Love & Murder: An Eliza Winter Mystery

Evan

"I would like to take you after getting permission from your parents for two reasons," Colin starts. "The first, is that I would like to take you to enjoy the opera with me. The second, is that I have a theory about Penelope that I would like to investigate further. I can do so at the opera."

"If you take me to the opera, unchaperoned, regardless of the reason, it will appear as though you are courting me. You can see how well I handle rumors, so you should be well aware that we'll nearly make the London Times if we step out together," Eliza says flatly, her heart starting to pound. Is this Colin's way of asking to court her? Is she a date or a cover?

"I'm aware of the implications Lady Eliza and it won't stop me from asking you," Colin states as he raises his eyebrow. He didn't give her a direct answer and she needs to know how to approach this outing.

"Asking me to be your date or your cover?" Eliza blatantly asks. She now wishes she wasn't puffy and blotchy. That she had kept her hair braided and kept some rouge on. If he says date, she's going to ask him to erase her current look from his memory.

"Answer my initial question and I shall answer yours," Colin says with a mischievous gleam in his eye. He leans back into his chair and the power is now in Eliza's hands. He wants honesty and so does she. They stare at each other, Colin waiting for her to make her move and she wonders how badly she wants this. How badly does she want to go to the opera draped on Lord Colin Bradshaw's arm? She can imagine him in his formal wear, broad-chested and cleanly shaved and her decision has been made. She'll give him what he wants.

She sighs and then pushes herself from the bed. She remembered Lucy's parting gift and walks over to the wardrobe. Laying near it on the floor is a silver flask. Lucy thought Eliza could use it after the funeral and in her rage, she had flung it across the room instead of drinking it. She's glad she has it handy now. She spins around and Colin immediately catches what she's holding. He grins and says, "I hope no one got let go over that."

Eliza, for the first time today smiles and replies, "Everyone needed a drink today. My parents will understand." She pops the top off and takes a swig of the liquid courage. She wipes her mouth with the tip of her finger and then offers it to Colin, which he accepts eagerly. She sighs and then drops back onto the bed. She licks her lips and then closes her eyes, wondering where to start her story. He looks to her but he doesn't rush her. He hands her the flask back which allows her to form her thoughts. She takes another swig and then looks to him.

"For eleven years, I was one-half of two people that made a whole. For eleven years, I had a brother with whom I shared everything. He was born three minutes before I was and he'd always use that against me," Eliza smiles at the memory of her brother. "Evan and I were as thick as thieves and if it weren't for my long hair, no one could have told us apart. We had even developed our own language to fluster our nannies." Eliza flits her eyes to Colin and she can tell he's already engrossed in her story. That he's truly listening to her. She sighs and then continues, "Shortly after our eleventh birthday Evan got sick. The pneumonia took over and he was gone before my parents could even process what was happening. My mother had feared I would contract it too, so she sent me to live with my Aunt Jane as soon as his fever hit. Back then, I hadn't understood what was going on. Suddenly, I was whisked away from my brother and my aunt wouldn't speak of why."

Colin reaches out and grabs Eliza's hand. The gesture should feel intimate and forbidden, but instead it's calming. She looks to him and adds, "I didn't see my mother until after the funeral. I didn't understand that we were there to bury Evan. Suddenly, I went looking for him. Determined he had to be there if my parents and whole family was there. I started calling for him and speaking in our own language to try and draw him out. I was convinced he was just hiding from me and I treated the entire funeral as a game. Now, I can see I had looked completely mental."

"You were only a child," Colin says softly and Eliza snaps her hand back and stands.

"Exactly. I was a child. Unable to truly mourn my brother. I couldn't comprehend that suddenly I was no longer a half. I was no longer tethered to someone else. So, I went along as if Evan were there. I pretended he was with me at all times. I spoke our language and pretended he was answering me. My parents couldn't handle that I was keeping Evan alive. My mother couldn't bear me running around, pretending he was running alongside me. So, she sent me back to live with my Aunt Jane in London until I finished my schooling. I moved back home after my first season and I swear my mother couldn't look at me until the beginning of my second. I was a constant reminder that there should have been a different heir." Eliza lets out a scoff and shakes her head, "And then the bloody rumors. Adelaide and Bridgette remembered my outbursts of course. They were there at the funeral and other public places that I had made a display of myself. They told my peers I was contagious, that my crazy would rub off if I got too close. Suddenly I wasn't Eliza and Evan, I was Crazy Eliza Winter. The mental one that talks to herself in another language. It was hard enough to comprehend his death as I grew older, but it was harder to escape my actions from that period of time."

"And they knew your brother? They knew who you were talking to?" Colin asks, even more appalled at their wicked behavior.

"Oh, they knew. Not only will I never forget Evan, but they'll never let me forget his death. They have something to tear me down with. They put on their airs and graces but they aren't Lady's," Eliza spits and Colin stands to keep her from pacing. He reaches out and pulls on her elbow to stop her and she turns to face him. She shakes her head as he says, "You're beautiful Eliza. You were born to a title and an estate and they weren't. They are hunting for what you have, but they will never find it. Their jealousy and wicked ways make them ugly and they'll only attract the desperate man. They can't see this, and yes they put on their airs and graces as you say, but jealousy is the fear of comparison."

Eliza feels the flattery warm her face. She swallows down the frog in her throat before saying, "My mother tries to tell me the same thing, but that's why I hate bloody London. I only have to deal with them and the people that remember my outbursts while I am here."

"Then come with me tomorrow night. They'll both be in attendance and they can see their words didn't discourage me. They can be the first to witness our courtship," Colin offers as he grabs Eliza's hands. She notices she only stands a few inches shorter than him, so she'd hardly have to tilt her chin to reach his lips. She stares into his determined blue eyes as she asks, "So that's what you want? To take this...public?"

"I don't mind the world seeing how I feel about you," Colin answers with a smile and Eliza prays her knees won't buckle.

"Do you mind if I show you...how I feel about you?" Eliza asks and his smile reaches his eyes. She tilts her chin higher but he meets her halfway. He puts his lips on hers and pulls her into him. She's not sure how one of the worst days of her life turned out to be one of the best, but she thinks Colin has the power to always make it so.