Eliza blinked her wide green eyes several times as she tried to process the words that still hung in the air. The lavender planted around them suddenly smelled too harsh. 

"And why, pray tell, would you assume that such a role needs to be filled?" Eliza finally asked, gobsmacked by Cecilia's response. Cecilia smirked again, and Eliza hated that she was so beautiful. Her sparkling green eyes made Eliza's seem dull, and while Eliza felt flushed with heat, not a hint of redness covered the milky skin Colin had touched. The visual astonished Eliza, and she couldn't help the envy that flared through her. He knew how soft her raven hair was and how her body fit against his. Eliza swallowed down bile and knew she had to draw a line between Cecilia and Colin. Hell, she needed 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 replied 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 warned, 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 snapped back, "You are quite vulgar, Miss Cameron. 'Tis unwise to advertise your sexual exploits in these social circles. It will only get you shunned and ostracized."

Cecilia only laughed, stepping away from the seething woman. She took a few steps further into the hedges, and Eliza wondered if anyone would see her push the courtesan into the wide stone bird feeder. Cecilia plucked 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 town he travels to, you'll know it will only be me." She wandered back to Eliza, shedding the lavender fluff from the stem, and added, "And imagine when you are plump with pregnancy. Bradshaw will need someone to fulfill his needs, and I shall be there."

"The only place you'll be," Eliza seethed, "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 turned away from her, she added, "You are to stay away from me, Colin, Elsick House, and any other property owned by the duke." Eliza spun on her heel, hoping she could find her way back through the maze of hedges, but Cecilia stayed hot on her heels.

"I did not come this far to back down now," Cecilia said through gritted teeth. "You will not make these decisions on Colin's behalf."

Eliza stopped dead in her tracks, almost causing Cecilia to knock into her. She flipped around and made sure to make direct eye contact when she said, "You have stretched my patience thin, Miss Cameron." Eliza pointed her finger at Cecilia's amused expression and added, "I should not have to remind you that you will not, under any circumstance, call the marquess 'Colin.' Show some respect."

Cecilia fluttered 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 wasn't sure how it happened, but her fist seemed to have a mind of its own as it connected with Cecilia's perfect slope of a nose. Cecilia let out an ear-piercing shriek, and Eliza watched in horror as blood quickly dribbled onto the ruffled lace collar of her dress.

"I do hope that doesn't stain," Eliza added as she clutched her right hand. She was still in shock over the events that had just unfolded next to the rose bushes, and she knew she was going to have some explaining to do. Margaret and Lady Whitman came dashing over, and they met a bleeding Cecilia and a guilty Eliza between the hedges.

"What happened, my dear?" Lady Whitman asked in shock as she took in the scene, and Margaret glared at Eliza.

"She shoved me into the birdfeeder!" Cecilia lied. "Completely unprovoked!"

"She lies!" Eliza snapped, and Margaret darted her wild eyes over to her. "About?" Eliza hesitated, not liking the spotlight, and wondered how to find her way out of this one. She knew Cecilia had lied about being pushed and not punched because she couldn't tell the lady of the house about her vulgarity toward the future marchioness.

It would also be unwise to admit that the future marchioness had pummeled one of her guests.

"I did not shove her into the birdfeeder," Eliza answered honestly, intentionally leaving out why her fingers were rigid from the impact.

"I gave you the benefit of the doubt!" Cecilia shouted. "But 'tis true what they say about you! You are crazy, Lady Eliza!"

Eliza became as stiff as stone, casting an icy stare at Cecilia. The rest of the croquet players had made their way over to the commotion, and Eliza was well aware of her audience.

"I have never come across a woman as vulgar and vile as Miss Cameron, and I cast judgment upon anyone who chooses to associate with her," Eliza declared, before spinning on her heel and pushing her way out of the garden.

She stripped her shawl from around her shoulders in hopes of cooling herself, but her fingers ached, and the pain was already spreading toward her elbow. She swiped her pocketbook off the lace tablecloth, knowing tea time was over. 

She didn't bother informing the butler to prepare for her departure, not wishing to be crammed into the motorcar with Margaret. Instead, she dashed off into the treeline, knowing that Elsick House sat just beyond the Whitmans' property line.

Eliza had dealt with bullies before, but never one as direct and tactless as Cecilia Cameron. What had Colin seen in her? Or was it simply her perfect physique and complexion that had drawn him to seek her comfort?

As she marched further into the forest, Eliza became aware of how narrow the path was that snaked along the property line. Wide, fluffy trees blocked the sunlight, casting her into shadow as she tried to stay on the footpath. She knew she had plenty of time to gather her thoughts, though she had no idea what would await her at Elsick House.

Did Margaret know of Cecilia's loose reputation? Or that she'd had rendezvous with her nephew? The image of Colin's strong hands stroking Cecilia's face in the candlelight made Eliza stop in front of a withering tree trunk. She dropped to the ground, pressing her hands against her eyes in an attempt to block out the image.

She didn't want to cry, but she had been holding the tears at bay ever since Cecilia had muttered, "Crazy Lady Eliza." Her reputation had followed her to Nottinghamshire, and her clean slate had lasted barely three days. Colin ignored it, but would Margaret? Would the duke and duchess?

This was supposed to be the start of her new life, yet she was already going to be the talk of the town, painted harshly in a negative light. She knew she shouldn't have hit the vile woman. She hadn't expected to, and she wondered again how she would be reprimanded. She had known she felt a fierce fondness for Colin, but she hadn't realized she was willing to get violent over her feelings until today.

The shadows grew darker the longer Eliza stayed slumped against the base of the tree, and she realized she needed to get back on the path. No one knew which way she had taken back to the estate, and the last thing she needed was to get lost. She ran over the words she planned to tell Colin and the apology she would have to extend to Margaret. The same ladies were attending Eliza's ball next week, so she still had a chance to redeem herself.

Maybe she could host a tea to show them that she could be civilized? She would not be so crude when explaining the conversation that had taken place in the garden but would say just enough so that the women could jump to their own conclusion about what Cecilia had been aiming for with her future husband.

She devised a plan of redemption the further she walked down the dirt path, but when she reached a wooden fence line, she realized she should have reached an open field by now. She should have emerged from the treeline and seen Elsick atop the small sloped hill. She always gazed toward the treeline out of her bedroom window while Lucy fixed her hair, so she knew there was no wooden fence line facing the property.

Birds chirping, twigs snapping, and crickets rubbing their legs together were the only noises Eliza heard and realized she was very much alone out here in the forest. She had thought it would take just shy of an hour to return to Elsick, but the sunlight turning golden meant it had taken her much longer to reach the fence.

She headed straight back down the same path that had led her to the fence line, searching for a fork she might have missed. When she spotted a patch of wildflowers, she realized this was not the same path she had wandered down before. She would have remembered the wild daisies dotted around the tree trunks.

"Bugger and damn!" Eliza snapped, growing increasingly confused. This clearly wasn't the same path that led toward the Whitmans' garden, and she wasn't sure if it was the one that led to Elsick House. She should have just taken the slap from Lady Margaret on the wrist and traveled back the way she came. Instead, she found herself in the woods at sunset with no sense of direction.