Eliza blinks her wide green eyes several times as she tries to process the words that are still hanging in the air. The lavender planted around them suddenly smells too harsh, but Eliza's feet are rooted to the ground. Unable to move her to fresh air.
"And why pray tell, would you assume that is a role needed to be filled?" Eliza finally asks, gobsmacked by Cecilia's answer. Cecilia smirks again and Eliza hates that she is beautiful. Her sparkling green eyes make Eliza's feel dull and while Eliza feels flushed with heat, not a hint of redness covers the milky skin that Colin's hands have touched. The visual astonishes Eliza and she can't help the envy that flares through her. He knows how soft her raven hair is and how her body fits against his. Eliza swallows bile down and knows she has to draw a line between Cecilia and Colin. Hell, she needs to build a moat.
"Lady Eliza, you seem to have no question as to who I am, which means you know my relationship with Lord Bradshaw. I have no intention of letting a symbolic piece of paper keep me from what we started in Sussex," Cecilia replies with a smug grin.
"What started in Sussex ended in Sussex. Colin assured me of this and his lack of interest in any woman besides his fiancèe just last night," Eliza warns, suddenly hating the smell of lavender now that it will be forever associated with Cecilia Cameron.
"He may be smitten now, my darling, but once he's succeeded in seducing you, he'll realize your lackluster, inexperienced performance between the sheets doesn't hold a candle to what he had before."
Appalled, yet again, at her lack of decorum, Eliza snaps back, "You are quite vulgar Miss Cameron. 'Tis unwise to be advertising your sexual exploits in these social circles. It will only get you shunned and ostracized." Eliza warns but Cecilia only laughs while taking a step away from the seething woman. She takes a few steps further into the hedges and Eliza wonders if anyone would see her push the courtesan into the wide stone bird feeder. Cecilia plucks a lavender stem from the decorative display before telling Eliza, "Wouldn't you be happier knowing who your husband is with when he is not with you? Instead of a new woman in every new town he travels to, you'll know it will only be me." She wanders back to Eliza while shedding the lavender fluff from the stem and adds, "And imagine when you are plump with pregnancy. Bradshaw is going to need someone to fulfill his needs and I shall be there."
"The only place you'll be," Eliza seethes, "is on a stage somewhere, begging for applause to validate your worth while clinging onto shoddy tailcoats in the hopes of keeping a roof over your head." Before Eliza turns away from her she adds, "You are to stay away from me, Colin, Elsick House, and any other property owned by the duke." Eliza spins on her heel, hoping she can find her way back through the maze of hedges, but Cecilia stays hot on her heels.
"I did not come this far to back down now," Cecilia says through gritted teeth. "You will not make these decisions on Colin's behalf."
Eliza stops dead in her tracks, almost causing Cecilia to knock into her. She flips around and is sure to make direct eye contact when she says, "You have stretched my patience thin Miss Cameron." Eliza points her finger at Cecilia's amused expression and adds, "I should not have to remind you that you will not, in any circumstance call the marquess, Colin. Show some respect."
Cecilia flutters her eyes before adding, "I will call him Colin, as that is what he asked me to call him the first time he found himself between my thighs."
Eliza isn't sure how it happened, but her fist had a mind of its own as it connected with Cecilia's perfect slope of a nose. Cecilia lets out an ear-piercing shriek and Eliza watches in horror as blood quickly dribbles onto the ruffled lace collar of her dress.
"I do hope that doesn't stain," Eliza adds as she clutches onto her right hand. She is still in shock over the events that just unfolded next to the rose bushes and she knows she is going to have some explaining to do. Margaret and Lady Whitman come dashing over and they meet a bleeding Cecilia and a guilty Eliza between the hedges.
