At least now that pause in brushing was explained. Darcy placed the brush on her dresser and pulled his wife to a standing position. He almost gasped at the vision before him. She was wearing a nightgown, but one which left nothing to the imagination.
For her part, Elizabeth was raking her eyes over the bare chest of her Adonis-like husband. He wore only breeches. As their eyes drank each other in, by silent accord she pulled her nightgown over her head and allowed it to pool on the floor while he freed himself from his last item of clothing.
Still without a word, Darcy led his nymph of a wife to the large four poster bed. He proceeded to give her as much pleasure as he got. There was a moment of pain during their first joining, but it was soon forgot. The Darcys never did ring for dinner.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At Matlock House, the normally ravenous Richard Fitzwilliam did not call for dinner either, as his appetite was otherwise engaged. Neither couple slept very much that night.
When the Darcys’ coach departed in the morning, the Fitzwilliam equipage was just being brought around from the mews.
Chapter 30
For the recently married couples, their time in Ramsgate and at Seaview Cottage seemed to fly by. If they had thought they were in love before they married, after almost three weeks in the exclusive company of their spouse, their feelings of love and attachment had deepened significantly.
In Hertfordshire things had moved along apace. Bingley was supposed to depart the day after the wedding. Rather than impose on the Gardiners, he took a three-month lease on the Great House at Stoke, which had been empty above two years.
It did not take many weeks to determine he and Mary were compatible in every way, so a week before the upcoming confrontation at Rosings Park, Bingley proposed to, and was accepted by, Mary Bennet.
With an adequate number of chaperones available, the two had spent as much time in the other’s presence as possible and had spoken about everything of interest to either of them.
Bingley had slowly fallen in love with Mary. Not many days after he realised it, he proposed. Although Mary was not as reticent as she once was, she was still shy and did not display her feelings openly. Rather than let that confuse him, Bingley had learnt it was all in Mary’s eyes, where he saw his love reflected back to him.
Thankfully, Gardiner was not hard on him when he asked for Mary’s hand; in the end, Mary’s guardian gave Bingley his consent and blessing. The couple chose a more traditional betrothal period, settling on about three months; they would marry the first Friday in June.
Mary, Tiffany, Kitty, Maria, Giana, and Lydia became as close as any sisters could be and were often in one another’s company. They always remembered to include the other young ladies in the neighbourhood, which expanded their circle of friends considerably. Even though Lilly was almost four years Lydia’s junior, she was included as much as her schedule of lessons would allow.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On Wednesday, the thirteenth day of March, several families made ready to leave for Kent the following day. The young children would remain with their companions and governesses in Hertfordshire. Lord Matlock had received a report from the Bishop of Kent; there was no question of Collins retaining his status as a clergyman.
In the same report, the Bishop had written bluntly, stating unless Lady Catherine was unable to appoint the next, or any subsequent, clergyman, the Hunsford living would be removed from Rosings Park’s gift.
Lord Reggie had written back, assuring the Bishop his son would be the master of the estate well before any new appointments were made. Try as he might, he could not feel sorry for his sister.
A few years before she came out, Catherine became overbearing, grasping, and avaricious. She, who called any woman who dared look at her nephew William a fortune hunter, was one herself. That was the reason she married de Bourgh and the same reason she kept pushing the lie about the imaginary betrothal between Anne and William.
The Earl was not sure which would engender the most vitriolic response—being removed from her fiefdom or realizing William had been married for almost a month.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
It was with a little sadness the Darcys left their tranquil cottage, which was anything but a cottage, given its size. The tinge of sadness was offset by all the glorious memories the Darcys had made at Seaview Cottage.
By prior arrangement for that morning, they met Charlotte and Richard at an inn on the way to Rosings Park, where the roads each were travelling converged. Elizabeth and Charlotte hugged one another tightly. “Charlotte, how contented you look!” Elizabeth gushed.
“No more so than you, Eliza,” Charlotte returned.
“If you are half as happy as I am, William, then you are deliriously happy,” Richard stated as he clapped Darcy on the back.
“If you are so full of joy then you are half as joyful as we are,” Darcy ribbed back.
“She is good for you. I do not miss the stodgy man you used to be,” Richard told his cousin seriously.
“Elizabeth has ignited a joy within me that will not be repressed,” Darcy expressed.
The couples broke their fasts in a private parlour and were on the road again in just over an hour.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
