Elizabeth wriggled herself deeper into his arms, pressing the whole line of her back against him, and feeling warm and cared for, and wholly relaxed for the first time all day.
She fell into a deep untroubled sleep.
Chapter Nine
The next morning Elizabeth was woken by Mr. Darcy rolling out of bed a little before the crack of dawn and stubbing his toe in the dark against the chair in front of her little desk.
“What?” She sat up and rubbed her eyes as the clatter woke her. “What?”
“Shhhh, shhhh. No need to wake.”
He opened the door between their suites, and quickly went into his own dressing room, where the sound of him moving around and changing was instantly audible.
She rose from the bed and remembered that there was to be a fox hunt today, and for some ridiculous reason the time assessed for the starting horn was only eight o’clock.
With a shake she brought herself awake, went to the water closet, and with a pull mechanism triggered a flow of water to wash away the night soil. Shestillwas only half used to how it worked. Uncle Gardiner had one as they were more common in rich houses in London than in the countryside, but its design was from the past few years. Darcy had told her that the one at Pemberley had been installed in the 1780s, right when flushable water closets first became popular amongst the very wealthy.
She did not wish to wake Mary so early, but her maid came in anyways, seemingly alerted by Darcy’s valet, shortly after she’d pulled off her night clothes.
“Morning.” Mary rubbed her eyes.
“You don’t need to be up so early.”
“Knew you’d be,” she replied. “Now sit down and let me set your hair.”
“I’ll just go down to see the crowd off, before having aproper breakfast.”
“And acountesswill be present at breakfast,” was Mary’s reply.
“I choose not to be intimidated by anything so like awordas atitle,” Elizabeth replied in a haughty tone, and then added in an ordinary manner, “Besides, she will only be present if shealsodecides to wake too early because the men decided it would be a game to do so themselves.”
Mary dressed her, working on her hair, and occasionally asked detailed questions about the styles Lady Matlock and Lady Susan wore. “You of course outshone them.”
“That was not,” Elizabeth replied dryly, forcing down a sudden retching sensation, “what theysaidto me.”
“Course not, they are jealous — everyone would be.”
“No need for false flattery,” Elizabeth replied. She pressed her hand to her stomach. It seemed the nerves that had given her nausea yesterday morning had not been satisfied by the meeting with her new relations not having turned into an excessively terrible scene.
“It is not flattery,” Mary said. “It is clear as day that your Mr. Darcy loves you. And to have a man like that as your husband, that is more than enough to set any woman jealous.”
“Even his aunt, who is gray haired and well past fifty?” Elizabeth inquired in reply.
“Especially her,” was Mary’s firm reply, and there was really not much that Elizabeth could say in contrast to the lady’s maid. “And there you are, your hair is perfect, my masterpiece.”
Shortly after Darcy knocked on the door and entered when Elizabeth called out. He was neatly shaved, his hair trimmed. He looked ruddy cheeked and far too eager for the day. He still wore his slippers, instead of the big riding boots that were warming next to a stove in the entry hall, but in every other way he was the image of a sporting gentleman hunter — a tightlytailored red hunting coat, with vibrant colors and impeccably cut, a neatly tied brown cravat, and supple white buckskin breeches that clung tightly around his legs, letting Elizabeth freely admire his muscular legs.
“You did not need to wake,” he said.
“I was not going to let you go off to murder some poor fox, while nearly breaking your neck, without a proper kiss,” Elizabeth said, kissing him. “Do be careful.”
He grinned at her, a boyish, handsome smirk that made her stomach flutter. “It is my solemn duty to protect the henhouses.”
“Ah, that is the whole reason. If it werefun,you would simply hire a man to catch the foxes.”
Darcy laughed.
They went downstairs, and a variety of gentlemen were already gathered, several of them were now introduced to Elizabeth for the first time. They made a cheerful group, full of laughter and confident tones, though they were not particularly loud. The morning chill and stillness urged a quietness that even a grand country squire whose favorite shout was “Tally-Ho” must respect.
