Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

F itz rushed forward, catching Eliza just before she hit the floor.

"Eliza!" he called out, cradling her face in his hands, desperate for her to respond as Henrietta crowded next to him. He looked wildly around him as Dot and Sloane soon joined them. Word had gotten out that all had been taken care of back here and it seemed the room was practically flooded with detectives – detectives who they could have used a few minutes ago, although that was not his primary concern at the moment.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked Dot, who quickly knelt beside them, easing Eliza down so that her head was in Fitz's lap.

"It's hard to tell and we are not exactly in the best place to assess her," she said. "Her breathing is easy, however, and she doesn't appear to be in any distress. I guess that she was simply overwhelmed, but let's get her home."

Archibald passed them, leading out Lady Danger. "I'll have Hudson come to your townhouse, Fitzroy."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like him to take a look at your head first?"

"I'll be fine. He can see me after. It's handy having a brother-in-law for a physician."

Fitz nodded, although he didn't have it within him to engage in such a conversation at the moment – not when he wasn't sure if Eliza was well.

Henrietta led them through the door to the connecting room, then through to the back of the building. Here, at least, the air was less suffocating than it had been within and, fortunately, the ladies' carriage was nearby.

The detective who accompanied them – one whom Fitz could not blame, for he knew what it was like dealing with his sisters – helped him settle Eliza within for what was, thankfully, a short drive home.

Fitz sat on one side of the carriage, Eliza lying before him with her head in his lap while the others crowded on the other side. Eliza had curled into him as though they were cuddling in bed.

He kept an arm around her, holding her close, while Dot placed a hand on her forehead and inspected her as best she could in their surroundings.

"I suspect that the excitement of the evening overcame her," Dot said. "But we will be sure all is well, Fitz, don't worry."

He nodded, even though he couldn't say anything, for his throat was far too tight.

Soon enough, they made it home and he carried Eliza inside, passing by the waiting servants without a word until he could lay her down on the sofa in the front parlor.

"If everyone could stay back except Fitz?" Dot asked as she examined Eliza, scaring Fitz when she even looked beneath her skirts.

"Just to make sure there is no bleeding," she murmured, which nearly had Fitz losing consciousness himself at the thought.

Dot opened a vial from a bag that one of the maids had brought at her request and waved it before Eliza's nose as Fitz waited breathlessly. After a moment, Eliza began to stir, and Fitz was immediately in front of her face, needing her to awaken.

"Eliza?" he called out before patting her cheeks. "Eliza!"

"Fitz," she said, a caress in her voice as she slowly blinked her eyes open. "You are well. Thank goodness."

" I am well?" he said, nearly choking back a laugh. "Eliza, you fainted!"

She pushed herself up, with Fitz and Dot helping her until she was leaning back against the sofa cushions. Fitz quickly rectified that by taking a seat next to her and holding her against him.

"I am home," she said, looking around her, the simple expression causing Fitz's entire body to warm.

"Yes," he said, "home. You're home. With me."

"How do you feel?" Dot asked. "Your cheeks are slightly pink. I expect the exertions of the day overwhelmed you, did they not?"

"I think so," Eliza said as she took a deep breath, blinking. "How did I get here?"

"In the carriage," Fitz said, trying to be patient. "What do you think happened?" he asked Dot as the door opened and the physician – Hudson – walked in with his medical bag.

"The physician might know better than I, but I did notice that you didn't eat much at dinner, Eliza," she said without judgment.

"I couldn't," she said. "Not with the anticipation of tonight."

"Between not eating enough, the many emotions that you must have felt tonight at the club, and the heat of the room, it was all likely too much," Dot said. "Good evening, Doctor Hudson."

"Good evening, everyone," he said, before kneeling in front of Eliza. "I hear we had a fainting spell."

"I wouldn't call it a fainting spell," she said, nearly indignantly. "I have never fainted in my life."

"Well, we shall call it a pregnancy-related episode, then," he said. "I would guess that your sister-in-law is correct, however. It is good to see you, Lady Dot."

"You know one another?" Fitz asked, looking back and forth between them.

"I do. Your sister has been instrumental in a few of the births I have attended," the physician said. "She is very good at what she does."

Fitz knew that Dot would excel at anything she chose, but he had no idea to what extent she had accomplished her work.

"Now, let's have a quick look at you," he said as Dot kindly yet firmly pulled Fitz back and away. He reluctantly followed her, although he wasn't entirely pleased about it.

He stood as close as he could, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the physician with Eliza. It wasn't long until Hudson stepped back before explaining his thoughts, addressing all of them.

"Lady Dot is, I believe, correct," he said. "My best advice is to try to keep your life as calm as possible until the baby arrives. Can you do that?"

"I sincerely hope so," she said, and Fitz nodded.

"I promise it will be so," he said. "Whatever she needs."

"I'm glad to hear it," the physician said. "If you need me for anything at all, you know where to find me. In the meantime, I will be off to see to my brother-in-law."

"I imagine that is not for the first time," Fitz said wryly.

"Not at all," Hudson laughed. "The man is forever getting himself into one scrape or another. If not on the job, then at home."

"At home?" Eliza asked.

"Let's just say that his wife has a propensity for taking in every stray animal she has ever laid eyes on. Not all are as friendly as they should be."

"I see," Eliza said, even though she still seemed curious. Before she could ask more questions, however, it was time she rested.

"Thank you, Doctor," Fitz said, shaking the man's hand. "We appreciate all that you do."

He walked him to the door, giving him a generous payment before returning to Eliza.

"Now," he said. "You have had quite the day. Best get you to bed."

She pushed herself up to a sitting position, but before she could start walking upstairs, Fitz bent down and scooped her up in his arms.

"Fitz!" She laughed. "What are you doing?"

"What I should have done a long time ago," he grunted. "Used brute force to take you where you are supposed to be."

"I am perfectly fine to walk," she said, even as she snuggled her head into his shoulder.

"That may be so, but you will have your every need looked after for the rest of this pregnancy, understand?"

"Very well," she said, looking up at him with a smile.

When he made it to the top of the stairs, he took her right into his bedroom, lying her down on the slightly bigger bed.

"I need to prepare for bed," she said. "My maid will be waiting."

"I shall tell her that she can retire for the night," Fitz returned. "I will be taking care of you."

He did so as gently and tenderly as he could, lying her down and removing all of her garments before helping her to don her nightgown, wiping her face, her hands, and tucking her into the blankets.

"Will you lie with me?" she asked, holding her hands toward him.

"Of course."

He huddled in under the covers with her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close against him.

"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 attract a 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."

As they clinked their glasses together, Eliza couldn't help but reflect on how lucky she was to have found a family just as loving as the one she had come from.

She would be forever grateful that she had found her happily ever after.