Page 26 of An Earl for the Archeress

She was gone.

Dammit! He looked around. She had fled. Crawford and his men were still too close for him to call for her. He kept looking in each direction, concentrating on every movement, but knew she wasn’t there.

Seeking his horse, he noticed hers was gone, too. And her bridle was still hanging with his on the tree. Which meant she was handling the horse expertly with no bit to guide it. With little thought, he jumped upon his mount, weaving Goliath through the trees and onto the main road in the opposite direction, what would seem like her obvious choice. And he was right.

Thundering down the path, her horse’s tracks finally emerged through the trees and he spotted the trail. He slowed to a canter, making a point to follow the hoof marks, noting that they diverged into the woods again. He slowed to a walk so as not to get whipped by branches and watched the forest floor for disruptions to the underbrush. Despite the early hour and the fall weather, he broke into a sweat again. Was he feeling worried? He shouldn’t. The girl was obviously capable of handling herself alone without injury. Had she not done so already for eight months?

Still, as he looked through the trees, following what seemed to be the likely path, he felt an anxious pinch somewhere in his chest, a nagging ache that had no source to pinpoint. He looked skyward, slants of light shooting through the canopy of pines, and heard water from a stream bubbling nearby. And then he heard a horse whicker.

He sighed a breath of relief at the same time his chest pinched further, hoping it was her. Dismounting, he walked carefully, though his horse made no effort to tread quietly. And as he peeked through the tree trunks, he spotted her horse standing with two hooves in the water, drinking and flicking his tail, then the top of her head thrown down on her knees pulled up to her chest as she sat on the ground. At first she held so still he thought something might be wrong with her, and then a sob racked her frame.

And for some reason, the desperate sound that escaped her, a sound that begged to release a pain so deep, caused his chest to squeeze and his throat to thicken.

“Mariel,” he said, swallowing the thickness and dismounting Goliath.

In a few swift strides he arrived at her side just as she looked up and flinched at his approach, jumping to her feet. Just as quickly, the flinch vanished as she registered his face. But that flinch angered him, that she should be so wary of her father that her first reaction was to flinch. Yet before he could do anything further, she launched herself into his arms, curling into his chest.

He wrapped his embrace around her, a hand coming up to cup her head to his heart while the other cinched about her waist, feeling both anger at her father and strengthened that she sought comfort from him.

“Mariel, sweeting,” he whispered. “Don’t ever fear me.”

She wiped at her face, yet the water kept leaking down her cheeks. He gripped her protectively, ignoring her stubborn efforts to push her tears away. She refused to look up at him but took long, steadying inhales, burrowing more deeply against him.

“Why did you flee from me?” he asked, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Don’t you know he might have seen you?”

And yet he hadn’t, Robert realized. She had slipped away undetected right under their noses. Like a ghost.

“I can nay go back to him. He would have discovered me there.”

“He didn’t,” Robert replied. “You risked more by fleeing—”

“Please do nay let him find me,” she begged, not having heard him.

He looked down and lifted her chin. Staring into her mossy eyes, he wiped a thumb beneath them to push another streak of tears away. “I meant what I said. I’ll not hand you back to him, if you don’t want to go.”

“You would break the law for me?”

He gazed at her, letting her Scottish brogue roll over him like gentle ripples, then slowly nodded. “I’ll do what I can to protect you. Stay with me and I’ll harbor you.”

He watched her war between trusting and fearing. True, he was sincere, but they both knew the harsh reality was that he wouldn’t be able to stand in the way of a father reclaiming his property, if their secret was discovered. The repercussions against him could be serious.

“What if you’re discovered? What if you suffer sanctions? What if you’re punished? I can nay allow that in good conscience.” Mariel gave voice to his concerns that he was trying to suppress. She took a step back, averting her gaze. Reluctantly, he let her go. “Nay. We must continue to your border. I can’t put you in such a position.”

She turned to collect her horse. She was attempting to regain composure. He stared at her, his arms hanging limply.

“But I don’t want you to leave.” He left the words hanging between them. She paused, turning back over her shoulder to look at him. He raked his hand through his locks, setting the tangles into even more disarray, and exhaled. “I don’t know what to do. Your father is welcoming himself to my hospitality right now. But my gut doesn’t sit well knowing you’re out there alone with your father so close. ’Twould only be a matter of time until he finds you.”

She looked ashen and took another step back. “He’ll be residing at Huntington Castle?”

He sighed. “Not residing, just visiting—”

“Why?”

“I know not his reasons, but he hasn’t visited since he arranged your betrothal. I’ll need to go back to see what he’s about.”

“Then I’ll continue onward alone,” she said.

“Mariel—”