With those thoughts, he rang for the butler. When the man arrived, Lucian had him close the door and then explained exactly what had occurred at Greenhaven Cottage and the letters, which was explanation enough of why Eliza and her servants would be their guests.
The butler promised to alert the servants to watch for strangers or any oddities at Wyndhill Park and to assign footmen to stand guard. It then occurred to Lucian that all of them needed to be alert. Just because this man had been fixated on Eliza did not mean he might not change his focus to one of his female servants. With those thoughts came a dictate that no woman was to leave the shelter of the house without a footman as escort. Further, if Miss Weston thought of leaving, he was to be alerted immediately. As she would no doubt not wait for permission, a footman would be assigned to stand outside the door of the room where she would work and on the terrace in the event she chose to leave by that direction.
It should be impossible to get into the house, but they had also thought the same at Greenhaven Cottage. Was there a weakness that would be just as easy to penetrate here?
Hopefully they would catch the man and be able to deal with him before any harm came to Eliza or anyone else, but until then, she would remain his guest.
Lucian took another drink.
Eliza had turned her anger and frustration on Lucian and he understood. It was hard to lash out at an enemy that could not be seen and if she wanted to be difficult and fight with him, Lucian would have no complaint and would in turn argue with her.
It would keep his desire away and might offer a little normalcy.
Normal, that is what Eliza needed.
Further, her brother needed to know what had happened and Lucian settled behind his desk and withdrew a piece of parchment.
Mr. Isaac Weston,
Please be advised that your sister will now be residing at Wyndhill Park along with her servants who will serve as her chaperones. I promise that Miss Weston is safe and unharmed. However, it has been discovered that the person who has been sending her missives gained access to the cottage she had taken for the summer. Therefore, I believed that it was imperative to remove her from such a vulnerable location and bring her here. I will provide further details in person once you return from Edinburgh but be assured that I will continue to keep her guarded and will not allow any harm to come to her.
Lucian Sinclair
Earl of Garretson
He may beable to promise that she’ll be kept safe, but Lucian anticipated that it would not be an easy task because, no doubt, Eliza would soon overcome her earlier fear and once again proceed with little caution. Of that, he had no doubt.
Eliza had triedto return to her novel, but she could not concentrate. She may have been angered by what happened but she was still shaken as well. She also needed to rest her hand today, and likely tomorrow, which left her with little to occupy her time. It would be the perfect time to search the other caves, mine, and crypts but with Garretson posting guards everywhere, she couldn’t step off the terrace without someone knowing, let alone venture so far.
Besides, as much as she wanted to find the mummy, Eliza wasn’t so certain she wanted to stray too far from safety. What if that person had followed her here and was waiting and watching?
She shook off the chill, angry with herself for allowing fear to dictate her actions and left the parlor in search of the housekeeper so that she could be shown to her set of rooms.
The stairs were already familiar as nothing had changed since she had visited years ago except when she reached the next level, the housekeeper turned right, instead of left as she had done on her previous visit and continued down the corridor before entering a room two doors from the end. Eliza was immediately charmed when she stepped into the rose sitting room. Inside was a settee and high back chairs of mahogany wood, all upholstered in a fabric of red and rose. Damask curtains hung near open windows. One wall held a section of shelves, but there were no books, nor were there any trinkets sitting around. Of course, the former mistress of the house had died several years ago and it was likely nobody had slept in here since.
On the opposite wall was a fireplace. The stone and mantel had also been painted white. This would have been a lovely room to work in if it had contained a desk.
“The opposite door leads to Lord Garretson’s chambers. I assume it will remain locked for your comfort.”
Eliza frowned.
The housekeeper studied her. “You want it left unlocked?”
Did the woman believe that Eliza planned on seducing him? While the thought had crossed her mind several times over the last ten years, it had not today. “I simply assumed by the chosen décor, that it was not a sitting room shared with the master of the house. It is rather feminine.”
“The former Lady Garretson found rose and red to be calming and it made her happy, therefore, the former Lord Garretson had no objection and the current Lord Garretson found no reason to redecorate since he is required to marry one day and a wife would decorate to her taste.”
Eliza’s stomach tightened. She did not want to think about Garretson married to some woman who would occupy this room. Not that she wished to wed, of course, but she didn’t like the idea of him having a wife that he would hold and kiss as he had Eliza long ago.
“This door leads to your bedchamber.” The housekeeper led her to a room, opposite the door that led to Garretson’s, and stepped into another pink room to find a large, four-poster bed also of mahogany wood, draped with a white counterpane.
The housekeeper paused in the center of the room to supervise the unpacking of Eliza’s things. One maid was placing gowns in an armoire and another placed items in a chest of drawers while another straightened the dressing table.
“Behind the screen is the chamber pot and if you wish to bathe, a hip bath can be brought up and placed before the fireplace.”
Eliza simply nodded and hoped that she did not inconvenience the staff too often.
“What of Stella and Saul?” she asked.
