Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dear Miss Bingley,
Teddy—I mean, Mr Hall—says he is very eager to help you with your scheme and asks that we visit on Tuesday around eleven on the clock, if that suits us both. It certainly suits me fine, as I have plenty to ask him about—
Never mind allthatnow. I shall explain on the next page. With respect to our travel arrangements, I think it best if you borrow Miss Darcy’s carriage and pick me up on the way. I have studied a map closely and believe this to be the most convenient and expedient route for all parties. Do let me know whether you agree.
Yours, with great affection and admiration,
Miss Emily Chester
The rest of the letter consisted of a full three pages describing the plot of some new book Miss Emily had recently read. Hastily scribbled social niceties bookended this, as if the girl had only remembered at the end the real purpose of her letter. Caroline couldn’t help but smile; she must be changing,for a few months ago, it would have seemed impossible to strike up a friendship with the Chester sisters, and now she was very much looking forward to seeing Miss Emily again. It was rather nice to have a friend with whom one could really be one’s own self.
What a novel concept.
The second letter was from her mother, but she was loath to open it yet. It would surely ruin her mood, and said mood was far too good at present to be sullied. She cast an eye across the room to where Georgiana sat on the couch, her gaze sliding over the ample length of Miss Darcy’s body, which was encased today in a dark blue dress, giving her the appearance of a particularly polished jewel.Caroline raised an eyebrow, her mouth already watering at the sight. “Just how long will it be before one or the other of us caves to temptation?” she mused aloud.
Georgiana raised one eyebrow in return. “Are you implying that we cannot sit in the same room together without—”
“I am not implying anything of the sort. I am stating it outright.”
“Nonsense. You have your correspondence, and I have mine.” Georgiana gestured to the tray beside her. “We shall be perfectly content for a while with our tea and scones, shall we not?”
For the better part of the next hour, Georgiana was right. Caroline wrote back to Miss Chester, confirming their plan, and then began a long letter to Louisa, taking care to pad it out with the kind of minutiae her sister enjoyed most, in order to make it seem like a lengthy and loving response. At least she could write honestly about how much she adored staying at Pemberley. Feeling eyes on her, Caroline looked up. “What? I can hear you thinking from over here.”
Miss Darcy flinched guiltily, the tip of her quill brushing against her parted lips. “Apologies. I did not mean to stare. It was just that you looked... well, you were smiling rather prettily, and the sunshine was coming in through the window just so and...”
Caroline couldn’t help smiling. “We shall make a poet of you yet, Miss Darcy.”
“I doubt it. There’s nothing suitably poetic about what I’m thinking. At least nothing that could be written down in a book without singeing the pages.”
Caroline swallowed, holding her gaze. “I thought you had correspondence to take care of.”
“I did. I mean, I do.” Still, she did not move, even when Caroline rose from her seat and prowled across the room, dropping to her knees in front of the couch.
“We cannot do that here,” Georgiana hissed, casting a nervous glance back over her shoulder. “What if the servants—”
“I doubt you’ll last that long,” Caroline said, smirking. “Not with what I have in mind to try.”
Miss Darcy spluttered in outrage. “You make me sound as if I am a gun that only needs the lightest of breezes before it unloads.”
“With the most wonderful trigger,” Caroline murmured, hiking Georgiana’s dress up past her knees.
“You are interminable, and I still have three letters to write today.”
“Well, do not stop on my account,” Caroline said. “Pray continue with your task, Miss Darcy.”
“How can I possibly do so, when you are... oh, when you are doing that?”
Caroline pressed kisses along Georgiana’s lower thigh, following the line of muscle just above the knee as it tensed. Shereally ought to insist that they spend more time in bed, so that she could devote herself to kissing Georgiana all over, every inch. And speaking of every inch, Georgiana’s actions in the carriage had given her an idea.
Pressing another kiss even higher up caused Georgiana to wriggle and whimper. Fingers tightened in her hair, hard enough to hurt. Caroline bit back a groan of pleasure, humming instead as her tongue traced a line higher and higher, then began to mimic the actions her fingers normally performed. “Oh, Caroline—you can’t possibly—” Georgiana writhed underneath her, tasting salty and sour and utterly delectable. “Oh.”
Caroline clamped onto Georgiana’s thighs and clung on for dear life, determined not to stop until she’d brought her lover to the highest point of climax. The moment came sooner than she’d expected, and with a yelp only muffled by a hand hastily clapped over her mouth, Miss Darcy sagged back onto the couch.
“Perhaps we ought to have done this upstairs, for I long to hear you,” Caroline murmured, licking her lips. “I confess I am quite enraptured with all those lovely little noises you make.”
“Stop it,” Georgiana said, though it was a half-hearted snap at best. “Good grief, you ruin me anew every day.”
