Eloisa's Adventure (23 page)

She
studied him and felt a wave of emotion sweep through her that that
was so strong it simply took her breath away. It was far too soon
to know whether she loved him or not, but she was aware that he had
come to mean an awful lot to her, in spite of their short
acquaintance. Although the day-to-day trivialities of personal
preferences toward food, politics and fashion still had to be
learned, she had never felt so tuned to anyone in her life. She
knew that given the opportunity, she would remain by his side for
the rest of her life. Throughout everything, he had been nothing
but polite and considerate toward her. She would even go so far as
to say that he had been tender and affectionate, but not
affectionate enough as far as she was concerned.

She
couldn’t quite decide if he just wasn’t attracted to her, felt
sorry for her, or just considered her lower in status to him. The
latter stopped her from leaning toward him in search of a
reassuring kiss now.

“Are you
alright?” he whispered.

She
nodded her head jerkily but mentally winced when Renwick coughed.
She waited for him to appear above them only to heave a sigh of
relief when he didn’t.

“How do
we get out of here?” she whispered. “He has said that his friend
will come back for him.”

“Ah, so
you are awake at last,” Renwick called.

Eloisa
sighed and closed her eyes as a wave of revulsion swept through
her. She had never hated anyone so much in her life as she did
Renwick Calversham.

“Why did
you have to hit me so hard?” Simeon groused as he wriggled around
until he could sit upright.

“An eye
for an eye and all that,” Renwick countered in a casual manner that
was at odds with the ruthlessness in his eyes.

He
hauled Simeon to his feet and threw him a dismissive glance when
Simeon started to sway on his feet. “Get over to this desk. I have
something for you to sign,” Renwick ordered, and he all but dragged
Simeon across the room.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Eloisa
watched Simeon until he was dragged out of her line of vision. She
tried to roll over so she could continue to see him, but her
painfully bound hands prevented her. Thankfully, Renwick was
temporarily blocked from view by Simeon’s broad
shoulders.

She eyed
the secret doorway calculatingly for a moment. With one quick
glance back at the men, she clambered awkwardly to her feet. As
silently as she could, she crept toward the secret door and nudged
it open. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do once she was
free, but didn’t stop to think about that right now. Once inside
the corridor, she nudged the door closed behind her. With no candle
and no way to guide herself it was a perilous race through the
corridor at best. She bit her lip to prevent the cry of pain from
escaping when she bounced off the rough stone walls. Once at the
passage door, she checked the corridor was clear then raced into
the kitchen toward the pantry she had Simeon had been locked in on
the first night at the house.

Thankfully, the knives she had seen earlier were still there.
It took her several minutes before she succeeded in picking one up
while peering awkwardly over her shoulder. With a sawing motion,
she turned it upside down and began to slice it through the ropes.
Twisted at such an uncomfortable angle, she sliced into the tender
flesh of her wrists more than the rope, but there was little she
could do about that now.

“Please
be alright, Simeon. If only I can get free, I can help,” she
whispered. The sound of her own voice sounded loud though, even to
her, so she fell silent while she set to work on the ropes with
increasing desperation.

“Come on
you ridiculous things,” she muttered minutes later when her fingers
began to ache and she sliced over a particularly sore spot on her
wrist.

Finally,
after considerable effort, the rope finally snapped. Her shoulders
ached from having them tied behind her back for so long. She looked
down at the bloodied mess of her wrists and sighed. Her hands shook
uncontrollably through cold and fear but she washed the worst of
the blood off before she collected the items she needed. The last
thing she wanted to do was go back into the passageway but she knew
that she must. She was painfully aware that she had left Simeon
bound, and at the mercy of Renwick. Heaven only knew what had
happened while she had been gone.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps running toward her broke the
silence. It brought forth a wave of panic that had her scurrying in
all directions in search of a place to hide. She didn’t have the
time light a candle even if she was prepared to go back into the
passageways. Panic made her knees tremble. It was only the thought
that Simeon needed her that forced her to find a way out. She knew
that Renwick had discovered her absence and it was now only a
matter of time before he found her again. Without stopping to
think, she snatched a knife off the table.

Quickly
yanking the back door open, she stepped out into the howling winds.
She quietly closed the door behind her, then lifted her skirts and
raced around the side of the house. While she ran she mentally
plotted where the study was. She was soaked by the time she reached
the window but, thankfully, Simeon was there, seated behind the
desk. She tapped on the window and watched him race toward
her.

Precious
minutes ticked by while he awkwardly turned the latch on the window
with his hands bound. As soon as he nodded, she slid the window
up.

“Turn
around,” she ordered. She cast a furtive glance at the door and,
without bothering to climb into the room, began to saw at his
ropes. Desperation made her movements hard and jerky but, within
seconds, his hands were free.

Simeon
sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenward when he was able to
clench his fists without pain. He turned around and hauled her
upper body through the window so he could kiss her with all the
loving pride he could summon.

She was
momentarily speechless at the force of the kiss he bestowed upon
her. By the time he stepped back, she was gasping and clutching the
window frame for support. It was only the distant sound of smashing
glass that made them both jump back with a start.

“Quickly,” Simeon gasped as he ushered her backward. He
clambered out of the window then slowly lowered the
window.

“Where
are we going?”

“This
way,” he said. He grabbed her wrist and together they ran toward
the group of trees that protected the rear of the house.

“Where
to?” Eloisa gasped as she slipped, slid and stumbled across the
sodden lawn. Surely he didn’t intend to run all the way to the
village did he?

“To the
folly,” Simeon growled. “It is safe and dry, and so overrun that
Renwick won’t be able to find it. I did though, just the other week
when I was walking the grounds.”

