The eerie feeling she’d not had for a while overcame her again. Was the wretch watching her? A shaft of sheer fury went through her. This was not to be borne!
Without thinking of the wisdom of what she did, Delia crossed swiftly towards him and halted a couple of feet away. “Are you following me again? How dare you! If you think to get any good by it, you may think again. Your quarry is not here and will never come. You may tell your master I said so and cease this disgraceful persecution!”
The figure had stiffened at her approach. As she ended her tirade, he raised his head and one hand reached to push up the brim of his hat.
Shock swept through Delia, and her limbs turned to water. “Giff!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lifting a finger to his lips, Giff glanced swiftly about. They were temporarily alone. He seized Delia’s arm. “Come out of sight!”
She did not resist, but a frantic whisper reached him. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t have come! Those men are looking for you!”
“I know it,” he returned, hustling her around the side of the church and out of sight. He drew her into the shadows between two windows. He’d experienced the oddest leap of pleasure in his chest when his flower girl finally appeared, but he came under fire before he could open his mouth.
“Giff, are you mad coming here? If you knew Sam and Barney were in the area — though how you should I can’t fathom! — what possessed you to set foot in the place? I had almost written, but I was too afraid they would take note of it.”
He could not suppress a grin. “Is this all you have to say to me? I wasn’t sure of my welcome, but I didn’t expect to have a peal rung over me the instant you saw me.”
Consternation flooded Delia’s face and she reached out both hands, which he took without hesitation, holding them hard. “Oh, I am glad to see you indeed! Can you doubt it? But you shocked me, you wretch!”
“No avoiding that. I meant to accost you, and it was bound to come as a surprise.”
“Surprise? You’re lucky I didn’t swoon!”
He released her, laughing. “My plucky flower girl? No chance of that.”
Her gaze flicked over him, dropping to his leg. A frown came. “Your wound! Is it mended? Did you ride? Oh, how could you be so reckless?”
He threw up his eyes. “Don’t you start! I’ve heard enough of my recklessness from Sattar. Not to mention my great-uncle.”
“Sattar?”
“My Indian servant. You’ve not met him yet, but he’s seen you.”
Delia’s eyes widened. “What, you mean he’s the one who was watching me?”
“He was watching the men who were watching you.”
To his surprise, Delia let out a breath of sheer and obvious relief. “Then I wasn’t imagining it. Thank goodness! I’d begun to think I was being fanciful, and Captain Rhoades clearly thought so, though he did have his men search the town. I saw them questioning a rough-looking fellow the other day.”
“Who the devil is Captain Rhoades?”
“He’s the militia captain here, but why are you growling at me?”
Giff had not realised how his voice had changed, though he was conscious of a burn in his chest. “I don’t know. Didn’t realise I was growling. What does this militia captain have to do with you, I’d like to know?”
Delia eyed him in frowning puzzlement. “Did your uncle not mention him?”
“When?”
“Well, he must have told you what happened when we were on our way back to Weymouth.”
Giff regarded her in frowning silence, thinking back. A vague memory surfaced. “I do recall his speaking of it, but my head was none too clear.”
“They were searching for me, Giff. My aunt’s maid sent for the militia once she had ascertained that my aunt was not severely hurt.”
The burn died down. “Oh, and this captain was in charge?”