“I could ask the same of you.” And he would, when they were safe and dry.
“But I already know howIcame to be here,” she said. “Butyouare in London.”
“Your teeth are chattering, and you’re babbling. Let’s get you home.”
He’d dragged her away from the water’s edge, and she hissed.
“What is it?” he asked. “Are you cold?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Keep going. Bess is at the fishing shelter, probably scared.”
“Not half as scared as I was,” Gray told her, trying to keep his tone calm but wanting to rage at her for her foolishness. “My horse is over there, not far.”
She hissed again, and he slowed down. “Are you injured? Did you fall out of the tree?”
Eleanor remained silent.
“Tell me,” he demanded.
“I did not fall,” she said, her tone as supercilious as it could be given her wretched situation. “I jumped.”
He swore long and loud. “Did you break something?”
“Absolutely not. A simple sprain to my ankle, I would say.”
In a quick, easy movement, he swept her off her feet, making her shriek again.
“Next time, warn me,” she said, sounding cross, but then she slipped an arm around his neck and settled against his chest.
He sighed with utter relief. If he’d lost her, two hearts would have gone into the river and perished. For as surely as he would hold onto her for the rest of their lives, she had captured his heart.
Rain dripping into his eyes, he was nearly back where he’d tethered Percy by the oak, when she asked, “How can you see where you’re going?”
“Sheer determination,” he muttered. “Actually, I’ve been out here in the dark so many times since I was a boy, I just know where I am.”
She was shivering against him, and he thought it best to keep her talking.
“So, you found the treasure?”
“Yes.” She was so quiet, it worried him. He jiggled her, to make her speak. “I’m holding the jar under my cloak,” she added.
“I’m holding the real treasure,” he told her. “Do you understand?”
He felt her nod, and nothing more. Luckily, they had found his horse. Setting Eleanor gently on her feet, he started to unbuckle his saddle.
“What are you doing?”
“We won’t both fit with the saddle, and I don’t think you’re well enough to ride alone.”
She hesitated, and then in a clear, strong voice, she said, “Nonsense. I’m perfectly able to ride a horse.”
Was she?Focusing on staying in the saddle would probably keep her from drifting off to sleep as he sensed her body and brain wanted to do.
“That’s my girl,” he said, hoping she wasn’t offended by the term.
She said nothing, merely limping closer to the horse.
“Just wait here,” he ordered. “Lean against Percy while I find my lantern. It must have tipped over.”
