She frowned impatiently. “And freezing! Take that coat off! Let me.” He allowed her to spin him bodily about, chuckling a little in obvious delight as she ordered him around and stripped his wet garments off his shoulders. She wrapped him in a spare blanket almost instantly, scrubbing her hands roughly over his arms to warm him as though he were one of her younger sisters. Slowly she stopped, surprised at her bold assertiveness. She raised bashful eyes to his face.
“Are you finished?” he asked, a hint of laughter in his tones. That dimple of his flashed most distractingly.
“Uhm. I’m sorry,” she mumbled uncomfortably, dropping her hands.
“Do not be sorry! I have not had such a welcome from the cold since I was a child!” He bent to touch a chilly kiss to her forehead, admiring her softened appearance. She wore a simple gown, unembellished by anything but her rich tresses. Only a portion of her hair had been swept up from her face as the rest spilled gloriously over her shoulders. She had never looked more beautiful. “I already missed you, Elizabeth,” he murmured gently.
She flung herself into his embrace then, contentedly burrowing under his blanketed arms. “I did not look for your return for days yet! What are you doing riding in the rain, and travelling so late at night? You will catch your death!” She meant for her words to sound like a fierce admonishment, but her face pressed warmly to his chest gave lie to her scolding lecture.
He laughed, pillowing his cold cheeks in her soft, lavender-scented hair. “I came to save you from my aunt. I heard she was intending a visit.”
“Ah, yes. We had the pleasure this afternoon.”
He groaned. “I am sorry. Was she very horrible?”
“Oh, no, quite the contrary! I found it to be a very enjoyable visit.”
“To be sure,” he returned dryly.
“Oh, but I mean it! I found her company very... amusing. I cannot say the same for Lady Catherine. I do not think she enjoyed herself, nor went away satisfied.”
Darcy laughed easily, relieved beyond expression that Elizabeth had not been intimidated by his aunt. She had not needed him to save her, after all! “I can well imagine! What did she say to you?”
“First things first.” She pushed him into her old chair, then, avoiding his astonished gaze, bent to tug his wet boots off as she had done so many times for her father. What large feet the man had! Sensing the outrageous lack of decorum she displayed, her cheeks fanned a brilliant crimson, but she was determined to prevent his taking a serious chill. Fixing her eyes to his masculine calves—suchlonglegs he had!—she silently set about her self-appointed duty. It was her nature to care for those she loved, and quite of a sudden, Darcy topped that list.
Darcy watched her in mute amazement and wonder. All of his wildest fantasies were playing out before his eyes! Elizabeth fussed over him with tender concern, her small gentle hands bestowing comfort such as he had never known. Her loving ministrations, combined with the genuine respect she had recently extended, swirled intoxicatingly in his heart. He felt twice the man he had been!
Edified by the care and devotion of such a noble woman, he at long last felt worthy of all the accolades showered upon him since his birth. He would forever after hold his head high among men, not because of any merit of his own, but becauseshedeclared her estimation of his virtues in her every look and gesture. The dam holding back the tide of his feelings burst, and he was over swept by such a drowning flood of love for her that he could scarcely draw breath.
Elizabeth was wholly unaware of the battle waged and won in her lover’s heart. She tugged valiantly against the wet, skin-tight leather, demonstrating not only her fierce resolve toward his benefit, but also some passing familiarity with masculine footwear. His chest quaked in a trembling chuckle as he tried to imagine one of Miss Bingley’s ilk stooping to such a task. At last, she rose, placing his boots by the small hearth and fetching another blanket for his knees. She began to move away from him to locate another chair for herself when his long arms pulled her close again.
“If you wish to enhance my comfort, Elizabeth, do me the pleasure of staying here with me,” he pleaded in a low voice. She narrowed her eyes sceptically at him. He levelled her a rakish little smile. “You need not fear I would take advantage of you in your father’s sickroom. I only wish to partake of your warmth a little longer.”
