“What are you talking about? I suggest you run yourself into danger?”
He relented. “Not precisely. You’ll see.”
She seized both arms this time. “I don’t want to see! I want you to be safe.”
“Oh, there’s no danger, Delia, don’t fret.”
“No danger? He wants you dead, Giff!”
“He’ll not get his wish. It was sheer accident they saw me that day. And Piers must know by this time I’m onto him. Time I changed my tactics.”
Delia let go, eyeing him in an anxious fashion he found peculiarly gratifying. “What do you mean to do?”
He could not resist teasing. “That you shall discover, my over-anxious flower girl.” He found her hand and raised it briefly to his lips. “I must go. And you’d better make an appearance in church.”
“Are you going back to Stepleton?”
“No, I told you. I’m staying. I’ve preparations to make.” He took her by the shoulders and physically turned her about. “Go, Delia!”
She hesitated, looking back, so troubled an expression in her eyes he knew an impulse to catch her into his arms. But that would not do at all.
“Are you real?”
He was surprised into a grin. “No, I’m a phantom. Of course I’m real, you daft wench. Off you go now!”
She went, but with lagging steps, and glanced back. He threw an afterthought at her before he could think what he was saying.
“And don’t go hobnobbing with that damned militia captain, if you know what’s good for you!”
Her senses in total disarray, Delia slipped into the church and slid into the nearest pew, only half aware of faces glancing her way. The pastor did not pause in his oratory, which rang loudly enough through the vaulted and pillared interior to drown out the surrounding murmurs and her own thudding heart.
Giff’s sudden presence and the brief exchange felt even more like a dream than their forest encounter. To see him here! And in such a guise. To think he was at this moment slipping through the streets of Weymouth. To where?
What had he said? An Indian servant had told him she was watched. He came for her! A bubble of elation set her trembling all over.
She tried to recall what they’d spoken of in those brief stolen moments. Heavens, she’d said nothing she’d have wished to say! Giff had complained of her ringing a peal over him and with justice. Instead, she could have told him how she’d missed him so dreadfully. How he’d spoiled her for any other man. How none she’d met here could in any way oust him from her thoughts.
Good heavens, what was she thinking? Of course she could not have told him any of that. Where had it all come from? She hardly knew him, and yet his abrupt eruption back into her life had the power to overset her completely. Oh, but how crazy was he to come at all! Hewasreckless. And what in the world did he mean saying he would confront Piers? Where and how? Did he mean at gunpoint? Was he thinking to fight the man?Oh,Giff,whatareyouabout?
Her mind threw images across her inner eye: of his unshaven and mobile countenance, his snarl of bared teeth, his smile, his lifted eyebrow, his laughter and the growling tone in which he’d asked about Captain Rhoades.
The last sent a flitter down her already unruly veins. She heard again his parting words. She must not hobnob with the captain? But she’d no intention of it, what in the world was he at? Did he suppose she might make a slip and give away his presence in the town? Wild horses would not drag it from her!
No, of course Giff must know that. Then, why had he thrown that warning? If she knew what was good for her, he’d said. No, growled. Just as he’d growled the captain’s name when she mentioned it.
Heat flooded her as the truth dawned. Giff was jealous! His attitude was possessive.Myflower girl, he’d called her. As if he owned her.
Hedoesownyou.
That voice again! Delia banished it. Such nonsense. Giff was a fugitive. And if she was not careful, he’d be a dead fugitive.
She reviewed the thought. She? No, she’d meant he — Giff. He must be careful. Except that he was anything but. She drew an unsteady breath. The truth now, Delia. She’d meant exactly that.Shemust take care of him, for the wretch would not take care of himself.
But how? What could she do? She must save him.Shemust.
Feeling feverish, she strove to calm her mind. Her attention focused on the parson and she realised she’d been looking directly at the pulpit without seeing the man. He was droning on still and his words came through.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”