He pressed his lips on her neck, as his nimble fingers undid one button, then another.
They’d never done this, gone so far in the daylight.
The kiss was endless.
It was impossible for her to not be aware of how handsome he was, how broad his shoulders were, the leanness of his athletic form, the shape of his jaw, and the way his hair fell over his ears and forehead. He was happier and more relaxed here in his real home — she realized that the London house could never be anything more than a waystation for him — than she had ever seen him.
It helped Elizabeth relax and enjoy how he kissed her, the feel of his hands stroking up and down along her back. She tensed with excitement as he undid one button after another on her traveling dress.
She pressed him back when the dress was half undone, “We must meet Mrs. Reynolds. She said a half hour.”
“Mrs. Reynolds will wait.”
“I’d be too embarrassed to see her.” Elizabeth flushed, looking down.
She expected him to resume kissing her. She wanted him. She’d not resist or make any suggestion to stop again.
Instead, Darcy kissed her on the forehead. “You look very well here. In my home. I am glad to have a wife brought home, and… despite everything…” He shrugged, grinned boyishly. “It was bad form. Decided disaster. All of us were in our worst form that night. But you… I could not imagine another woman in the part of Mrs. Darcy. I certainly am not going to spend my life mourning my mistakes, when I can, as you once said, think of that which is good.”
His eyes were bright and sweet.
Elizabeth did not know whether to be horribly offended, or if she should feel complimented. Darcy clearly intended her to be complimented.
The confusion made her wanting for him, a sensation she’d not known before, slowly ooze away.
“I will send in your maid to help you dress.” Darcy kissed her on the forehead once more. He turned when he reached the door and said, “You won’t always be so shy with me.”
Elizabeth flushed.
Why did she suddenlywanthim to admire her person, and those parts of her body that were supposed to remain hidden.
He is your husband. It is only natural.
It wasnotnatural.
Elizabeth growled at herself.
Mary came in, and she efficiently stripped Elizabeth from her dress, making no comment upon how it had been half removed, though she did raise an eyebrow, as though to ask why they had not finished. As she buttoned up Elizabeth’s new dress, Mary remarked, “A very romantic gentleman, the master. I would not have guessed it from his manner.”
“Nor would I,” Elizabeth replied with an embarrassed blush.
“I’d swoon if a man looked at me the way Mr. Darcy looksat you.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I can hardly make him out, but I do believe I swooned a little just now.”
She went down armed with one of the two everyday dresses she’d ordered, and that Mrs. Gardiner’s dressmaker had managed via heroic efforts to finish in time for their departure.
The footman directed her to the drawing room — she’d already forgotten the route, even though Darcy had pointed out the door as they went up to their rooms. When she entered Darcy lit up and smiled at her. He stood painfully handsome and tall in a new coat that she’d never seen him wear before. It was green and the silk waistcoat fit closely around her husband’s chest.
Lips on her neck. That seductive whispering voice. And the way he smelled.
It was much easier to look at Mrs. Reynolds and Miss Darcy.
Elizabeth greeted Miss Darcy with a smile, wholly unwilling to allow the younger girl to frighten her, no matter how tall and elegantly dressed she was.
Miss Darcy said little in response to Elizabeth, and Mrs. Reynolds asked, “Where do you wish to start? Kitchens? The gallery with all the portraits?”
“The library of course,” Darcy said laughing. “We’ve additions to deposit from Mrs. Darcy’s purchases.”
