Eloisa's Adventure (16 page)

“What do
you mean, ‘you are not of my ilk’?” Simeon demanded.

“You are
an aristocrat. I am not,” Eloisa replied flatly. “It was very kind
of you to offer me a roof for the night. I should really be in the
servants’ quarters, shouldn’t I?”

“Wait a
minute,” Simeon demanded. “What has my kissing you got to do with
me being an aristocrat?” His eyes narrowed as he stared at her, and
for once he couldn’t understand the female mind.

“You
think that I dallied with you because I am the lord of the manor?”
He wasn’t sure whether to be furiously angry; thoroughly insulted
or appalled. He was all three, he supposed. If he spent some time
thinking about it – like the next millennia – he might find it
terribly funny. Right now, he wasn’t sure whether to shake her,
shout at her, or just kiss her some more to prove her
wrong.

“I
didn’t mean that,” Eloisa sighed. She refused to spell it out to
him. She couldn’t humiliate herself any further. After all, she was
hardly likely to see him again after today.

“Let’s
to back inside,” Simeon suggested. He didn’t wait to see if she was
going to comply. He kept a firm grip on her arm and began to drag
her unceremoniously back toward the house.

“I am
not going back in there,” Eloisa protested.

“You are
not going to put your life at risk by walking all the way back to
the village in this weather,” Simeon snapped.

“It’s
nothing to do with you.”

“You
will do as you are told, damn it,” he snapped.

“You are
not in a position to tell me what to do,” Eloisa argued. “You are
not my husband, my father, or any relation to me.”

“I am not your relation, no. However, given that you are on
my land, you are very much my responsibility. Until I can deposit
you safely on your own doorstep, I will have a say in what you do
and where you go. Right now, you and I are both going back into
that castle. We are going to get warm, dry, and have something to
eat.” He saw the defiance in her eyes, in spite of the rainwater
that mingled with her tears, and leaned toward her until their
noses practically touched. “I mean it,” he growled. “Walk or
I
will
carry
you.”

Eloisa
sucked in a breath. The cold hard determination in his steady gaze
warned her that he would do just that if she defied him. She wanted
ignore him and walk down the driveway anyway, but she just couldn’t
bring herself to part from him. She wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.
If she was completely honest, she wanted more of his kisses, but
felt thoroughly humiliated that he didn’t want her just as
badly.

He must think me a complete harlot,
she thought morosely. She watched the rainwater trickle
slowly down his tanned cheeks and felt something between them
shift.

“Sod
it,” he suddenly snapped and hauled her toward him.

Before
Eloisa could open her mouth to speak she was hauled against the
solid wall of his chest again. This time, his lips slammed onto
hers with a ferocity that matched the raging storm around them. She
couldn’t help it. Her arms swept around his shoulders and she clung
to his strength while she copied his movements just as
forcefully.

His arms
stole around her waist and drew her flush against him. The
rainwater mingled with the taste of Eloisa on his lips and fanned
the flames of desire. When he did find the strength to draw away,
he lifted his head and looked at her with eyes that were as dazed
as hers. It seemed to take a moment before she realised he had
stopped kissing her. When her eyelids lifted to reveal her lambent
gaze, he groaned, and began to drop tiny kisses across her
cheek.

He
placed a tender kiss on her lips. “What is this?” he gasped. “How
can you do this to me so soon?”

“Do
what?” she whispered, unsure what he was asking. She couldn’t find
the words to put together that would make any sense. All she could
do was savour the wonderful sensation of being wrapped in his arms
once more.

“I don’t
regret kissing you,” Simeon assured her. He rested his head against
hers while he willed his raging desire to ease enough for him to
get them both inside. “How could anyone regret this?”

“I saw
your face.” In spite of her poor attempt at bravado, she felt her
chin quiver. “You regretted it. It was on your face.”

“No, I
regret that I don’t have a better acquaintance with you. We have to
be careful, darling, or we are going to take matters further than
they ought to go right now. I don’t want you coming to me because
you are scared, or just want me to protect you,” he
murmured.

He saw
the lingering hurt in her gaze and cursed himself for being such a
fool with her.

“I am
not,” she assured him. She stared at him in shock. “I
wouldn’t.”

“I just
think we need to consider the situation we are in a bit more. This
isn’t the time or the place to deal with this attraction we
have.”

She
didn’t want to say that he was right but he was.

“One
thing I do know for definite is that you are not going anywhere
while this storm rages as it does,” Simeon told her. He held her
possessively and savoured the feel of her against him for several
moments.

When a
particularly strong gust of wind pummelled them, he felt the shiver
that swept through her and realised just how cold she had become
while they had been talking.

“Come
on,” he urged her tenderly. “Let’s go and get warm.” He slid an arm
around her waist and walked beside her back toward the house. He
heaved a sigh of relief that she wasn’t protesting any more. He
would haul her over his shoulder if he had to, but he didn’t want
that level of discord between them. Shockingly, she had come to
mean too much to him for them to be ill-tempered with each other.
He would promise her the world if it got her to smile at him
again.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Eloisa ducked her head and walked
beside him toward the house. A low rumbling noise suddenly joined
the haunting wail of the winds. They both turned to look at each
other with a frown.

“What’s
that?”

“Watch
out!” Simeon yelled and yanked her around in a wide
circle.

Eloisa
screamed when her feet left the floor and she was suddenly flying
through the air. The ground rushed up to meet her and, for the
second time in two days, she landed on the floor with a resounding
thud. Seconds later, Simeon landed protectively over her. Her
breath escaped her. She couldn’t move. Not only because she didn’t
have the strength to, but Simeon’s weight was pushing her down onto
the saturated grass.

