Chasing Eliza (Cavendish Mysteries 3)

That left them in an uncomfortable situation given Jemima’s impending fate.

They couldn’t celebrate their marriage the way he wanted given one of them was about to be hung.

“Get me a fresh horse.” Peter ordered, making no attempt to follow the group as they began to make their way towards the

house.

“Peter?” Dominic paused and glanced enquiringly back at his brother-in-law.

Peter glared at him defiantly. “I’m going to Derby Gaol.” He announced flatly.

“Tonight? Do you think that is wise?” Dominic argued. “You are exhausted. You’ll be no good arguing her case if you fall asleep.”

“I can’t wait another day.” He shifted uncomfortably and glanced warily at Eliza. “We don’t know when they intend to carry out the sentence.” He lowered his voice to prevent the stable lad overhearing. “Another day may be a day too long. I’ve got this far, I won’t delay my journey to Derby another second.”

“You can’t go alone.” Sebastian sighed, eyeing Dominic with a sense of defeat. He stared at the hulk of Havistock Hall longingly for several moments, thinking of his warm and welcoming wife lying in the big bed all by herself, and reluctantly turned to the others.

“Eliza, you need to stay here.” Edward ordered, taking hold of Eliza’s arm and turning her towards the house.

“What? No.” She dug her heels in and yanked her elbow out of his firm grasp. “I’m going with you.”

“They won’t allow us all in, and it is no place for a lady.” Edward’s voice was hard and uncompromising.

“I’m not a lady.” Eliza argued, growing desperate. “She is my sister.”

“You don’t want to cause her any more distress by appearing there unannounced and getting her and yourself emotional. She has to be strong to get through this, and so do you.” Edward raised a hand to halt her argument.

“Edward’s right.” Peter offered. “They won’t let you in.”

Eliza stared at the hard and uncompromising faces of each man in turn and felt a weary sense of defeat settle over her. She was exhausted beyond belief, but wanted desperately to go and see her sister. She turned beseeching eyes to Edward who uncompromisingly shook his head. She considered that after the past few days, she knew them all well enough to realise that further argument would get her nowhere. She wasn’t going.

“Look, I need to at least leave a note that we are back but heading over to the Gaol. If you can show Eliza which room to sleep in Edward, we’ll go. We should be back by noon and by that time our contact from the War Office should be here, if he isn’t here already.” Dominic stalked towards the house, clearly expecting everyone to follow him.

Sebastian remained at the stables to help prepare the horses and Eliza suspected, to make sure Peter didn’t leave without them.

As they marched swiftly through the house, Eliza saw very little of the shadowed interior. The confusing web of corridors interspersed with a vast array of rooms of differing sizes made her so confused that she wasn’t sure whether she was at the front or the back of the building when she began to climb what appeared to be the main staircase.

With only the faint flickering of the solitary candle Dominic carried to light their way, Eliza saw little other than the darkened shadows of the portraits staring down menacingly at them. She ducked her head with a shudder and hurried past them, moving significantly closer to Edward’s reassuring bulk.

Within moments, Edward was leading her into a huge room that was quite obviously a bedroom. He quickly lit the fire leaving Eliza to allow her eyes to adjust to the gloom. She didn’t have to say anything, Edward sighed deeply and moved to stand before her in front of the new roaring fire, drawing her comfortingly into his arms for a few moments to savour the feel of her against him. He longed to climb into the big bed beside her, but couldn’t shake the feeling that they were on the verge of something that would change all of their lives.

“I’m sorry darling but it really will be best if you remain here. It will be dawn by the time we get there and if we do manage to gain access, we don’t know how the staff at the Gaol will welcome us.” He didn’t add that he didn’t want her at the Gaol in case it was already too late.

“I can’t just appear as an unannounced guest here.” Eliza murmured, feeling uncomfortable in the luxurious splendour of the huge room.

“You are expected and can bring Isobel and Amelia up to date with everything in the morning. If you want a lie in and have breakfast in bed, just tug the pull.” He motioned to a long embroidered strip of material hanging beside the fireplace. “The maids will see to anything you need, including a change of clothing. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He could sense her argument, but was determined not to allow her near the gaol to witness its gloomy sense of desolate hopelessness. On this occasion he was going to follow his instincts and protect her from her own determination.

Reluctantly she nodded, her shoulders drooping in weary defeat.

Edward tipped her chin up until her eyes met his. “Promise me that you won’t try and sneak out after us?”

Eliza huffed inelegantly. “I don’t even know where in the house I am. I will have to wait until the maids get up to show me where the stairs are.” She muttered making no attempt to hide her confusion.

“Try not to worry. If we can bring Jemima back with us, we will. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He whispered, resting his forehead briefly against hers for several moments. After several moments he placed a gentle, lingering kiss no her pouting lips and reluctantly moved away.

He found Dominic closing the door to the master suite quietly behind him as Edward moved down the corridor.