Page 60 of Her Daring Earl
“I do thank you, Madeline. I know this wouldn’t have been easy for you,” Fitz interjected. “I will compensate you for your travel costs.”
“Thank you,” Madeline said with a quick nod. “I will return to London tomorrow.”
Fitz sat behind his desk, writing something down before passing it to Madeline. “This is the name of the detective. Please reach out to him. I will write to him myself and ask him to make sure that you are protected and not in any danger.”
Eliza hated the surge of jealousy that coursed through her. Fitz was only doing what he did best – looking after other people. That didn’t mean he was interested in anything further with this woman.
“Thank you,” Madeline said, reaching for the letter, and Eliza didn’t miss how she allowed her fingers to slowly brush over Fitz’s. “If you could see me to the dower house?”
Eliza waited for Fitz’s response with raised eyebrows.
“I will ask one of the footmen to do so,” Fitz said before grinning. “You seem to have a way with them.”
Madeline let out a snort of laughter at that as Fitz called for one of the servants despite the late hour.
Realizing how this would look if the three of them were happened upon, Eliza in her nightclothes, she decided that there was only one thing she could do. Trust Fitz.
“I will wait for you upstairs,” she said with a meaningful look at Fitz, to which he nodded.
“Very good. I shall be there shortly,” he said, and Eliza forced herself to stand and walk out the door, leaving her husband with an experienced, sensual, beautiful woman – and her trust.
CHAPTER 21
Fitz’s step was heavy as he climbed the stairs to his bedchamber after seeing Madeline off into a footman’s good hands.
When Hastings had shown her into his study upon her arrival at Appleton, Fitz had nearly fallen over in shock – at her arrival as well as her confidence in walking right in the front door of his family’s manor.
But he supposed he had never chosen his companions based on their discretions.
Thankfully Hastings had known that he wouldn’t want any of the family to be aware of her presence and had quickly and discreetly shown her into the study.
When Eliza had walked into the room Fitz had nearly walked right out, so unnerved he was by all of the revelations of the evening.
Thankfully, Eliza had seemed fairly understanding of the entire event. He only hoped she would still feel that way when he spoke to her alone.
“Eliza?” he said, wondering why he was always approaching her with such hesitation. He supposed it was because he had never before had a wife, nor even someone he had to answer to.He had always supposed that when he did marry, it would be to a demure woman who wouldn’t require an explanation. He could never be certain of what was on Eliza’s mind.
“You came,” she said, sitting up in the bed, her brows lifting.
“Of course I came,” he said, walking over to the bed and taking her hand in his. “You didn’t truly believe I would do anything else, did you?”
Suddenly, realization washed over him that this was exactly how she had felt when he had questioned her about her pregnancy – disappointment that no matter what other circumstances had arisen in the past, she wouldn’t have faith in him.
“Fitz, if I had any inkling that you might do something I would be disappointed about, I would never have walked out of that room and then welcomed you back here,” she said.
“You trusted me?”
“I did,” she said with a shrug. “You have given me no reason not to.”
The smile began to grow on his face before she held up a finger.
“Now, I can admit that I was not particularly thrilled about searching you out to bid you goodnight only to find you holed up alone with one of your former lovers. But you did soundly reject what she was not so discreetly offering.”
“That’s her profession,” he said. “I suppose she finds it hard to turn it off.”
“And you are a hard man to give away.”
“That is rather kind of you,” he noted.
