Scream! Yes, she would scream and hope that one of the gardeners heard her and would come to her rescue.
“I cannot go with you until I have my things,” she offered as an excuse as she started to edge around him to the entrance of the cave.
“I will buy you new clothing. New dresses and shoes. Anything you desire.”
“I need my manuscripts and the stories that I am writing.”
Seeton shook his head and smiled at her as if she were a foolish child, which irritated her further.
“You do not need to do that anymore,” he insisted. “I know that they were about me because you long for me. We will now be together and there is no need for you to ever have to write another word. I heard you and I understand.”
“I write because it is something I enjoy. I cannot give it up.”
“But you must. You will no longer have time to devote to your hobby.”
Eliza’s eyebrows rose. Did he call her careera hobby, as in something one did when they had time free of obligation, like embroidering a handkerchief?
“We will be wed and then there will be children and you will be my wife and we will live happily in the country house.”
“What of travel?” she asked.
“You no longer need to travel as you no longer need to write. I have everything that you will ever need. You will have me and our children to fill your days and evenings and be happy to never leave our home again.”
He wanted to keep her prisoner just like the heroines in her novel, but his actions were that of the villain.
“You will have a place that you belong, Eliza. A place you have never had before.”
“What of my family? I would like to tell them where I will be.”
“Why?” he asked. “They never cared for you. In fact, most of the time they have forgotten you exist.” He shook his head. “I am sorry for that, but you no longer need to concern yourself with them because you now have me.”
How did he know so much about her and how her parents had forgotten her? Even if they didn’t notice that she had gone missing, Isaac would…because Lucian would be the one to tell him.
It was painful to realize that she would likely not be missed for many weeks or months by her parents or siblings. The only one who could be forgiven for such a slight was Oliver, but that was only because he lived in America.
“I still will not go with you without my manuscripts,” she insisted. “It is my one enjoyment and I shall not be without it.”
“It is not an enjoyment,” Seeton insisted with a tisk. “You only found it necessary to pen such stories as it was your only way to communicate with me darling. It is no longer necessary.”
“Writing is the most important thing I have. If someone tried to take that from me I would more likely resent them than care for them,” she insisted. Eliza could not let go of the argument of needing her manuscript. It was the one item that was in the manor, where there were also servants and hopefully Lucian. And the longer she kept him here, the better chance she had of being discovered or coming up with a plan to escape him.
Her declaration seemed to take him aback for a moment before he smiled. “I will purchase all the parchment you need and pencils and quills with ink. But you will soon learn, darling, that none of that is necessary any longer.”
“I need to finish the book I have been writing. I am close to the end and it must be completed.”
“You can write another one,” he ground out becoming impatient.
“I have been working on this for ten years.” It had been nearly ten years since she was here last so hopefully Seeton would think that it was about him.
“Ten years?”
“Yes. Do you not want to know how it ends?”
“I know how it ends, darling. Now, come along. You do not want to miss the surprises that I have planned for you.”
She stared at his outstretched hand, heart pounding in fear. Eliza then glanced toward the entrance. Would she be able to make it to the opening and all the way to the manor before he caught her?
Chapter37
