Page 21 of An Accidental Elopement

Cecilia inhaled deeply. She had been prepared for this the whole day. She could not handle having to go through this tomorrow as well.

“No,” she said in a low voice as she looked at him. “I demand that we consummate the marriage tonight. I do not want to wait.”

***

Archie took in her tear-streaked cheeks and her still wet eyes. The sadness in them, but also the determination. It seemed she was sincere that she wanted him to bed her tonight.

Yet there was nothing he wanted less in the moment. He wanted to comfort her and protect her. To reassure her over and over again that this would be a great experience for them both when it finally happened. But that he was also willing to wait. That she had nothing to prove.

“We should wait,” he said gently again. “You... you do not seem like yourself tonight, Cecilia.”

He fought the urge to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He did not want to muddle his words with caresses that might be misunderstood.

She looked at him with hurt in her eyes.

“Do you not even want me tonight? On our wedding night?”

Her bottom lip was quivering again, and Archie did not know how to comfort her. His desire for her seemed to scare her but she interpreted him saying that they should wait as a rejection.

Archie rubbed his forehead, and a frustrated sound left his lips before he was able to halt it. This was not how he had planned to spend the night. He had been looking forward to this... since he met her, he realized. Knowing her better had only fueled his desire for her. He had thought that she desired him as well, especially after their kiss two days ago. Perhaps it had simply been her wrath with her father that had shone through as lust. His stomach felt leaden at the thought that she might not even desire him.

With an annoyed sound, she sprang from the bed and marched towards the door to her room and Archie realized he had not answered her question.

“I do want you, Cecilia,” he exclaimed as he quickly stood and took three long strides towards her then stopped before he reached her. “Just not... when you’re crying.” Wait, that had come out wrong. “What I mean is...”

“I understand perfectly, what you mean, Archie.” Cecilia’s gray eyes had a steely quality that he was almost certain was able to maim. “You are right. We should wait. I will sleep in my own room, and I would appreciate it if you do not disturb me.”

With those words, she spun towards the door and all but slammed it behind her. Archie stared at it. His instinct was to follow her, but he halted with his hand on the doorknob. He was quite certain that if he did, they would either start screaming at each other or she would begin to cry again. Perhaps it was best to let her rest and talk about it more calmly in the morning.

He had left his tumbler of brandy on the side table by the fire. He quickly drained it as he reached it and just as speedily refilled it.

Much later, he retired to bed after several glasses of brandy – in the end he had not bothered with rising to refill it but simply took the decanter to the side table and sat staring into the fire. When he turned on his side and his nose hit the pillow, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon hit him so strongly that he for a moment thought that Cecilia was lying right next to him in the dark. He ran his hand over the linen where she had lain hours ago. They had long since gone cold, yet just the thought that she had been in his bed, even momentarily, made him go hard despite his drunken state.

Ten

Given how late he had retired and how much he had drunk, Archie woke up late with the feeling that elves had moved into his head and were hammering on the walls. Or did elves even hammer? He thought with a groan as he sat up.

“Has Lady Archibald risen?” he asked his valet, Peters, when he arrived.

“Yes, her ladyship rose several hours ago. I believe she is inspecting the linen along with Mrs. Jenkins,” Peters valet said cheerily. The corners of his mouth kept rising and it was evident that he struggled with controlling his features. Archie chose to ignore it.

“I’m sure she’s delighted,” he murmured. When he saw his Peters’ questioning eyes, he added: “Mrs. Jenkins that is.”

Peters finally allowed himself to smile. The entire household knew that Mrs. Jenkins had fervently been looking forward to seeing Archie married. Archie returned Peters’ smile as best he could.

After dressing he asked Peters to serve him coffee and breakfast in his study. It was where he spent the majority of his time when he was at Farleigh Cottage. It was too early to go in search of Cecilia, even though that was what he truly wanted. When he had eaten, he felt almost human and threw himself into his work, trying to distract himself from what had happened last night. As it turned out it worked. He did not notice anything around him until his butler, Boyle, knocked on the door and brought the mail. A letter from his mother, one from his man of business in London and one from... Archie’s hand stilled in the air as he took in the almost unintelligible scribble of the last letter. Then quickly snatched it from the silver salver and hid it under the other letters.

“Thank you, Boyle,” he said and had to fight the urge to clutch the letters to his chest as he watched the other man leave the room. Just as the door clicked shut behind him, Archie tore the letter open with his letter opener and read the content. The missive was not long. Once again Lavinia requested that he meet with her and not send his man of business.

Archie sighed and leaned back in his chair. He fought the urge to throw the letter straight into the fireplace and instead crumbled it in his palm, hoping that he did not have to read it again. This was just what he needed. Lavinia who thought that they would reconnect. When she learned that he had married, she would probably want even more money than what his man of business originally had offered. And he would have to pay. His hasty marriage to Cecilia was scandal enough; he did not want another tainting their new union.

Resolutely he sat up straight to open the letter from his man of business. It described how he had offered Lavinia the sum of money that they had agreed upon, and that she had taken it, but still said that she needed to speak to him. That little minx, Archie thought, as he angrily wretched a piece of paper from a drawer and in stark, bold letters scribbled a response to his man of business to offer Lavinia whatever she wanted for Archie to be rid of her, as long as she promised there would be no scandal and that she would not seek him out again.

After that, he wanted a brandy, but it was still just past midday and when he spoke to Cecilia later, he did not want to reek of alcohol. He sent the brandy a loving look, before he opened the letter from his mother. She hoped that they had arrived safely and invited them to a dinner party next week. “Just the family” as she wrote. She sent many wishes to Cecilia and hoped that they were both well. Despite himself, Archie could not help but smile. His mother was a sweet and caring parent and even though it had sometimes bothered him to be her favorite son, because of the extra attention, he had also mostly relished in it.

The dinner party however provided him with a good excuse to find Cecilia and have a conversation with her. Hopefully it would quickly turn into them not talking but being busy with other activities. He could not fathom that they had been married more than a day and night and he still had not slept with her. His fingers itched to explore every ounce of her peachy soft skin and his mouth to claim hers, then travel to all the places that his fingers had been. Damnation, he should not be thinking of it when he meant to leave the room.

He tossed the letter from his mother on the table, took a couple of fortifying breaths praying for his cock to settle down fast. King Richard II, 1377-1399. King Henry IV, 1399-1413. King Henry V, 1413-1422. King Henry VI, first reign 1422-1461. Finally, the situation in his pantaloons was under control and he was able to leave his study. He assumed that Cecilia and Mrs. Jenkins would still be in the one of the linen closets and he started with the one on the first floor, until finally finding her in the one on the third floor.