Page 44 of Her Daring Earl
He had wondered how her feelings toward him had changed so suddenly from hatred to familiarity, and it was all beginning to make sense. Why she had wanted to be intimate with him so quickly, how she had no qualms about making love to him and had ensured that he finished inside of her, even when he knew he should have done otherwise.
“Fitz,” she said, anguish in her voice once she finally formed the word. “How could you say such things? I would never—you know me better than that.”
“Do I?” he said. “How well do I really know you?”
“I thought better than this,” she said, her nostrils flaring. “I will tell you one thing. I hope I am wrong. I hope I am only late because, after this, I would prefer to have nothing more to do with you. I have no wish to be with a man who thinks so ill of me, and I would rather never see you again.”
He sighed, raking a hand through his hair as reason and past experiences warred within him. “It just all seems rather convenient, Eliza. You must realize that, do you not?”
“It takes two people to come together, Fitz,” she said, beginning to blink rapidly, and he realized with great chagrin that she was near tears. Damn, but he hated when his sisters cried. He didn’t want to think about Eliza doing so, especially when it was because of him. “I don’t know what it is you have against me, but I shall figure this out on my own. I thought you would want to know, that this wasourproblem, and you would support me. That is why I came to you. So we could determine away forward together. But now… now I see that this has all been a great mistake.”
Before he could say anything further, she had flung open the door and was running down the hallway. He rushed to the threshold and looked out, seeing only the material of her wrapper flying behind her, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor, softening when she reached the runner covering the stairs.
She nearly stumbled on the first step, catching herself on the railing just in time, and Fitz hesitated in the doorway, caught between running after her and staying exactly where he was.
Which, he realized, was the problem. He was stuck between the past and the present.
He pressed his lips together. If he hadn’t learned from his previous mistakes, then what was the point of it all? He wouldn’t be trapped again. Of that, he was certain.
Eliza flungherself down on her bed as the pit of unease that had sprung up during dinner only grew bigger.
Please let this just be poor timing, she prayed. She hoped that she was not with child, for if she was, she had very few options. Her mother was understanding of most things in her life, but this would most certainly cross the line. Her parents would insist that she tell them who the father was and would then make sure that they were married. Anything else would be a complete scandal for herself, her family, and her unborn child.
The worst part of it all was that there was no reason she could see why she and Fitzcouldn’tbe married.
No reason, that was, until he had opened his mouth and responded to her tonight. She knew that he had been hurt in hispast, that much was obvious, but if he truly thought her such an awful woman, then why had he spent any time with her in the first place?
She supposed that, if anything, this proved that she didn’t know him as well as she had thought, either. For the Fitz she thought she knew would never treat her like he had just done. She should have stayed away in the first place.
One thing was certain. She was in a pickle. She could only hope that it would be solved in the next two days, or she was in a heap of trouble.
Even more than she currently was.
And that was saying something.
CHAPTER 16
Eliza stayed in bed for the entire next day.
She told her mother she was still feeling the ill effects from whatever had overcome her the night before, a fact which was not a lie.
She wasn’t sure if it was the recognition of the situation, the potential that she was actually with child, or how Fitz had reacted to everything, but it felt like there was a ball in the pit of her stomach that had become painful. She felt best lying in bed with her knees tucked beneath her. While she knew that she couldn’t spend forever in this chamber, for today, it was where she had to stay.
Then her maid walked in with a tray of ham, eggs, and rolls, and Eliza gagged, nearly becoming sick.
Her maid quickly hurried out, and it wasn’t long until Henrietta and Sloane arrived in her stead.
“Eliza?” Sloane said with some hesitation. “Are you well?”
“Not really,” she said, wishing she could speak of this, but she most certainly could not tell Fitz’s sisters anything about her precarious predicament.
There was only one person she could speak to about this. Siena. Eliza wondered if her letter had made it to Siena throughthe post. She closed her eyes as she thought back to the joy with which she had written it despite her confusion, and how much her situation had changed from that day to now.
“I must ask a favor of you,” she said. “Has any mail arrived for me?”
“Not that I know of, but I can ask Hastings,” Henrietta said with a kind smile. “Is there anything else we can do for you?”
“No,” Eliza said, covering her mouth with her hand before the moan could escape. “Thank you.”
