"I never thought you were quite that terrible. But I am sorry. Slightly."
"And I am sorrier."
"Good, you should be."
Darcy chuckled at my jest.
"Really I am still quite mortified when I think of how I behaved recently. Especially at the Hamilton ball. I do hope there were not many witnesses. I fear marriage has turned me into my mama."
"Never say that," he quipped. Fearing he had offended me he immediately began to apologize, "I am sorry, I did not mean to imply—"
"You did and it is quite all right. I know how she is. And if you were not her awe-inspiring son-in-law
Mama would find it equally difficult to find a kind word for you. She quite despised you when you first arrived in Hertfordshire.
"She mortifies me most of the time, but I was proud of her for despising you. One passing insult of my beauty was all it took for her to dismiss you entirely as a potential suitor for any of her daughters. And she doesn't even like me all that much. Some mothers with five unmarried daughters would ignore such a slight and simply throw a different daughter your way, but not Mama. Wealth and prestige could not blind her to poor manners."
"When did I ever say you were not beautiful?"
"At the assembly the evening we were introduced I overheard you telling Bingley 'She is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men.'"
"My God, did I really say it like that?"
"Yes, exactly like. I have an excellent memory and I entertained half of Hertfordshire by doing impressions of you saying it in your haughty voice. Everyone agreed it was the most pompous thing they had ever heard."
"Elizabeth, I am sorry."
"You seem to be saying that a lot lately," I teased.
"You must know by now you are certainly handsome enough to tempt me. I think you the most beautiful woman of my acquaintance who has the finest eyes in all of England."
"My eyes are only the finest in England, but my laugh is the most beautiful in the world. Who is this foreign woman whose eyes are more beautiful than mine? And how is it that you have become so well traveled that you can speak of all the world so confidently? Are you a spy like your uncle?" I asked archly. I was infinitely please by this compliments but I could not help but tease him.
He attempted to kiss me in reply. I dodged him again.
"You are trying to distract me. You are a spy, aren't you! Is that what you were doing when you had things to attend to?"
"I was walking Sir Sebastian, as you well know."
"I did not know. You walked him an awful lot."
"He is an energetic dog."
"And on these walks I suppose you met with other operatives in the park to exchange secrets."
"I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am nothing so dashing as a spy."
"That is probably for the best. It would be difficult to resist you if you were dashing."
"You can resist me now?"
"Oh, yes."
"Mrs. Darcy, I think you lie."
This time when he tried to kiss me I let him.
At long last he did the thing with his tongue
