Page 14 of The Marquess' Disguised Heiress
Eliza sighed inwardly, noticing how the two of them were desperate to keep her away from anyone who might prove to be of consequence.
“I had no desire to meet him, and it was hardly anything. He lost control of his horse and entered the estate grounds where I met him. It was more a matter of accident than will.”
Both Uncle Edgar and Aunty Beatrice looked calmer at her explanation.
“Alright,” they nodded together, Aunty Beatrice sitting back down.
Eliza was just about to leave the parlour when the butler arrived, bearing a note in his hand. She wondered who had come to visit the Russels this early in the morning and hoped it was not one of Victoria’s acquaintances.
“Lord Campbell, The Count of Fife, is here to see you, My Lord,” he announced, and Eliza suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
Lord Henry Campbell was a family friend of the Russels and the only person outside the family who knew what had become of Eliza at the hands of the Russels. Although, being a man with no morals, he had stayed completely quiet about the cruelty.
Ralph had told Eliza that another reason behind his silence was how her uncle, Edgar Russel, had helped Lord Campbell by acting like a fake witness to provide an alibi when he had been accused of impregnating a lord’s wife.
The accusation had been true, of course.
He was much older than Eliza, even if he hadn’t lost his good looks yet, but what troubled Eliza was his lack of manners and how he continued to make lewd comments towards her, even asking her to marry him again and again. She couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as him.
“Make him sit in the drawing room. I will be there shortly,” Uncle Edgar informed the butler just as Eliza began to turn around and leave through the other door, “You, girl!”
“Yes?” She turned back around.
“Make sure that when tea is served for us in the drawing room, you are the one to bring it for us. I do not want any other servant there. Do you understand?”
“Certainly.”
She quickly left the parlour, fuming with rage at Uncle Edgar’s request, but she knew why he did it. He was well aware of how uncomfortable Lord Campbell made Eliza, and this was simply his attempt to bring Eliza even more misery and scare her into believing that he just might agree to Count Fife’s demands and give him Eliza in marriage.
Although, she knew it was never going to happen.
Eliza, with her inheritance and everything still in her name, was much too precious, and Uncle Edgar would never want to let her go in this manner. The moment she gained access to London society, revealing her true identity in front of everyone would hardly be a problem, and the Russels’ secret might be exposed.
They would never risk such a thing.
I must stay strong. I must stay strong. I must stay strong.
She kept repeating the mantra, trying to bring strength into her heart, if not for her sake, then for Ralph and Lara.
She had already decided that she would not remain in this house much longer; escaping from here would be the only thing that would help her feel in control again. And when she did escape, she would take Ralph and Lara with her.
They were the only two servants who still remained in the house and had even come to London with her, while every other servant had been replaced by Aunty Beatrice ten years ago after she had turned Eliza completely into a servant and had taken away everything from her.
She needed to stay strong for their sake.
Quickly breathing in as deeply as possible, she made her way back to the kitchen but what awaited her there quickly forced her to forget about everything else and focus on the extremely tall man in front of her.
George was back.
She remembered how he had said he would see her another time when he had parted from her the first time they had met, but she had not expected him to actually show up, and that too this quickly. Although, she would be lying to herself if she did not accept that she had been hoping for him to come.
“George?” She called out his name, unable to take her eyes off his handsome face.
He was much too good-looking for his own good.
“I had to come see you since I promised earlier.” He smiled, and Eliza had a similar pang of nostalgia as it once again reminded her of Alexander.
But George was not Alexander. Eliza needed to remind herself of that.
