Page 46 of Disguised Desires of a Scarred Duke
“Don’t lose me in there, Anthony.”
She felt him discreetly stroke the back of her neck for a second, which added intensity to the prickly waves of anticipation moving across her skin.
“I don’t intend ever to lose you, Elle.”
She smiled and then took off at a run. Her heart raced as she felt her feet sink into the damp grass inside the maze. Every section of the maze looked the same as Eleanor ran past a couple and turned a corner, then two, then countless more.
At one point, she heard Anthony laughing behind her. But when she stopped to catch her breath, he was nowhere in sight.
“I’m over here, Mr Black!” Eleanor shouted. She ran her hands along the tall wall of greenery where she stood and waited.
Her lover didn’t respond.
Eleanor said hello to another couple making their way through the maze, then called out again. “Mr Black! Are you hiding?”
She giggled and waited a few moments more before it occurred to her to be concerned. The sun had already set, but many torches lit the maze. And Lucy had told her that footmen checked the maze every hour for anyone needing assistance getting back out.
It was another ten or more minutes before she finally heard footsteps again. But the hair on the back of her neck stood up this time when a man came around the corner to join her.
She knew seconds before he appeared that it wasn’t Anthony. Her fists were already up in front of her chest when Cecil Phillips appeared.
“Miss Whitfield, do you need help? Here, I can guide you out.”
Eleanor backed away from him again, as she had on the dance floor, and kept her fists in mid-air.
“Mr Phillips, this is getting ridiculous. I want you to stay away from me. Please go.Now.”
Cecil put his hands up with palms out and kept his distance. “Wait, I’m not here to harm you. I promise I will help you to safety. Please accept my apology for the things I have done and said, Miss Whitfield. I was blinded by greed and behaving very badly. I don’t expect you to trust me, but it was important for me to try to make amends. I will leave you and your sister alone now. You have my word.”
Eleanor’s eyebrows knitted together, and she lowered her fists. “Of course, I don’t believe you, Cecil. Your word is worth nothing to me. Please go!”
“Yes, of course. I do apologize and hope to earn your forgiveness someday. I will tell a footman to help you out of the maze. Goodnight, Miss Whitfield.”
Cecil turned and slinked away. Even better, the man of her dreams finally came around the opposite corner with the angriest glare she’d ever received from him yet.
“Do you realize how foolish that was? I passed bloody Phillips in here while I searched and searched for you!” Anthony scolded her, then pulled her into his arms. He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and her nose and then gave Eleanor such a tender, sensuous kiss that she nearly dropped to her knees.
“I’m sorry, Anthony. I called out to you! And Cecil found me, but he apologized before I sent him away again.” Eleanor held tightly around his waist and lifted her chin to kiss him again.
“He apologized? For what? For not murdering us both in the maze while he had a chance?” Anthony pulled his face away from hers as his scowl returned.
“Don’t be dramatic. He’s not a murderer. He’s just a horrible human being in every other way.” Eleanor was teasing and trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t work.
“Please do not believe his play at sincerity. It’s a lie,” Anthony said in a softer tone. He let the fear slide away from his face and stroked Eleanor’s cheek with his thumb.
“Of course, it’s a lie. I know a liar when I see one, Anthony.”
She felt her lover’s body freeze as if he’d turned to stone.
“Let’s go somewhere private and talk, Elle. I’ve been trying to tell you something important, and it cannot wait another night.”
Just then, a footman reached them and asked if they’d like an escort to safety.
“We need all the help we can get,” Anthony said.
He released Eleanor’s hand as the moonlight filtered through the trees and highlighted his obsidian eyes. They darted back and forth as if Anthony was anxious of whatever was waiting in the dark.
Chapter 19
