“Nobody knows that Imayhave used you as an inspiration,” Eliza argued.
“You already admitted that you have done so,” Lucian reminded her.
“It is his home, Miss Weston,” Stella reminded Eliza. “He is our host and he’s keeping you safe. Is it fair to write a certain character in an unpleasant light?”
“He is not necessarily presented unfavorably,” Eliza argued.
“So, you did put me in your current book!”
“Oh, very well. I will tell you what it is about.”
Stella nodded in approval then left them alone.
Eliza blew out a sigh and poured them both a cup of tea. “A brave woman, on a quest, is captured by a lord and held at his castle. He forbids visitors and she has trespassed on his property looking for a mummy that could reverse the fortune of her family.”
Lucian frowned. “How?”
With that question Eliza spun the tale of two neighboring families. “One held a mummy and the other a goblet covered in jewels that had been taken from the same grave in Egypt by their grandfathers during an excavation. When kept in close proximity, they brought wealth and abundance to both. When the mummy was taken, both families fell on hard times. The family that once had the mummy also had a son, and he did not believe in such nonsense. The other family had a daughter who believed it to be true and she set out to find the mummy, only to be captured by the lord and kept a prisoner at his estate and her only freedom was walking in the gardens.”
Lucian snorted and was certain the part of her only being allowed into the gardens was influenced by his dictate that she do the same here.
“Learning that his neighbor was imprisoned, the son of the other family went to rescue her from the lord and her foolishness, not the mummy.”
Either one of the male characters in her story could be influenced by him.
“What happens next?” Lucian asked when she did not continue.
Eliza shrugged. “I will not know until I find the mummy.”
“How can you not know since even if the mummy was hidden here, which it is not, it will make no difference to the fictional story.”
“Sometimes I do not know until I do. The ending will come to me when it is located.”
“If it is not?” Lucian asked.
“It will be,” Eliza insisted.
He decided not to argue the matter with her further. She was too stubborn to admit the impossibility and only after she had searched everywhere and not found the mummy would she finally admit she’d been wrong. “Which one is the auburn-haired, grumpy earl?” he asked.
“That, I will not tell you.” She laughed.
“It must be the lord, of course, since the other one is a son and his father still lives.” Besides, it was the lord who wouldn’t let her walk beyond the gardens.
“How do you know that the son’s father did not die?” Eliza countered.
“You did not claim that he had.”
“You are assuming I told you the whole of the story when I have not.” She grinned.
“Eliza!” Lucian warned.
“I will tell you when the story is complete,” she promised.
It really did not matter as it was a fictional story, but Lucian did find himself wanting to know, and how it ended.
Maybe he would sneak down and read it after she slept, if he could pull himself from her bed.
Lucian had leftEliza after she refused to tell him any more about the book and she did not see him again until it was time to dine.
