Page 53 of Her Daring Earl
“Good night, Fitz.”
And with that she left, closing the door behind her. Feeling better, but still unsettled.
She had an inkling that was going to last for some time.
Fitz barely sawEliza over the next four weeks leading up to their wedding. She didn’t come to him with the news that she had been wrong in her suspicions of expecting a child so she must have been correct in her original assumption – that, or she was playing him. But he had to push that thought aside or it would drive him mad.
With his entire family preparing for their small nuptials, when he asked why Eliza had been avoiding him, she told him that she had been consumed with their preparations.
“I don’t understand why it is taking so much planning when we will be the only ones in attendance,” he said one night at dinner. “Not that I would mind additional guests, but we do not want to risk that at the moment.”
“It is still an occasion to celebrate,” Henrietta had said, seemingly aghast that he wouldn’t realize that. “We would like to make it a most joyous occasion for both of you.”
And so, the day finally arrived, the weather as perfect as could be, the skies clear and the sun shining through. The vicar had agreed to marry them in the small, barely used chapel next to Appleton’s orchard. The season was appropriate as the fruit had begun to grow, dotting the landscape in various shades of red and orange.
As he arrived at the chapel, Fitz noticed Eliza standing in a rare moment alone near the front door, staring out over the orchard.
His feet began to move toward her of their own volition and he murmured a quick “excuse me,” to Levi before continuing toward her, enjoying watching her as he strolled up behind her.
He thought he had been nearly silent in his approach, but it seemed she had noticed him coming, for she spoke before he could, although she still didn’t look back at him.
“This is beautiful,” Eliza said wistfully as the wind softly blew back pieces of her hair. “I couldn’t ask for a better location.”
“What about your choice of groom?” he asked, and she finally turned to him with a smirk.
“He’ll do.”
“I shouldn’t even be seeing you at the moment, I am told,” he said. “But I wanted to make sure all was well. That this is what you want. After this, there is no going back.”
“I am fairly certain we crossed past that point some time ago,” she said, furrowing her brow. “This is about the child now. One which is as real as I ever thought he or she would be.”
He nodded, not wanting her to believe he was questioning her once more – not, at least, on their wedding day.
“Of course,” he murmured, staring at her for a moment longer, with so much he wanted to say on the tip of his tongue, words that he couldn’t seem to voice.
Instead, he nodded at her and continued within the chapel, a strange sense of melancholy tugging at him. Not because he was marrying her – his intention to do so was certain now. It was because they were doing so with so much unsettled between them.
There was only one way to go now, however.
Forward.
CHAPTER 19
Eliza sat in her bedroom, her wedding nightgown fanned out around her as though she was a prize waiting on a pedestal.
Which, she supposed, she was.
Or she was supposed to be.
Except in this case, Fitz had already received his gift.
Even though she was expecting him, she jumped when the door opened and Fitz stepped in.
“Eliza,” he murmured with rare hesitation in his gaze.
“Fitz,” she returned.
He slowly stepped into the room toward her, stopping before he came too close.
