[A/N: Amping up the steaminess in this one! Thank you all again, for the reviews, I love reading them! I'm so so happy the stories are enjoyed! I'm trying really hard not to have (too) many plot holes.

FYI: I've been writing so much because it's too humid to knit! Haha. I also get kind of obsessed when I find something I enjoy doing.

I was having fun with this one, so it'll be in a few parts.]

Slow and Steady

Chapter One

"Eliza!" Petunia Mathews squealed as she hugged Eliza in the entryway of her home. "Thank you so much for agreeing to meet me here!" Eliza stepped back and took Petunia's hands in her own, "It's no trouble at all! Since your note said you needed to meet with me on a rather sensitive matter, I assumed you'd be more comfortable discussing it here, rather than in my office." Petunia nodded vigorously, her graying curls bouncing about from the movement.

"Come in, I'll have some tea and cake brought to the drawing room, and we can have a nice chat. How is your William?" She asked as she led Eliza inside. "Good! He's very happy at work, John has been wonderful to him, the promotion made a huge difference." They sat down, side-by-side on the settee.

"That's wonderful! And how are the two of you together?" Petunia asked mischievously. Eliza flushed, "Good," she said with a smile, "we still argue, but it's different now." "Oh?" "He's, respectful of me, he really listens to me, I... I feel like I really matter to him." "Of course you do, he's absolutely besotted with you." Eliza laughed, "I know. I care for him too." It was on her mind almost every day, to ask him if she could have the engagement ring back. Something kept making her hesitate, and she still wasn't sure why.

After finishing the pleasantries, and having eaten two pieces of cake, Eliza got down to business. "So how can I help you Petunia?" Petunia sighed dramatically, "I haven't been quite honest with you, my dear Eliza." "Oh?" Eliza said raising an eyebrow, the woman was one of the most blunt people she had ever met, she didn't think her capable of subterfuge. "I... I am an author!" She said with a flourish. Eliza blinked. "Really? What is it you write?" Petunia rose and walked over to a bookshelf. She pulled out a book, but it wasn't the one she was searching for. Hidden behind it was another, slimmer volume. This one she brought over and handed to Eliza.

It looked like a very plain book, the cover was brown, there was no design, just a title, "All the King's Men" and a pen name, "Josephine Archambeau". Eliza opened it curiously, and read a few lines from the middle of the book. Her face turned redder and redder and she quickly closed it and looked at Petunia in shock.

"This is... this is..." Eliza stammered. "Yes dear, erotica. I do have a rather large fan base." Petunia said, with pride in her voice. "Oh..." Eliza was at a loss for words. Part of her wanted to hand the book back to Petunia, the other part of her wanted to keep reading. Nothing in there was remotely close to anything she had learned in her boring anatomy classes.

She decided to keep the book on her lap for the moment, just in case she had to refer to it while questioning Petunia. "And how precisely can I assist you?" Eliza had no idea what Petunia could possibly need from her, other than a chaste kiss with William, she had no experience on the topic.

"My latest manuscript has gone missing," Petunia said crossly, "I had just finished it too. It is rather vexing, I had promised to turn it in to my publisher by next week. I simply cannot rewrite it in its entirety. Eliza, you must find it for me." Eliza nodded, so it was an ordinary theft case, and Eliza would treat it as such. "Do you believe you misplaced it, or that someone stole it?" She asked. "Stolen, it was most definitely stolen. I have a group of ladies I read my manuscripts to as I write, they help check for inconsistencies and plot holes. I am sure one of them has taken it!"

"Why?" Eliza asked, "If they are helping you..." Petunia scoffed, "It's that new girl, Jade. She fancies herself a budding author but doesn't have one original idea in her head. I just know she stole it to pass it off as her own." Eliza nodded, she didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but she also didn't want to upset Petunia.

"I see. Was the last time you saw the manuscript, when you had met with them?" She asked. "Yes," Petunia nodded, "It was two nights ago, we meet at my publisher's office, in the back room. I read them the newest chapter, I took notes from their comments, and when I returned home, it was no longer in my bag! I know I had put it back when we had finished, I always check."

Eliza nodded, "Did you leave your purse unattended at any point?" Petunia paused, thinking back, "Yes, actually... we had all gotten up to see what the ruckus was about at the front of the office." "Ruckus?" Petunia scowled, "There are some rather prudish women who take offense at my writing. I don't know how they found out when we meet, or if they know who I am, I use a nom de plume after all, the women in my group don't even know my true name. These puritans had taken it upon themselves to cause a commotion out front, handing out flyers stating that my works are immoral. Immoral, the nerve! I write romances, that is all, if they are a little too steamy for some... well, they don't have to read them." Petunia said petulantly crossing her arms beneath her ample bosom.

"Are you planning on meeting with your group again? I would like to attend the next gathering." Eliza said, her curiosity growing with each minute. "Yes, I am working on another new story, I have the first chapter to share with them. They do not know that my manuscript is missing, if you'd like to attend undercover, as a dear friend of mine, they wouldn't suspect a thing." Petunia was thrilled, she liked Eliza and knew she could trust her with her secret, and in finding her manuscript.

