Chasing Eliza by Rebecca King Page A

at first couldn’t
understand why she was there – or where my father was. She appeared
scared and restless and wouldn’t let me approach her. It took me
some time to calm her down, then as I turned I noticed someone’s
legs in the adjacent field. I wasn’t sure if someone had become
ill, or fallen off or something, so went to take a look. My father
travelled to London with his assistant and two out-riders for
protection. All four men were lying in the field.” Eliza’s voice
trembled with tears as she sought to find the right words to convey
the graphic scene that had met her.
    “ They had been murdered. Each man’s throat had been cut.” She
couldn’t suppress the tears that flowed freely down her pale cheeks
as the memories of the grass stained brown with blood, and the
lifeless stare of her beloved father.
    Edward
stood, and drew her gently into his arms. Suddenly her reaction to
seeing the men he had shot in the field made perfect sense. He
rested his chin lightly on the top of her head as she gave herself
over the grief of losing her father and guardian, made increasingly
raw by her witnessing the killing of the two men last
night.
    He held
her while she vented the grief that until now she hadn’t allowed
herself to acknowledge. The tears suddenly seemed unstoppable as
she leant against the solid comfort of his shoulder, his long arms
around her waist holding her close as she sobbed.
    “ My father had been beaten before he was-.” Eliza hiccupped
around the word, unable to finish her description of the graphic
scene that had awaited her that morning.
    “ They were trying to get information out of him.”
    After
several moments, she quietened down enough for him to ease
backwards and look down into her face. Her amber eyes were filled
with so much pain that his heart clenched with frustration at his
inability to ease her angst. He felt the physical pull of
attraction draw him closer and it took every ounce of self control
he had not to succumb to the tempting curve of her lips as she
gazed at him.
    She
wasn’t a noisy crier. No raucous wailing or loud sobs. The large,
round tears that slowly slid down her alabaster cheeks unmanned him
and had more of a profound effect on his heart than he wanted to
acknowledge. He found himself wanting to do whatever she needed to
ease her heartache and offer her comfort.
    In that
moment he knew that the possibility of just handing her over to
Peter to deal with had vanished and if he was honest, he wasn’t
sure if he was all that sorry. While he didn’t relish taking on a
band of marauding smugglers, he knew if he did hand her over to
Peter and go on his merry way, he wouldn’t settle until he knew
Scraggan had been dealt with and would worry about her safety and
wellbeing until the matter was closed.
    Briefly
he wondered if this was how Dominic and Sebastian had felt when
they had dealt with the situations Isobel and Amelia had been
involved in. He began to wonder if his heart was more involved than
his common sense but knew there was little he could do about
it.
    “ I’m sorry.” Eliza whispered, easing out of his arms
reluctantly after several long minutes of self pity. She brushed
absently at his shirt. “I seem to have gotten your shirt
wet.”
    “ It’s alright.” Edward murmured, concerned with how reluctant
he was to release his hold on her. He kept her from withdrawing
completely by tightening his hold on her waist, settling her all
too comfortably against him.
    “ I want to know where you are so intent on going
to.”
    Eliza
sighed deeply and stared up at him in consideration for several
quiet moments. She had to crane he neck to look him in the eye he
was so tall. Even staring down at her as he was, he was so
incredibly handsome that he made her yearn for something she
couldn’t identify.
    “ How did you find me in the inn?” She asked, carefully
delaying answering his question.
    Edward
sensed her reluctance and wondered at the cause. As far as he