An Earls Guide to Insulting a Lady – By Cecilia Rene #3
“Yes, indeed.” Desperately in need of saving, he shifted his gaze to Woodmere, who was currently deep in conversation with Perry’s uncle. “Excuse me ladies, I must have a quick word with my uncle.”
Perry bowed before he turned in the direction of his uncle and Woodmere, but changed course abruptly before exiting the conservatory. Once he was in the hallway, his legs led him to the one place he knew Eliza had gone.
From the moment she had first arrived at Pemberley, Eliza could be found in the safety of the library, hiding from her overbearing grandmother and stoic parents.
Perry remembered the first time he saw her.
He had been riding, needing some fresh air to escape his cousin’s family.
The first time he escaped the overcrowded house in search of quiet, he stumbled across Eliza hiding away in the library, furiously writing in a journal, mumbling to herself about sugar and flour.
It was the strangest, most adorable thing he had ever seen a person do. He later learned of her love for baking, which explained the mumbling, but not the writing. Perry longed to discover her every secret, to spend nights speaking of their hopes and dreams.
Never in his life had he ever felt anything quite like the emotions that Eliza Lockhart stirred in him.
Since he was a young boy, there had always been an incomplete feeling deep inside.
He had the typical aristocratic upbringing.
Both his parents were more concerned with society than raising a child.
Often Perry found himself alone on their large estate, surrounded by servants.
His uncle was his only visitor, the one person he could depend on.
There always seemed to be a part of Perry that was missing until the day he stumbled into the Pemberley library and was locked in the intense gaze of Eliza Lockhart.
From that moment on, it became perfectly clear why he always felt incomplete. She was the missing part of his soul, or so his fragile heart kept telling him. Rationally, Perry thought he had surely lost his mind.
Entering the library, he closed the door quietly before turning around in search of Eliza.
“What are you doing here?” she spat out, fire in her gaze.
Perry wanted to consume every single inch of her and make her his. He needed her fire to devour him.
He didn’t consider himself a rigid man; however, he had always clung to duty and family like it was a shield.
Everything he did was to maintain the Fitzwilliam line.
After another failed season without finding a bride amongst society’s debutantes, Perry had agreed to attend his cousin’s fiftieth birthday celebration.
Never had he ever prepared himself to meet a woman such as Eliza Lockhart.
“I asked you a question, my lord,” she said, crossing her arms over her ample bosom.
Perry’s eyes snapped away from the appealing view of her swollen breasts, only to be captured in her fierce blue gaze. Her eyes were the first thing that captured him, so riveting and enchanting he couldn’t dare remember his name or his title.
A smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. He loved her fiery attitude and longed to burn with her. Perry wouldn’t dare try to contain her. She was his equal in every way imaginable, and that was the one thing that captured him completely.
“I noticed you leaving the conservatory, and I wanted to ensure that you were well.” Perry took several slow steps toward her, like she was a wounded animal.
“I am no concern of yours. Perhaps you should save your worries for my cousin, Miss Bingley.” She turned away from him, her shoulders stiff as she walked over to a towering bookshelf, officially dismissing him.
Swallowing, he took several steps until he was standing directly behind her. He flexed his fingers, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her soft skin without her permission, but he was a gentleman after all and would do nothing without her agreement.
“I do not care if Miss Bingley is well.” He shook his head at how absurd the words sounded in his own ears. “What I mean is that Miss Bingley is no concern of mine.”
There, he said it. Perhaps now she would understand where his affection truly lay.
Brandishing a large volume, she faced him, her eyes narrowed in a heated gaze. “That is not what my grandmother believes. She and my cousin are convinced that you will offer for her any day now.”
Boldly, Perry removed the book from her hands, his fingers brushing against hers as he stepped closer than propriety demanded. “I will repeat myself because it seems you are incapable of understanding me.”
“I was wondering when the insults would begin,” she said. A perfect eyebrow arched at Perry.
He ignored her words, taking her gloved hand with his free one. Perry’s heart beat like a drum, and he wanted her to know the truth more than he wanted anything in the world.
“I don’t want Miss Bingley. Not now, not ever.
