Chasing Eliza (Cavendish Mysteries 3)

Dominic sighed deeply with intense regret. “I wanted to get back to Isobel and ask for her hand in marriage. We searched for the missing smuggler, and waited for several days. The band of men we took with us remained for some weeks afterwards trying to find him but he had simply vanished.”

“Unfortunately by the time we did get back to Oxfordshire, my sister had been kidnapped.” Peter added matter of factly, despite discussing the first major event to befall the family that had turned his life upside down, and changed Dominic’s life forever.

“Scraggan?” Eliza swung around to Peter again, her eyes wide. She knew she was parroting herself, but was shocked by the tale the men were recounting.

“No, it wasn’t Scraggan this time.” Peter replied with a smile. “It was my demented and greedy uncle.”

“Unfortunately, Isobel was treated badly and had to run away to stay alive. She lived on the streets for several weeks, but she was a lady and wasn’t prepared for life on the run.” Dominic shifted uncomfortably in his saddle as he thought about those worrying days immediately after he found her.

“In order to stay out of my uncle’s clutches she sought the help of an old friend, and faked her own death. Unfortunately we were told she had died as well and even visited her grave.” Peter added, when it became clear Dominic wasn’t going to continue with the story.

Eliza stared at Peter in horror. “You were told she was dead?”

“I found her near to my home several days later very much alive but seriously ill.” Dominic added hastily. “She was half starved and nearly dead from cold and hunger. It was touch and go for a while. By the time winter had turned into spring, Isobel was largely back in good health and because we were busy dealing with her mad uncle, we had completely forgotten about Scraggan. We had assumed he had disappeared back into the undergrowth and moved up or down the coast to join one of the smaller gangs, or gone back to whatever day job he had been doing. We didn’t put any importance on him, but it was definitely Scraggan.”

“Small, thin wiry man with a pox marked complexion?” Eliza shuddered at the mental image of the sly grin the toad habitually wore swam before her.

“That’s the one. He isn’t Cornish, I think he is from Newcastle or somewhere like that. He has a son.”

“Rogan.” Eliza’s voice was rich with contempt.

“That’s the one.” Dominic added before looking at her. “So you see, we are directly involved because if we had stayed in Norfolk and searched a bit harder, we could have put an end to Scraggan and stopped any of this happening.”

“But if you hadn’t gone back to Oxfordshire, by the sounds of it Isobel wouldn’t have been alive.” Eliza argued, suddenly wanting to meet Isobel and hear her story.

“It’s a case of damned if we did and damned if we didn’t.” Peter remarked. “Now we have the chance to put things right and finish the job we started over eighteen months ago.”

“Edward wasn’t involved in capturing smugglers. He had only just returned from France. Although he won’t discuss it, I gather from my contacts that the fighting out there was brutal. Edward was injured and returned to England where he withdrew for several weeks. I don’t know how he was injured or where, but he returned to Leicestershire a changed man from the boy we all grew up with.” Dominic sighed and looked down at his toes for several minutes before raising wise eyes to meet hers.

“He was always scrapping, even as a boy he would wrestle both Sebastian and I down to the ground, fists flying. It drove our nannies mad. But when he got back from France he was significantly different; very unhappy and far more cynical. There is less of the fun-loving side to him now, and more of a seasoned warrior.” Dominic added after several moments of thoughtful silence.

“Unfortunately, he returned to Leicestershire when Dominic summoned everyone to help locate my uncle and his associate.” Peter added, recounting the final showdown with his uncle that almost resulted in Isobel’s demise. “While Edward was outside, he was dragged into a skirmish and well, in short, uncle’s friend killed himself. Edward also witnessed the trauma Dominic experienced seeing Isobel injured. Then there’s Sebastian.”

“There’s more?” Eliza stared at Dominic in disbelief. She thought her year had been traumatic. “Heavens above!” She murmured softly as Dominic nodded slowly.

Briefly Dominic recounted Sebastian’s story, watching the mixture of horror and shock on Eliza’s face with amusement.

“So you see, neither Sebastian nor I had a particularly easy time on our way to the altar. Edward saw the fear and concern in both of us and, well, given what he may have witnessed abroad, he is naturally wary. He is determined he wants a quiet life and believes that being married will bring him nothing but trouble.”

“You can’t blame him really.” Eliza muttered, thinking of her own current problems. “A quiet life in the country sounds perfect to me.”

“Amen.” Peter replied. “I don’t know about you two but I have had enough of riding to last me a lifetime.”

Both Dominic and Eliza nodded in emphatic agreement.

“Edward’s aversion to marriage cannot purely be because of you and Sebastian.” Eliza added after several miles of silence.

“It isn’t. Both Sebastian and I are very happily married. I don’t know where Edward’s aversion to marriage has come from. Whether he has injuries he thinks might be an aversion to a wife, or whether he has seen what happened to Sebastian and me and doesn’t want to go through the same, I cannot be certain. As I have said, he won’t talk about what happened to him in France.”

“There is one thing for certain.” Peter broke the thoughtful silence that had fallen over them. “He will be back.”

“I don’t know why.” Eliza argued, “He couldn’t wait to get away, and there is really no reason for him to be here. He has fulfilled any obligation he had to you.”

Peter merely smiled in reply.

“I know something else.” Dominic added, his voice turning hard. “Unless I am much mistaken, Scraggan’s men are right behind us.”

The fast galloping of the horses gave no further opportunity for conversation. Despite their speed, Eliza was thoughtful as they raced towards Padstow.