Page 52 of The Lord's Compass
“Father,” she said. “What are you doing in Spain?”
* * *
Lord Embury loved his daughters,truly he did, of which both Faith and her sister Hope were aware.
He was also not only protective of them, but he had very specific ideas of how they should behave, who they should marry, and what they were to do with their lives.
Faith’s father had made it clear that he wished her to marry, and yet despite introducing her to gentleman after gentleman, none ever suited her – for none had been Eric.
But she hadn’t been about to tell her father that. It seemed she might have the opportunity now.
“What am I doing here?” Lord Embury thundered as he closed the distance between them, his footsteps heavy, his mouth nearly hidden by the beard that covered his wide face, but there was no mistaking the furrow of his brow nor the narrowing of his eyes. “What amIdoing here? What do you think I am doing here? Possibly chasing my daughter across the ocean? My unmarried daughter, the daughter of an earl, who has ruined herself and this family?”
“Father—”
“Do not ‘Father’ me,” he seethed, his teeth set together. “And you—” he pointed to Eric, poking a finger into his chest. “You… you…”
“Father, he had nothing to do with this,” Faith said, stepping in front of Eric, who didn’t seem to have an answer for the earl. “This was my idea. He did not know that I had accompanied him until it was too late. Why do we not find somewhere quieter to sit down and talk about this?”
Eric cleared his throat and leaned in. “While I understand there is much to discuss, perhaps, if it appears that we have passage to return to England, could we do this on board the ship? There is a chance that we are being pursued.”
Lord Embury turned the full weight of his stare upon Eric, who did not seem overly perturbed.
“Are you telling me that my daughter is in danger?” he practically growled.
“Well, yes, actually, I am,” Eric said, his voice as even and as cheerful as ever. “Not to worry – we escaped in time, but I think we should leave Spain as soon as we are able since we have what we came for?”
“Dare I ask what could be so important that you would leave behind all of your responsibilities and my daughter would risk ruin?” Faith’s father said, pushing his grey hair back away from his forehead.
“The next clue in our treasure hunt, of course,” Eric said with pride, and Faith winced as her father covered his face with his hands.
“Dear God, this treasure hunt is going to be the end of me,” he said before turning to face the boat. “Captain! Tell the crew to board. We will leave at once.”
A man who was, apparently, the captain, walked forward on the ship, bellowing back.
“We are not prepared!”
“We’ll stop somewhere else,” her father said, and Faith had to appreciate that, if nothing else, once he set his mind to something there was no stopping him. “We cannot stay here.”
Faith followed her father up to the plank of the ship, and when Eric put his arm out to help her, her father batted it away.
“Enough of that now, you fool,” he said, helping Faith himself, and she had to stifle her smile at Eric’s surprise, although he remained as nonplussed as ever. “What is wrong with your ankle?”
“That will be part of the story,” Faith said, to which her father responded with an even darker glare toward Eric.
“There’s a cabin for you, Faith,” her father muttered once they came on board. “As for you,” he said, pointing at Eric once more, “you can sleep with the crew.”
“Father,” Faith said, stepping forward when Eric’s eyebrows rose as she attempted to stop any controversy before it began, “you are aware that Eric is of the same rank as you.”
“We both might be earls, but I certainly never took advantage of a young woman,” her father said, his hands on his hips.
“And neither did Eric,” Faith said in exasperation.
“WellEricdoes not seem to understand how dire this situation is,” her father said mockingly. “I am glad that the two of you are on such friendly terms, Faith.”
“And why is that?”
“Because,” he said, a smug smile of satisfaction crossing his face, “soon you will also be calling him husband.”