” He squeezed her hand. “From the moment you came to Pemberley, you have been my only thought, the very breath I breathe. I tried to ignore the longing you brought out in me, because truly our differences in stations would be a hinderance, but I do not care.”
“You don’t care about our differences in station? That you’re an earl and I’m a vicar’s daughter?” she challenged him, removing her hand from his, causing him to feel empty again.
“No, Eliza, I don’t care. All I care about is you.” He cupped her cheek, his gaze locked on hers. “The only person I want is you for the rest of my life. If you’ll have me.”
Eliza blinked several times. She was sure that her heart had stopped beating and that she greatly misunderstood the words coming out of Peregrine Fitzwilliam’s mouth.
That or she had died, somewhere between Mr. Collins asking her for a private tour of the Pemberley gardens and her grandmother and cousin speaking to the Perry.
“Please say something,” his voice was pleading.
It was the only sign of weakness that Eliza had seen in his very carefully crafted facade, but how could she believe his words? Every interaction, every sentence was harsh and filled with disdain, or so she had thought the past fourteen days in his presence.
Opening and closing her mouth several times, Eliza tried to find her voice, but she was finding it rather difficult. There was a large part of her that wanted to run into his arms and accept his meager attempt at a proposal.
Was that supposed to be a marriage proposal?
“What would you like to hear after such a declaration?” She tilted her head, glaring at the infuriatingly handsome earl. “Am I to rejoice that you want to spend the rest of your life with me despite our social differences?”
He took a step toward Eliza, his body heat threatening to crumble her resolve to not swoon at his words, no matter how preposterous they were to her.
I don’t want Miss Bingley.
The words pierced her shielded heart, but her mind would not accept the possibility that he wanted her.
It wasn’t that she did not think herself worthy.
Like the rest of the women in her family, Eliza was beautiful.
She just could not believe that the one thing she had whispered to herself in the dark, when no one was listening, could come true.
But truly, what a poor declaration of affection.
“Must you argue with me on every subject?” he asked, flinging the book in his hand onto the chaise lounge.
“Yes, I must.” She ran her hands through her hair, wanting to shout in frustration. “Especially since every time you open your mouth, it is to insult me?—”
“No, that is not true. I have simply stated the facts.” He pressed a strong hand to his chest.
“The facts?” she asked. “I would be beautiful if I wore my hair down.” She listed off the offenses with her hands.”
“Your hair is a thing of beauty and I wish to always view you with it unbound,” he stated plainly, as if she had not spoken.
Ignoring the shiver that ran through her from his words, she continued on with her diatribe. “You insulted my gown, saying it was a hideous shade of green.” Tilting her head, she waited patiently for a rebuttal.
He shrugged one large shoulder before he took a step closer to her.
Eliza automatically took a step back. “I prefer you in blue. It brings out the color in your eyes. The way it shines against your skin color is enchanting and anytime you wear blue it just enhances your natural beauty,” he said, his features softening in a way she had never seen before.
“Am I to believe that you feel all of this even with our differences in station, which you were so kind to make note of when you first confessed your admiration?” Her voice quivered; his looming presence seeped into her skin.
Eliza had ignored the overwhelming pull she had felt the moment she met Peregrine Fitzwilliam, but no more. She would no longer ignore her own feelings, regardless of how completely incapable he was of having a simple conversation.
Eliza gasped as his cool hands wrapped around the nape of her neck, dragging her body closer to his.
“You are to know that I love you, most passionately, and I never want to part from you from this day forward.” He pressed his forehead to hers, his crisp green eyes capturing her in place.
“I am yours, Eliza, and I very much want you to be my wife. Will you marry me and teach me how to speak properly?” A rare smile graced his lips, and she could no longer resist him.
Running her fingers through his soft blonde hair, she looked up into his sparkling green eyes, so full of love. “Yes, though I believe it will take some time to teach you how to speak.”
“Forever. It’ll take forever,” he said before he pressed his lips to hers.
Eliza melted against him, her fingers gripping his silky locks as she welcomed his tongue into her hungry mouth. A moan of pure pleasure escaped her as Peregrine pressed her against the bookshelf, his hard body completely encompassing hers.