found you. You would have been much better off in a room at a tavern until you could get home,” he whispered.

  “You were just being kind. If you hadn’t helped me, I would have been stuck out in those fields all by myself. I couldn’t have gone much further, let alone five miles to the nearest village. It is horrible to consider what could have happened to me if the intruder had seen me. I mean, I am hardly dressed to hide, am I?”

  “It’s beautiful,” he replied, but stood back to study the skirts thoughtfully. “It is just not very practical for running around the corridors here.”

  “I wish I had never thought of going to the ball,” she whispered. “It was a ridiculous idea.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “The thought of someone like me even going to something like a posh ball is silly. Even dancing outside is just plain wrong. I just don’t belong somewhere like that. I never have, and never will.” Her voice trailed off to a faint whisper.

  She looked so uncharacteristically morose for a moment that he felt sorry for her.

  “Now don’t start that,” he chided. He silently agreed that she wouldn’t have belonged at the grand balls of the haut ton, dressed as she was. He also knew that with a new, more fashionable dress, and armed with a proper invitation, she would most definitely fit in.

  “One day, you shall go to a ball,” he assured her, and quietly made himself a promise that he would be the one to take her. He had no idea where that idea came from but now that it had formed in his mind, he refused to ignore it.

  Eloisa shook her head. “No, this is more than enough of an adventure for me. When I get home, I shall resolve to stay there and forget that I ever considered attending a ball in the first place,” she declared firmly.

  The brave smile she gave him wobbled a bit and her knees shook as she stood up and moved to the window, but she didn’t let the tears fall. Something inside broke free of her heart and began to crumble, only she couldn’t quite work out what it was. Hope, maybe? Excitement? Stupidity? Reality? Whatever it was, she felt older, wiser, and considerably more determined never to expect more from life than was meant to be hers.

  She looked at Simeon’s reflection in the glass when he came to stand behind her. When she couldn’t bring herself to turn to face him, he placed his palms on her chilled shoulders and smiled at her.

  “It will be alright Eloisa. You may have missed the chance to go this time, but there will be another opportunity,” he murmured softly.

  Eloisa nodded but couldn’t see any reason to argue with him anymore. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was any discord between her and Simeon.

  “I need to leave,” she whispered weakly. “I have to get out of here, Simeon.”

 
; She had to admit it. It wasn’t purely because of the house and the situation they were in. It was the desperate need to keep her feet on the ground and ensure that common sense prevailed, and stopped her from feeling more for the man behind her than she really ought to feel.

  “I know but, right now, I have to keep you safe. That means that until the storm passes, we have to stay here.” His eyes widened when she began to shake her head.

  Her chin was tilted defiantly as she turned around to face him. Mere inches separated them but she valiantly ignored his proximity and kept her gaze locked firmly upon his.

  “As soon as it begins to turn light I am going to leave. I will find my way into the nearest village whether it is still raining or not, and will make my way home from there,” she declared firmly.

  “I am sorry I have been such a poor host,” he bit out, irked that she was so eager to get away from him, and didn’t appear to trust him to look after her.

  “It’s not that. I have just imposed on you time and again,” she challenged. “You clearly have serious matters here to deal with, without having to spend your nights looking after me.”

  Simeon felt some of his anger subside and he smiled a little ruefully at her. “I could have done without the intruder but, all things considered, I don’t think we are doing too badly.”

  She smiled at him but didn’t speak. There was sadness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and that bothered him. Was it because of the missed ball, or the intruder scaring her? He wished he could get inside her head and know for definite. Although he tried to study her more closely, there were secrets and shadows in the depths of her beautiful eyes that rendered it impossible.

  “Look, try to get some sleep. I promise you that this time you won’t be disturbed. I will be right here. We will see what the weather is doing in the morning and then decide what to do.” It was the best compromise he could offer her right now. She looked disturbed enough as it was. He didn’t want to add to her disquiet by assuring her that if it was still raining so heavily in the morning, he would lock her in the bedroom to prevent her from leaving if he had to.

  Eloisa nodded but kept quiet. It was a physical wrench to move away from him, and that made her frown deeply. Just the touch of his hands on her shoulders had scalded her flesh to the point that she felt branded. While her world had been in turmoil, she was confident that he hadn’t felt anything other than concern that she was going to fall into a fit of the vapours.

  She climbed onto the bed and almost wept when she tugged the sheet over her only to find that she was enveloped in his scent. He had obviously been asleep when she had screamed. While on the one hand the scent of him nearby was heavenly, on the other it bothered her to note just how much she wanted it to remain wrapped around her all night long. Moreover, how much she wanted the man, rather than the sheets he had slept in. Confused, worried, and more than a little frightened, she closed her eyes and willed sleep to come.

  Simeon watched her from the safety of the hearth. She looked so lost amidst the huge expanse of bed that he wanted to wrap her in his arms and keep her there. However, so much had happened to her in such a short space of time that he daren’t take advantage of their close proximity to steal another kiss. Not yet; not while danger lurked. He wanted her to want him – the man; not his protection. He wanted to know that the relentless tug of attraction he felt for her was reciprocated.

