Page 18 of Her Daring Earl
Fitz. The lord of the manor himself.
She contained her sigh as the carriage started up the long drive, and Eliza wondered how much she would be seeing of him. She supposed she would soon find out.
By the time the carriage pulled up, the butler and housekeeper were already standing out front, and once Eliza and her mother started up the steps, Lady Fitzroy had joined them.
“Lady Willoughby!” she exclaimed, holding her hands out, taking Eliza’s mother’s in a firm clasp before they kissed one another’s faces. “What are you doing here?”
“You wrote to me!” Eliza’s mother exclaimed with a laugh. “You said you must see me immediately.”
“I did?”
“You did.”
She glanced at Fitz, who lifted his brows as though to say he saw right through his mother’s pretense, although there was a smile on his face as Eliza was aware that despite any bluster he might have, he had a soft spot for his mother and sisters.
“Baxter didn’t join?” he asked, stepping forward, welcoming the two of them.
“Baxter?” Eliza said with a snort. “Of course not. We are not nearly close enough to any bar?—”
“Eliza!” her mother intervened, and Eliza snapped her mouth shut, realizing she was turning herself into a liar as she had just finished telling her mother she knew how to behave.
“Baxter is otherwise occupied,” she substituted with a demure smile that had her mother rolling her eyes, but she didn’t miss Fitz’s smirk, which he quickly wiped off of his face before her mother noticed.
“Lady Fitzroy, it is lovely to see you,” Eliza said, changing the subject. “I have so missed all of your daughters.”
“Oh dear, I do wish I had received your letter first,” Lady Fitzroy said with a pained expression on her face. “They have just left, but for Betsy and Daphne.”
“Left?” Eliza repeated, her face falling, trying to curb her disappointment as they hadn’t known she was coming, so it wasn’t their fault. “To where have they gone?”
“To Lady Nottingham’s estate. It is only a few hours’ ride. They were becoming so bored here that they asked to spend some time there with her daughters, and I…” she waved her hands in the air, “decided that I could not join them at this time.”
Eliza completely understood. She knew Lady Nottingham and couldn’t imagine spending much time in her presence, especially without anyone else for company. One of her daughters had married beneath her station – there was something of a scandal there if she remembered correctly – and her family lived at the estate.
“Well, hopefully, they will return soon,” she said instead, trying to hide her disappointment. Betsy and Daphne were wonderful young women, but they were just that – young. At least ten years her junior, if she remembered correctly.
And then there was Fitz. She stole a glance at him as he stood, rocking back and forth on his heels as he always did. Did he care that she and her mother had arrived so suddenly and without prior warning? She knew they could be somewhat impulsive, but she had thought they would be welcomed warmly. What did he think of them now spending time at Appleton without the presence of his sisters, which had always prevented Fitz from speaking to her alone?
Eliza had accompanied her mother because she was bored without her friends. Now it appeared that she was going to continue to be bored without them, only she no longer had the distractions of London. She was going to have to come up with distractions of another kind.
She glanced over at Fitz as an idea took shape in her mind. One that was probably ill-advised, yet… perhaps she could defeat her boredom while accomplishing her goals simultaneously.
Eliza was aware that she would soon have to marry and settle down. She just wanted to have a little fun first.
And if there was one thing that could be said about Fitz, it was that he was fun.
Just how much fun, she was about to find out.
“Stay away from Lady Eliza.”
It was a mantra that Fitz had continued to murmur to himself over and over since she and her mother had appeared at Appleton yesterday.
He had his plan. Have some fun, and then settle down with a demure young lady who would take care of his mother and his sisters, marry them off and bring him all of the respectability that he wasn’t able to acquire himself.
Eliza didn’t fit into that plan.
He couldn’t have fun with her – she was an innocent young lady of the nobility, and his sisters’ friend at that. He couldn’t marry her either – she was the exact opposite of what he needed.
She was loud, exuberant, adventurous – far too much like himself.
