Page 82 of Her Daring Earl
“You scared me today,” he murmured.
“You scared me!”
“Let’s keep things… boring from now on, shall we?” Fitz said, brushing tendrils of hair back away from her face.
“Boring sounds good to me,” she said, her eyes already closing.
Fitz placed a kiss against her temple, drew her in against him, and soon they both fell asleep, wrapped up in their love for one another.
“Well,”Fitz said from his place at the head of the table the next morning. “I can finally say that all is well. We are out of danger, and we can all resume our lives as we please.”
Eliza smiled at him from her place next to him, as Fitz reached over and squeezed her thigh beneath the table.
“Wonderful,” Lady Fitzroy said from her place at the opposite end. “Now we can return to society and find husbands for all of you.”
Georgiana and Sloane both groaned aloud, while Dot appeared rather speculative.
“Since we now know that Lord Mandrake is not threatening our family, have you allowed him to call upon me?” she asked, and Eliza followed her gaze to Fitz, who fidgeted rather uncomfortably.
“If that is what you want, Dot, then so be it.”
“Thank you,” she said shyly before looking down at the table before her. Eliza could hardly imagine what she could see in a man as boring as Lord Mandrake, but if he made Dot happy, then so be it.
“Wonderful,” Lady Fitzroy beamed. “As for the rest of you, I already have a list of potential suitors prepared.”
“Mother, I’m not entirely sure that we are interested in any of the suitors that you have in mind, let alone them being interested in us,” Sloane said pointedly, actually joining in the conversation for once.
“Nonsense,” her mother said, shooing her words away. “Now that Fitz is married, I’m sure we are seen as a particularly suitable family.”
Eliza had to swallow her choked laughter at that. While she was hardly a woman who would lead to suitability, she would do all she could to help Fitz’s sisters – but only if that was what they wanted.
“Anything you need,” she murmured.
“Very good,” Lady Fitzroy beamed before Henrietta spoke up.
“There is something that has troubled me,” she said. “If Lord Brighton was interested in seeing you killed or too ill for Parliament, why did he not try anything when he visited us at Appleton?”
“Archibald asked him that, actually,” Fitz said. “He wouldn’t answer, but according to Madeline, he didn’t dare to try anything himself. He was happy to pay someone else but didn’t have the stomach to go through with it with his own hands.”
“I believe that’s even worse,” Eliza mused, and Fitz nodded.
“Exactly.”
“What will happen to him?” Dot asked.
“He will go before the House of Lords, who will decide his fate,” Fitz said. “I will warn you that the trial will likely attracta great deal of notoriety, but we shall stay as quiet about it as possible. I would assume that he will likely be exiled or imprisoned, but we will find out in due time.”
Eliza couldn’t help but shudder.
“What about your bill?” she asked.
“I will send it forward when all of the talk dies down,” he said. “I wouldn’t want this scandal to overshadow what I am trying to do.”
“Well,” Eliza said, looking at him admiringly. “I am proud of you, Fitz.”
“We all are,” his mother added, and, even though it was breakfast, he lifted his cup of tea.
“To the most wonderful women in the world, who have allowed me to be the man I am. I am grateful for you all.”
