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long after I learned I had
inherited it from my uncle. It was important that I take a look at
what I owned, but I didn’t want to stay a moment longer than I
absolutely had to.”
    The
memory of his first night in the property suddenly loomed before
him. He read the fear in her eyes. After a moment’s consideration,
he decided that he had warned her about the dangers within enough
for one night. He didn’t see any point in telling her about someone
trying to smother him in his sleep with his own pillow.
    “You saw
someone then,” she finished for him when he lapsed into thoughtful
silence.
    “I
suspect that there is someone hiding on the estate somewhere, I
just don’t know where.” Admitting it galled him somewhat, and he
resolved once again to do something to correct that as soon as
possible. “Once I find whoever is here, I am going to have them
arrested for trespassing. If I can find sufficient evidence, I will
have them arrested for the murder of my uncle too.”
    “Did
your uncle have any enemies?”
    “Not as
far as I am aware,” Simeon growled.
    He hated
to admit it, but he didn’t really know his uncle all that well.
George hadn’t gotten on very well with Simeon’s father. As a
result, it had been difficult for Simeon to maintain a proper
relationship with him. He had no idea if his uncle was one of the
most respected people in the area, or the most despised.
    “Do you
have a title?” she asked cautiously. “I mean, should I call you ‘my
lord’, or something?”
    Simeon
looked at her and smiled. “I think you should call me Simeon given
that is my name. I have a title, but I don’t think it is entirely
appropriate to use it right now.”
    “What is
it?” she asked curiously.
    She
suddenly felt a gulf of difference open up between them. Although
she knew his first name, and it was just as ordinary as hers, he
had a title, and that was something that set him far apart from
her.
    “Lord
Pendlebury,” Simeon declared flatly. “You can call me
Simeon.”
    By the
time she thought of something to say, Simeon had stepped out of the
barn but then frowned and turned back to look at her.
    “Do you
have a title?” he asked thoughtfully.
    Eloisa
slowly shook her head.
    “Come
on, let’s get inside,” he muttered. He glared up at the sky and
waited until she drew alongside him before he escorted her to the
house.
    Eloisa
had little choice but to follow him.
     
     

 
    CHAPTER
FIVE

    He
opened a side door and stood back to allow her inside first. She
stepped tentatively through the door and glanced around the
well-worn but tidy kitchen.
    It was
cold and unwelcoming.
    She
jumped at the quiet click of the door behind her, and turned around
in time to watch her host remove his hat. The pristine whiteness of
his shirt stood out against the darkness within the dingy confines
of the room, but it was his face that captured her
attention.
    His
forehead was high and wide and led to an angular face with a
chiselled jaw and square chin. The dark pools of his eyes were
heavily lashed and gave him a look of smouldering sensuality that
made her feel warm and tingly inside. His hair was as black as
midnight, and longer than was fashionable, but his dark sexuality
only emphasised his raw masculine power.
    Eloisa
tried to reassure herself that he was her rescuer, and nobody she
should worry about. If it wasn’t for him, she would still be stuck
out in that storm, or could have arrived here alone. That thought
made her close her eyes on a silent prayer of thanks. If there was
one thought that unnerved her more than anything else, it was of
what she could have had to face if she had arrived here by
herself.
    She
suddenly wished she hadn’t accepted Mr de Lisle’s offer of going to
the ball or taken up dancing lessons in the first place. If she had
remained at home where she belonged, she would be beside the fire
by now, with Cissy, watching the storm from the warmth and safety
of her own home.
    As it
was, she was