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“Now keep going until you have executed another circumnavigation.”

“Now I am on the outside again!”

“Exactly! It only has one side.”

“How strange that I should never have noticed it before!” wondered Lizzy. “Is it important?”

“I believe so.”

“What can it be used for?”

“I have no idea,” replied Darcy.

“May I have the ribbon back, sir?” interpolated Fairbanks.

“No,” said Darcy, putting it in his waistcoat pocket. “Have you plaited the mistress’s hair?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then brush it out again.”

Fairbanks pursed her lips but did as she was told. Meanwhile Darcy was running his hand over the dressing table.

“This dresser is a good size,” he remarked casually. “Have you finished yet, Fairbanks?”

“Yes, sir,” said the maid, returning the long-handled brush to the dresser.

“Good. You may leave.”

Eyeing the master askance, Fairbanks curtsied to Elizabeth.

“So, what have you discovered and why is it so secret?” Lizzy asked after Fairbanks closed the door.

“Firstly, I need you to loosen your stays. Then, I will pull the chemise up and through.”

Lizzy found herself sitting on her dressing stool on her bare bottom with her chemise bunched under her armpits. “Very elegant,” she concluded, observing the result in the mirror.

“Now, provided the armholes are big enough, you should be able to withdraw your arms from the holes of both the stays and the chemise,” prompted Darcy.

With amazing flexibility, Lizzy achieved this. “Done. Now what?”

“Now, I slip the chemise over your head and... Voila! You have taken your chemise off without removing your stays!”

Lizzy looked at him in amazement. “Fitzwilliam, I regret to tell you this, but every woman knows how to do that. It is the easy way to change into a fresh chemise. I am afraid it was not half so impressive as your ribbon trick.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Well, what about this?” he asked, first cupping Lizzy’s breasts over her stays before sliding his hands down to her hips. He gripped the bottom of the stays to give them a sharp tug.

Lizzy’s breasts popped out of the top. Darcy’s hands slid up to check on the success of the manoeuvre and fondle her breasts.

“I have been wanting to do that since the Netherfield ball,” he explained.

“Good gracious! Is that what gentlemen think of at a ball?”

“I had sufficient provocation!” he retorted. “Your stays seemed to be held together with string and sealing wax. They came apart when I touched them!”