"That sounds perfect!" Eliza said. Suddenly they heard a noise, and male voices, coming from the hallway. "John's home early." Petunia mused. "Does he know about this?" Eliza asked, holding up the book. "Of course dear, how do you think we paid for our home? On his salary?" She laughed.

The voices were becoming more distinct and Eliza stiffened upon hearing a very familiar Scottish accent. "William!?" She exclaimed as he came into the room. "Why, hello there! Didn't know you were visiting Petunia today." He said. With a few long strides he was standing at her side. He bent over and kissed her cheek. Eliza flushed with pleasure and felt a warm tingle inside.

She had told William that she didn't mind if he wanted to kiss her hello, or goodbye, and so he happily took advantage of the liberty she had granted him, kissing her on the cheek, or forehead, when they were together. They had only kissed on the lips that once, at Alice's wedding. It was with some dismay that Eliza realized they were rarely alone together, officers would barge into his office, Ivy would pop up and startle them, and if they took a stroll in the park there were always people about.

"John, darling, you're home!" Petunia stood, threw her arms around her husband's neck and kissed him with gusto. "Ah my love!" John said, "Duke and I snuck out of work early. We have stats to calculate, I thought it would be more comfortable to work on them in my study here, without being interrupted by anyone." He chuckled as William growled. "I swear, if Honeychurch knocked on my door one more time..." He glanced down and saw the book on Eliza's lap. "Oi, what's that? Reading club?" He tapped Eliza on the shoulder and gestured for her to move further over on the settee. He sat down next to her, plucking the book from her hand.

"William..." she said as he began flicking through the pages, his face turning from red, to an interesting shade of purple, as he paused to read one particular section.

"Is this even physically possible? How do you not break a leg? Or your neck?!" his Scottish accent got even stronger with each word. It was usually more pronounced when he was angry, or in this case, stunned.

He looked up at John who grinned, and was about to speak, but William held up a hand to cut him off, "On second thought, I dunnae think I wannae know!"

Eliza was torn between embarrassment and laughter, a part of her wanted to grab the book back from William. The rest of her wondered what it would be like to try some of those things with him.

"Lizzie," he said desperately, as he turned to her, "is this how you want to learn about these things?" he said, still waving the book around.

She shrugged casually, "Well, why not William? I have to learn from somewhere." She was teasing him, but he was too flustered to realize it.

"But, but..." he sputtered, "This is something we should be doing together!" he finally blurted out. Then his face turned back to bright red. John and Petunia laughed uproariously. "Oh, this must go in my next book! I'm so sorry for laughing, but the two of you are so adorable!" Petunia managed to say, between her bouts of laughter.

William was mortified and from the look on Eliza's face, he could tell she was too. And quite possibly very annoyed with him.

William sighed and put his head in his hands, "I give up." He muttered. Eliza tentatively pat him on the back. He turned to look at her, "Sorry Lizzie, of course you can read what you'd like. I didn't mean to imply..." "I know Will, I had a similar reaction at first." She said, hiding a smile.

William flipped through it again, in the back of his mind, worried about what kind of ideas the book would put in her head. And if he would measure up to her newfound expectations. I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Probably won't be for a few more years. He didn't mind waiting for her, she was worth it, but there were times where it was taking more and more self-control to stop himself from kissing her lips, or touching her more.

He handed her back the book. Petunia and John had settled down and were watching the two of them with bemused expressions. "Eliza dear," Petunia said, "You have my permission to tell William about my case, I trust him of course." Eliza nodded. Petunia went back to the bookcase and moved some more things around to return with two more slim books. "Here, you may borrow these too, I think you'll particularly like this one." Eliza took it with interest, "Slow and Steady Wins the Race... Thank you?" It came out more as a question than a statement. She still wasn't sure how she felt about reading such things, but she knew, without a doubt, that she would have to hide them from Ivy.

"Come Duke, those statistics aren't going to calculate themselves!" John said. "Yes Sir." William said, rising from the settee. Eliza stood too, she took one of William's hands in hers. "I'll see you tonight at dinner?" He smiled and gently stroked her cheek with his free hand. "Of course, it's Wednesday, Ivy's special roast night!" Eliza laughed, William had been eating dinner with her more and more. He had always enjoyed Ivy's cooking, and even though Eliza had told him it wasn't necessary, she knew he was slipping Ivy some extra money to cover the cost of his food. She hadn't realized that a man could eat as much as him.

He winked at her, kissed her hand, and then released it to follow John to the study. Petunia looped her arm through Eliza's to walk her to the door. "We must speak about rights one day." Petunia said. "Rights?" Eliza asked confused. "Yes, to yours and William's story! I want to write about the two of you, but I will need your permission, and of course change your names. You'll get a generous percentage of the royalties. Both of you." "Sure...?" Eliza said, still not completely understanding. Petunia rambled on, "I will send you a message when I have the next manuscript meeting date and time! Ta-ta until then!" She kissed Eliza on both cheeks and waved goodbye.

Eliza walked home slowly, her head in a whirl.

To be continued...