It was
the day after he had learned that he had inherited the house from
George. He had been in shock and had walked around the property
while he tried to decide what to do with it. If the dog hadn’t
started to bark at a rabbit hidden in the dense undergrowth, he
wouldn’t have known the folly was there. Now, it was their only
sanctuary.

They
raced across the well-manicured lawn at the back of the
house.

She
glanced back at the castle. “Simeon!”

When
Simeon looked at her, she pointed toward Renwick, who was racing
after them.

“This
way,” Simeon growled, and led her back into the trees. “We will go
around the back way.”

“What
then?”

He
didn’t answer. At the moment, he wasn’t entirely sure. When he
glanced over her shoulder, Renwick had already closed half of the
distance between them. It was inevitable that there was going to be
a confrontation now, especially if the murderous look on Renwick’s
face was anything to go by.

Thankfully, the folly was not too far away. “In here,” Simeon
said. He yanked several thick branches of the overgrown bramble
back and pushed her into the narrow space behind it. He clambered
in after her and carefully arranged the foliage over the gap they
had created. They were taking a terrible risk confining themselves
as they were but they weren’t able to outrun Renwick. Although he
would never lay the blame with Eloisa, she was a female, with
shorter legs that were encumbered by skirts. It was inevitable that
the tall, fit man was able to catch up.

When
Eloisa opened her mouth to speak, Simeon put his finger to his lips
to warn her to remain silent. They stood and listened to the sound
of running footstep grow increasingly louder before they receded
again. Eloisa slumped with relief when silence settled eventually
around them.

“Keep
quiet for a bit longer, just in case he comes back,” Simeon
breathed into her ear.

He saw
the shiver that swept through her and hauled her against his chest
in a futile attempt to share their warmth. He needed the contact
with her, if only to assure himself that she really was all right.
When he had realised earlier that she had left the room, he had
mentally applauded her strength and determination. While he had
been mightily relieved she had been able to get away, he had also
been worried sick about her. It had been a tremendous relief when
she had reappeared in the study window. Not least because he knew
that Renwick had planned to give him a beating upon his return from
recapturing Eloisa, just to get him to sign ownership of the castle
over to him.

“Are you
alright?”

“Just
cold,” she whispered, and snuggled closer when he held her
tighter.

Simeon
dropped a quick kiss on her lips while they listened. He was about
to assure her that they would be able to leave soon when the sound
of cracking twigs broke the silence.

Eloisa
was so very glad that Simeon was there. If she had been alone, she
would have given in to a fit of the vapours by now. It was
terrifying to have to stand and await discovery. She wanted to ask
Simeon if Renwick was armed and likely to shoot them, but didn’t
really want to know.

Her
heart leapt into her throat when a dark shadow passed by the
opening where the window used to be. Eloisa closed her eyes and
listened to her heart pound.

Over the
top of her head, Simeon watched the shadow move toward the doorway.
It was only when the brambles began to move that Simeon realised
that Renwick must know about the folly’s existence. He closed his
eyes on a curse and searched the floor for something he could use
to defend them. In the end, he realised that he only thing he had
to hand that was of any use was his fists. He carefully ushered
Eloisa to stand with her back to the wall and moved into position
in front of her – and waited.

“I know
you are in there, Simeon, so I suggest you come out now,” Renwick
drawled conversationally. “If you don’t, I will just have to come
in and get you.”

Simeon
remained where he was. His fingers tightened around Eloisa’s in
silent reassurance that they would be alright. He lifted her hand
to his mouth and kissed the back of her fingers before he released
her and braced himself. The sense of inevitability he felt when
Renwick appeared before them brought with it a small measure of
relief. At least now they would be able to resolve this once and
for all.

“Stay
here, Eloisa,” Simeon murmured. He didn’t bother to look back at
her as he stepped forward. Rather than give his cousin the
opportunity to strike first, Simeon tackled Renwick to the
ground.

The
resultant skirmish was brutal. Well-placed thumps and heavy grunts
from both parties broke the silence. When Renwick succeeded in
pushing Simeon off him, and pinned Simeon to the floor so he could
rain blows down onto his face, Eloisa picked up a branch off the
floor and began to whack him on the back. Although the branch
wasn’t big, she put enough force into the blows to dislodge
Renwick, and give Simeon the opportunity to reverse their
positions.

“Get to
the house,” Simeon growled at her when he saw the gun strapped to
Renwick’s hip.

Eloisa
hesitated. The thought of leaving them to fight it out was
horrible. She couldn’t stay in that castle and wait to see who
emerged from the undergrowth. The thought of it filled her with
sickening dread, so she merely threw him a dark look and ignored
him.

“Get to
the house,” Simeon shouted.

“No,”
Eloisa retorted flatly.

When
Renwick’s fist landing painfully against his ribs took his breath,
Simeon turned to his cousin with a snarl of rage. He was certain
that the anger he felt toward Renwick wasn’t just created by his
callous disregard toward another human life; and a solider at that.
It wasn’t just that his cousin had stolen property from him and was
now trying to force him to sign over ownership of the castle.
Simeon knew that the anger that put the force behind every fist he
threw at his cousin was more down to the future that Renwick had
cost him and Eloisa.

He just
couldn’t bring himself to drag Eloisa’s name into the mire by
marrying her while the family were facing a time of crisis. He
couldn’t do that to Eloisa. But to let her go was something that
brought about a quiet rage within him that made him want to pound
his cousin into the ground. With his teeth gritted, he turned the
full focus of his anger toward thwarting his cousin.