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That thought rief settled over her I of tears in her eyes and had to s against the choking hold the swirling emotions had on her throat She blinked rapidly to prevent the tears froaze and sy

“You are not going to get rid of ently “You need to understand that here and now You can either ith me and we can try to resolve your current situation with as little bloodshed as possible, or you can fight ht for you I will kill to protect you and keep your pursuers fro you, but in return I need you to be honest with fully “I need you to be totally honest with me”

Eliza nodded reluctantly He was right she knew but she was still reluctant to involve him in her probleiven the adversary he had yet to face but didn’t kno much to confide in him

“I need to ask you a few questions first” Sheup an apple and a knife

Edward simply stared at her in return, and waited

“Who are you?” Although her attention was see the apple, it was in fact locked firmly upon the man opposite Even with the solidity of the table between them, he positively throbbed masculine intent

“My name is Edward Michael Cavendish, Lord Entwhistle” His voice was cal froaze that it was the absolute truth

“So why are you here?” She waved her hand to stop his answer and paused for severalyourself in this? I know you said you had dropped in to the tavern to help search for Jemima, but you know that I a about me and probably won’t want to be burdened bywith me?”

Edward fought the urge to squiraze He suddenly felt uncomfortable in his own skin as he considered whether he should tell her the truth The thought was enough to make him pause If he expected her to tell him the truth, wasn’t it better to confide in her in return?

“I have recently purchased my own estate from my brother He inherited a house froround I have coone to Yorkshire to purchase a flock of sheep and make a few business contacts Before I left for Yorkshire, I was asked by Peter to follow a lead he had been given about Je her question his eyes met and held hers “His aunt Elspeth had died and he had to attend the funeral and sort out her will, and so on and so forth Needless to say he couldn’t be checking out the lead and dealing with urgent fareed to drop by on my way home The lead took me to you” He stated plainly, his tone so matter of fact Eliza knew it to be the truth

“But you could now go home and report back to Peter that you cannot find Jemima, but her sister is safe and well The battle isn’t yours Edward” Her voice was soft but challenging She tried desperately to ignore the shiver that swept through her Although she longed for hinore the risks involved especially given who he really was

Suddenly the distance between thereater than ever A srief as the possibility of thishis oay stood in stark contrast to her own uncertain future

“I don’t – won’t - back down froers running absently over the soblet “I cannot and will not leave you to deal with this on your own”

Swaan to peel and core an apple It helped to alleviate so stare She had to fight the urge to squirave in to the inevitable

“I can never repay you” She ers