  Neither of them got much sleep that night. They were both still awake when the first tendrils of light filtered through the darkness outside. Eloisa stared absently out of the window and watched the rainwater trickle slowly down the small square of window she could see through one partially open shutter. Unfortunately, wind and rain continued to batter the house without mercy. From the look of the sky, the storm was going nowhere anytime soon.

  “Good morning,” Simeon murmured gently when he became aware that she was awake.

  “Morning,” she mumbled. She clambered out of bed and gasped when she saw him. He hadn’t slept either from the look of him because he looked as tired as she felt.

  “It’s not eased off at all, has it?” she murmured as she nodded toward the window.

  “I seriously cannot even consider that we should try to leave here on foot. The horse just wouldn’t make it across the muddy fields, even if our intruder has returned with it.”

  “We can’t be stuck here,” she gasped in horror.

  Simeon shrugged. “It’s too dangerous to leave.”

  “It’s too dangerous to stay,” she countered. Once again, a small voice asked her whether the danger came from the man before her who, once again, tugged on her heart-strings merely by being in the same room as her.

  “He hasn’t hurt us yet,” Simeon reminded her.

  Eloisa sighed and struggled to keep her temper at bay. “You said that your uncle was poisoned.”

  “We have all the food we need with us,” Simeon countered and glanced at the basket.

  “No, that’s true. However, he has got us squirrelled away in one room while he has the run of the house,” she reminded him.

  Simeon pursed his lips and knew she was right, but couldn’t bring himself to leave her to her own devices in a house this size while he searched the passages. He would tear the place apart with his bare hands if she vanished on him. Just the thought of anything happening to her made him want to clutch at his hair and pound something with his fists.

  It disturbed him to realise just how much she had come to mean to him already. He hardly knew her, but found her to be excellent company. She didn’t whine about insignificant little details, or twitter on about useless things. Instead, she was calm, logical and very clever. There was a spark of fire in her that he found somewhat addictive. When he saw it, he found himself searching for ways to provoke her again so he could witness it once more. It was damned annoying because he didn’t want to be that attracted to her. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it because he felt considerably more for her than any respectable host should feel about a single, very feminine guest.

  “Simeon?” she called when he lurched out of his seat and strode toward the door.

  “What,” he called as he strode into the hallway without stopping to hear what she had to say.

  She followed his muffled voice into the room she had tried to sleep in last night. Once in the doorway she paused and watched him.

  “I wonder if he was after these,” Simeon murmured and pointed to the baskets beside the wall. “He would have to walk around the bed, but wouldn’t want to risk waking you up.”

  “In case I screamed,” Eloisa admitted ruefully. “We said we would keep the baskets with us while we were downstairs in the pantry.”

  “Which points to the fact that he didn’t just lock us in the room, he was listening to what we were saying.”

  Eloisa shuddered and looked down at the full basket beside her. “We have the food, so it is inevitable he will want to get some, if not all of it back. Why hasn’t he fetched it already?”

  She moved to the window and looked outside. There were several large puddles in the driveway and yard now that hadn’t been there last night. She didn’t need to go outside to know that the ground had been turned into a quagmire from the relentless downpour. It was going to be difficult to get out of the yard, much less out of the driveway so she could walk several miles to the nearest village.

  “You are not going anywhere today,” Simeon growled in her ear.

  Eloisa spun around. She had to tip her head back to look up at him but, when she did, she glared balefully up at him.

  “I am going. We cannot sit here and eat all the food while we wait for that intruder to come and find us. Heaven only knows what he is prepared to do to us just to get his food back. I think you need to get some reinforcements into this house to help you search the corridors. Do it by yourself and you will be asking for trouble, army training or not.”

  Eloisa sucked in a breath and tried to calm herself down. She
didn’t want to raise her voice at him, but her temper was frayed by the feelings that had come out of nowhere. On top of the poor night’s sleep she had just endured, and the worry about when and where the intruder would appear again, she was just about at the end of her tether. “If I see him again, he will get a piece of my mind, I can tell you.”

  Simeon grinned. “Just scream at him again, that should render him useless enough for us to capture him.”

  Eloisa smiled in spite of her worries. “I am sorry about that. I was just scared.”

  “Remind me not to scare you,” he teased. He liked the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. It was wonderful to see the tension and worry vanish and be replaced by mirth; however temporary.

  Before he realised what he was doing, he cupped her cheek with one large palm. It really did feel as soft as it looked, although this morning was paler than usual. He smiled gently.

  “You are beautiful when you smile,” he whispered, his voice husky with desire.

  Eloisa felt her stomach flip. She was mesmerised by the way lighter flecks of brown twinkled at her when he smiled, and smiled back at him somewhat dreamily.

  “Eloisa.” The husky rumble of his voice was half-plea, half-warning.

  She watched his head lower toward hers with an air of inevitability. If she was honest, this was what she wanted; this closeness. She wanted to experience his kiss just once more before she left. After all, anything could happen today. If the rain suddenly stopped and Simeon decided it was safe enough for them to leave for the village, then she would never get to be alone with him again.

  Determined to make the most of the opportunity while it was there, Eloisa sighed in anticipation and remained still. The soft sweep of his lips against hers was tender, yet persistent. Rather than capturing her lips briefly as he did yesterday. This morning, the long slow glide of his lips over hers captured her breath and then to tease her some more. She gasped and eased back a little so she could look at him.