She cautiously allowed him to draw her to his lap, draping her knees over the armrest of the chair and her arm over his shoulders. She moved willingly but stiffly, to accommodate his needful plea. He tucked the blanket over his shoulders snugly about them both and pressed his forehead again into her luscious hair.
“William, you know my aunt must be aware of your presence,” she whispered nervously, her back still ramrod straight. Most of the family were abed, but someone must have let him in. The door was wide open, and though the hall was conspicuously vacant, it might not remain so. “She, or even my uncle, could come in at any moment.”
“And then I will be forced to do my duty as a gentleman and marry you on the morrow?” he conjectured, his face still hidden from her. “I can think of many worse fates.” He lifted his face to look at her, brushing those unruly curls aside as he had imagined doing so many times before. “At present, however, there is no cause for concern. I promised your uncle I would behave as befits a gentleman. Being a very sympathetic man, and in light of my pitiful, road-weary appearance, he granted me leave to see you alone for a short while.”
“I imagine this is not quite the ‘gentlemanly behaviour’ he had in mind,” she retorted sharply, arching her neck away from him to look him in the eye.
“A man’s life and well-being must take precedence over proper decorum at certain times, do you not agree? I was just informed by a source very dear to me that I am perilously close to freezing to death. Would you withhold life-saving measures in such an instance?”
“I am not so mean as that!”
“I had not thought you so.” He tightened his arms around her, and she slowly melted into his cradling embrace. He rested his head gratefully against hers, closing his eyes and breathing deeply of her scent.Here,at last, he was to learn what it was to love and be loved. Here in her arms, everything else he was slipped away. Pemberley, his status and responsibilities, and all of those lonely years without anyone to share his burden—all were forgotten. He was simply a man in love with the most breath-taking woman he had ever known. His precious Elizabeth melded to him, her soft form pressing into his until all that could be discerned from without was one shape drawing breath under their blanket.
Not for the first time in the past days, his thoughts lingered on that old passage referring to man and wife becoming one flesh. Nothing could sound more heavenly! He allowed himself a lopsided grin as he considered, only for a moment, that he would someday soon be granted an even deeper level of intimacy with this remarkable woman, his love and his very heart. He murmured soft words of endearment as she turned her face to nuzzle his cheek. Exhausted and sore as he was, her warm presence was having a profound effect on his person. He shifted a little, hoping to spare her maidenly sensibilities any embarrassing discomfort. He would not have her move from him just now for all the world!
It had been his intention, when it first became obvious that they must enter a rapid marriage without the benefit of a courtship, that he would not press her for intimacy until she had had time to accustom herself to the idea—no matter how long that took. What a man desired of his wife was primal, urgent, and overpowering. No gently bred maiden should be subject to such raw yearnings unless her heart was fully engaged. Her love was like the finest of masterpieces. Rushing matters would shatter the treasure, like leeching all the spice and power out of the new wine or scorching the silver before it was refined. She was worth waiting for, even down to the last delicious, stubborn, glorious curl of her beautiful head.
Somehow, he had promised himself, he must learn restraint, and that most dastardly of all virtues—patience. It would be painful but absolutely vital! He knew well that once he had tasted of her sweetness, he would be as helplessly bound by his desire for her as a broken warrior who cried out for an opiate, always longing for more and never satisfied.
He could not allow himself to…oh. He groaned headily as she moved from nuzzling his cheek to kissing that tender place next to his ear. Oh, what was the use? He was already a man hopelessly lost at sea, and only she could cast him a rope. Mercifully for him, she seemed to have every intention of doing so. In fact, she appeared more than willing to offer the succour he craved.
At last, he broke his peace, aware that Mr Gardiner, though a magnanimous man, still took his guardianship rather seriously. He could not afford to linger much longer, though tearing himself from her would be like ripping the bandage from raw flesh. He slid his hand up her shoulder, regretfully signalling her to cease her delectable attentions.
“I am loath to ask, Elizabeth, but I fear I must. What did my aunt say to you?” Once he had spoken, he returned his face to its proper home—buried in her luxurious curls—while he waited for her response.
