AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Do you love me, Cad?” I gazed into the golden depths of those incredible eyes. He still had not said it, and I badly needed to hear those words.
“You know I do. I love you more than life itself. What we shared, in Paris and last night, is more love than most people have in a lifetime. One day with you would be worth dying for,” he said harshly, and the amber lights deepened and blazed with unearthly intensity. A thought, something someone had said about a laughing devil in his eyes, tried to surface. I grasped eagerly at it, sensing an answer there. The memory playfully eluded me. “But I don’t want to die for you, Dita. I want to live for you. I want to live with you.”
“Then there is something you need to know about me,” I said quietly.
“About Sandor Karol?” I jerked my head up in surprise. “I know you have been on the run since your father died, bouche. I assume Karol is the reason?” He laughed at my expression. “I may not be Uther Jago, but I can be quite perceptive and inquisitive when necessary. I found out who your father was, and I know all about Sandor Karol. When my father sets me a task of finding information, I am generally very good at it. When you were the subject of my enquiries, I had another, more personal motive to succeed. Then, when Karol turned up here, I turned my investigations toward him. It wasn’t difficult to discover a link between the two of you in the form of your father.”
“But don’t you see? Because of Sandor, we can never be safe while we are together,” I pointed out sadly. “As long as I am alive, Sandor will keep hunting me, and he will always find me. Once he knows I love you, he will kill you.”
“He may not find me an easy prey. But, if we have to, we’ll just go away. We’ll stay one step ahead of him,” he said blithely.
“You would do that for me? Leave England?” I studied his face in wonder.
“I would do anything for you, bouche,” he replied softly. “Never doubt it.”
* * *
Christmas morning dawned bleak and cold. Out of respect for Vicky, there were to be no celebrations. Lucy had agreed that the servants must have their usual feast, but Porter was charged with the task of ensuring it remained low-key. The family would give gifts after the evening meal, but there would be no music, dancing or games.
Cad strolled into the parlour and took a seat opposite mine. “It appears that our friend, the baron, has been called away suddenly in the night, Mama. His business must have been so urgent that it did not allow him sufficient time to take his leave of you. Or, indeed, any of us. But perhaps he thought we had enough to occupy our thoughts.” He returned my gaze with a bland stare that made me wonder if he had somehow persuaded Sandor to leave. I almost laughed aloud at the thought. No one had ever persuaded Sandor to do anything that was not of his choosing.
By noon there was still no sign of Eleanor. Lucy threw a few anxious glances toward the clock, and eventually I offered to go and check on her.
Lucy pressed my hand gratefully. “Thank you, Dita. I expect she has spent a sleepless night and may have only fallen asleep with the dawn. But I don’t think she should be alone, and she may be more inclined to confide her feelings to you than to me.”
I tapped lightly on the door of Eleanor’s bedchamber, but there was no response. The death of a friend was always painful. To have lost Vicky in such horrific circumstances rusted the brutal saw of grief so that it tore chunks of flesh from the heart instead of slicing cleanly. And Eleanor’s oddly immature ways made it harder, perhaps, for her to deal with the storm of her emotions. I hesitated with my hand on the door handle. It seemed clear that Eleanor wanted privacy, but Lucy’s words stayed with me. I opened the door and stepped into the room. It was empty. The bed was neatly made with last night’s nightdress still folded in readiness on her pillow.
Lucy looked up in alarm when I burst back in on her. “She’s not there. Her bed was not slept in last night.” The words tumbled over each other like waves crashing onto the wild coastline below us.
Lucy rose from her seat, her hands tightly gripping the edge of the table. “Dear God, no! Not Eleanor. Please…” Her complexion, always pale, became opaque.
