Page 38 of Her Daring Earl
She crossed her arms over her chest as she tilted her head to study him. “Why do you feel I am so wrong for you?”
“What do you mean?” he said, trying not to answer her question, for he knew very well what she meant, but to answer her truthfully would only hurt her.
“I mean that I could be a suitable wife for you. We are both at the age when it is expected.”
A flutter in his chest that was very akin to panic began to grow at the mention of the wordwife. He had pushed the thought of marriage to the side for so long that even though he knew it was time he found a wife, actually putting a face andname to her was disconcerting – especially after the one time he had thought he would become a married man.
He couldn’t imagine a wife more entertaining or enjoyable than Eliza, however. The only problem was she was not the kind of wife he needed. If he wanted to marry off his sisters and have any chance of the rest of the House taking him and his proposals seriously, he needed a respectable woman by his side. One who would sit demurely and entertain and say all of the right things.
But he couldn’t very well tell Eliza that.
“I haven’t thought much of marriage,” he lied, standing and rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels as the uneasy thought grew within him at Eliza’s eagerness to become intimate and now her discussion of marriage. “Perhaps sometime in the next few years.”
“A few years,” she repeated, her expression unchanged. “Well, I am tired. I think I shall retire for the night. I shall see you tomorrow?”
“Of course,” he said, grateful that she had provided him with an escape. “Goodnight, Eliza.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before practically running from the room, stopping only to say, “Lock the door!” before running away down the hall.
CHAPTER 13
Eliza couldn’t shake the feeling that Fitz hadn’t told her the entire truth about his plans for the future.
She had been so set against any interactions with him that she had never considered him as a potential husband. But now that she understood he hadn’t been ignoring her but had, in fact, thought the opposite about her, she wondered why they wouldn’t make a suitable pairing.
They got along well, they both shared a sense of adventure, and they were certainly compatible when it came to intimacy.
She would have to explore it further, but she wasn’t the type of woman to trap a man into marriage. She could admit she was hurt by his outright rejection of the idea, but she would marry him only if he expressed any interest in it.
She was unsure what this was going to mean for the little experiment of theirs, but there were a few things that she would still like to try if he was up for it. She would have to make it clear that she had no expectations.
By the time she came downstairs to the breakfast room the following morning, the visitors were already having one more set of meetings before departing, according to Lady Fitzroy as they sat down to breakfast.
“I do hope the gentlemen leave shortly,” Lady Fitzroy said, biting her bottom lip as she cast a look toward the door.
“Why?” Eliza’s mother asked. “They seem polite enough, and I wouldn’t mind Eliza spending more time with Lord Brighton.”
“Mother, I have no interest in Lord Brighton,” Eliza said, rolling her eyes as she lifted her teacup to her lips.
Before her mother could respond to that, Lady Fitzroy began speaking once more. “Because the girls are due home today.”
“Are they?” Eliza said brightly, even as she wondered in the back of her mind if she would still have the opportunity to spend any time with Fitz.
“They are. They sent word just yesterday, but I didn’t want to disturb Fitz with the news,” she said. “I do know that he had no wish to have them here with three unwed men at the house.”
“It would only be for the day,” Eliza said, waving a hand in the air, certain that Fitz was just being dramatic, as usual. “I’m sure all would be fine.”
“Be that as it may, I thought it best to keep it to myself,” she said with a sigh. “Ah, here they are.”
Eliza turned to see just who ‘they’ were, discovering it was the gentlemen, who were now dressed for travel.
“We have come to say farewell,” Lord Brighton said with a smile, even though dark circles hung beneath his eyes in stark contrast to his pale skin. He had suffered from the self-affliction of too much drink. “Thank you for your hospitality.” He stepped into the room toward Eliza, lifting her hand once more, this time his lips touching the bare skin of her hand. She shivered at the touch, but not because she was affected – more because his rough lips caused aversion within her.
Curious, for Fitz’s had only caused fire.
She looked up, catching Fitz’s eyes upon them. He was not happy. Not at all.
“Fitz!” A cry came from beyond the room, and Fitz’s expression rapidly changed, from first a huge grin of happiness to a look of chagrin as his eyes flicked to the three gentlemen standing with him.
“I had no idea you would be home so soon,” he said, leaving the men standing at the side of the breakfast room as he went to greet his sisters, Eliza quickly following suit. “It is good to see you.”
