Eloisa's Adventure (14 page)

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.”