“Are you
alright? Eloisa, talk to me. Are you alright?” He demanded when she
didn’t immediately move or try to get up.

The
worry in his eyes snapped her out of her stunned disbelief and made
her blink. She looked up at him blankly.

“Say
something,” he urged when she still didn’t speak to him. “Did it
hurt you?”

She
frowned. “Did what hurt me?” she gasped, and turned her head around
to peer at the spot they had been standing on.

Simeon
helped her to sit up and checked her for injuries.

“Did it
hit you?” he demanded.

Eloisa
caught his questing hands and looked at him. It was then that her
attention was caught by a pile of rubble that now blocked their
path to the door.

“What’s
that?” she asked. She tipped her head but couldn’t make out what it
was.

“It’s a
gargoyle,” Simeon replied darkly.

“A
gargoyle?” she asked in amazement. She studied the chunks of
masonry that were still visible, and knew that it had indeed been a
gargoyle. There, directly above the front door, was an empty space
where one of the horrible looking stones had once sat. “It was
him.” It wasn’t a question. “He tried to hit us with one of the
gargoyles.”

Simeon
sighed. There was no point trying to assure her it was probably
nothing. Those gargoyles had been sitting on the roof for hundreds
of years. Someone had pushed it off the stone wall that ran round
the edge of the roof, most probably with the intention of hitting
one, if not both, of them.

“We have
to get back inside,” he urged, not for the first time. He didn’t
relish the thought of going back into the house either, but they
were sitting targets outside.

“I am
sorry I brought you here,” he muttered. “You don’t deserve to get
dragged into my problems.”

“I am
alright. It is just worrying that he can move about without us
seeing him,” she replied firmly. “It’s like sharing a house with a
ghost.”

“I know.
We are at a distinct disadvantage because he can move about without
being visible or heard.”

She
looked up at the roof again. “It does prove that he knows where we
are at any given moment.”

Simeon
frowned at her. “He also knows the house like the back of his
hand.”

“Do you
think it is a disgruntled employee?” She asked as she studied the
pile of debris. “Who else would know the house well enough to even
be aware the passages are there?”

“I think
we are safe to talk given that there is nobody who can overhear
us,” he declared ruefully as he glanced at the empty driveway they
were standing in. “I think this must be our first private
conversation.” He glanced pointedly back at the house. “Although he
may be watching, he can’t hear what we are saying.”

Simeon
suspected that whoever had been watching them had also seen them
kissing and believed that their relationship was intimate.
Unfortunately, that now put Eloisa in as much danger as he was
in.

“I am
sorry, Eloisa,” he whispered. “I have got you into a real mess,
haven’t I?”

She
looked at him with a smile. “It’s not your fault. How were you to
know this would happen? I am just glad you stumbled across me when
you did.”

Simeon
had to acknowledge that she was right, and nodded.

She
glanced at the house. “It has got to be someone from your family,
hasn’t it?”

“It is
looking more and more likely, yes,” Simeon growled.

“Your
uncle is dead,” Eloisa stated. She counted the points on her
fingers. “How many children did he have?”

“One,
but he is dead too. He was killed in the war.”

“His
wife?”

“Whose
wife?” Simeon asked with a frown.

“George’s wife. Where is she?”

“She is
dead. She died of influenza several years ago.”

“Did
either your aunt or uncle have any brothers or sisters?”

Simeon
shook his head. “My aunt didn’t have any other brothers and sisters
who were still alive at the time of her demise. My father was Uncle
George’s brother, but they didn’t speak.”

“It
can’t be your father,” Eloisa declared. She couldn’t think of any
parent who would want to kill their child in such a way.

“No. He
has passed away now too.”

“I am
sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s
alright, sweetheart. It was a couple of years ago now,” Simeon
assured her.

“Did
anyone else inherit anything from George?”

In spite
of the wind and the rain that lashed them, neither of them made any
attempt to get inside. Eloisa tried her best to hide her sniffs,
but she couldn’t prevent the shivers that wracked her. She went
willingly when Simeon drew her back into his arms.

“There
were a couple of people who expected something in uncle’s will and
were a bit put out that they didn’t get anything, but they are
elderly. They are hardly able bodied enough to move around this
house freely enough to be able to use the passageways and run up
and down the stairs as nimbly as me.”

“Do they
have any children who might be aggrieved on their behalf?” Eloisa
asked hopefully. She sighed deeply when Simeon shook his
head.

“Not as
far as I am aware, no.”

“It must
be an old member of staff then. They could have discovered the
passageways while they were working here, and decided to come back
once they knew your uncle had passed away,” Eloisa said
thoughtfully.

Simeon
nodded, but looked thoughtful.

“How
well did you know your uncle’s staff?”

He shook
his head. “It’s been years since I have been here. I didn’t really
know any of them.”

Eloisa
sighed. “So we have no idea who this unnamed intruder might be, and
have no idea how dangerous he is.”

“He
tried to kill us, Eloisa,” Simeon challenged in a voice that was
cold and hard. “The bastard is going to pay.”

“We need
to get the magistrate,” she replied and threw him a cautionary
look.

“I know.
Come on, let’s get back inside. I am soaked and I don’t know about
you but I need something to eat. Let’s go and make use of those
baskets.” Although his voice was gentle, there was a glint of
ruthlessness in her eyes that kept her quiet as she followed
him.