Chasing Eliza by Rebecca King Page B

stained
with a guilty blush.
    “ If we are to get you to safety, you have to tell me
everything Eliza.” Although he kept his voice low, his tone lost
none of its warning.
    “ This isn’t your problem Edward. You need to go back to Peter
and tell him that I know nothing. Jemima disappeared about two
weeks ago. I haven’t seen or heard anything from her since.” Eliza
sighed, hoping her sister had stuck to the plan and left a note in
their hiding place.
    “ It isn’t that simple.” Edward replied, easing his horse
across the unfamiliar field. “I cannot just let you walk away now.
I can get you to a place of safety, where you can stay until Jemima
is found, and your future is decided.” He didn’t like to admit that
for his own peace of mind he needed to ensure that she was safe and
well. Sometime during the past few hours he had become concerned
for her wellbeing far too much than he was comfortable with, but
there was little he could do about the sudden driving need to claim
her as his. Not only did he want her safe, but he was also
intrigued by her story and wanted to learn as much as she could
tell him. He was a warrior and a warrior never back down from a
fight.
    It appeared there wasn’t that much difference between himself
and Peter after all. Edward mused,
considering the strength of feeling she had brought out in him
after only a few hours’ acquaintance – and most of that had been
while being pursued by an unknown, yet persistent enemy.
    “ What do you mean?” She didn’t like the ring of finality in
his voice, as though the matter had already been decided and didn’t
need to be questioned. She didn’t want anyone deciding anything for
her. After the events of the past few months she considered she was
the only one qualified to make any decisions on her behalf and she
certainly didn’t want anyone of such short acquaintance deciding
what was best for her.
    “ I mean that I need to know what has happened to you to bring
you to that run down cesspit back in Derby.” He threw her a pointed
glance, daring her to be evasive or untruthful. “You will then tell
me everything you know about your pursuers. Once the people who
want you so badly are dealt with, you and Jemima can decide what
you want to do with your lives.”
    “ Does Peter know about Jemima’s situation?” Eliza shuddered as
a cold sweep of night air stole beneath the folds of her cloak with
icy intent. Glancing over at Edward’s thin shirt she wondered if
she should offer him his cloak back. Her heart clenched with guilt;
he must be frozen in the cold breeze with nothing but the thin
material to protect him.
    “ Situation?”
    “ What drove her to move to Derby.”
    “ I’m not sure. I know they met while you were in Devon. She
approached him for help for some reason and confided in him before
vanishing. He has been desperate to find her ever since and has
followed her – your – trail through to Derby. He has practically
pulled the town apart in his quest to find her.” Edward could see
nothing wrong with confiding in her thus far. If she understood the
depth of Peter’s involvement, it just might earn her trust and make
her feel able to confide in him.
    “ You cannot in all conscience drop me on his doorstep and
expect him to accommodate me. After all, it isn’t me he is looking
for.” Eliza reasoned, feeling a pang of envy that her sister, her
beautiful fun-loving sister, had someone so adoring of her that he
would move heaven and hell to find her. “I cannot go with you. At
the next village you need to let me down so I can find my own
way.”
    “ I won’t countenance such a possibility. Wherever you go, I
go.” Edward was loathed to leave her anywhere, especially after all
of the trouble he had gone to ensuring her safety thus far. She was
going to be delivered to Peter’s safe keeping, via his brother’s
residence – whether she liked it or not.
    He
didn’t want to stop and consider that his determination to