Page 47 of Courting Elizabeth

My body reacted before my reason.

“What is the matter?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“Are you unwell?”

“No.”

“Did you hear a noise?”

“Fitzwilliam.”

“Yes?”

“Stop searching for a catastrophe. I wanted to see you.”

Those words stirred in me an emotion stronger than anything she could have revealed by undoing her gown.

I took a step, then stopped.

“Come in.”

She crossed the threshold. The door remained open behind her.

“I could not sleep,” she confessed.

“Neither could I.”

“Is it still because of that door?”

“Often.”

She touched the back of the armchair, then withdrew her hand. Color rose to her cheeks.

“I did not come to…”

“I know.”

“You do not know what I was going to say.”

“You did not come to fulfill a duty.”

She raised her eyes.

“No.”

“Then everything else can wait.”

I indicated the armchair opposite mine. She sat, drew the folds of her dressing gown around her legs, and watched the fire.

“Georgiana spoke to me about your mother today.”

I took my seat.

“She rarely does.”

“She says you resemble her when you are preoccupied.”