Memory: Volume 3, How Far We Have Come, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (Memory: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice) (12 page)

“What are you doing today, little love?”  He said softly. 

Rosalie laughed and spotted Elizabeth.  “Mamamama!”  Suddenly she fell forward onto her hands and knees, and slowly raised her bottom up high in the air. 

“Oh Will.”  Elizabeth breathed. 

Darcy’s hands reached out.  “Come Rosa, come to Papa, love.” 

With baited breath, the family all seemed to lean forward, willing her to rise.  Rosalie rocked back and forth, talking to herself, and slowly, shakily pushed up, surprising herself as she rose, letting go of the carpet and standing, swaying, and with a look of absolute determination and delight, she took one step, her arms waved wildly, and squealed with joy.  Darcy beamed at her.  “Papa!”  And just as suddenly she was down.  Before he could swoop down to kiss her, she was back at it, more quickly this time, up on her hands and knees, balancing, rising, standing, the same expression of wonder appeared.  “Mamamamama!”  She squealed and stepped to Elizabeth. 

“Oh sweetheart!  You clever, clever girl!”  Elizabeth cried.  Both she and Darcy descended to kiss her while the rest of the family applauded.  Darcy scooped her up and hugged her, then kissed Elizabeth.  She wiped the tears that glistened on his cheek and laughed.  “How proud you are!”

“What a wonder she is!”  He laughed and kissed both of his girls, and happily buried his face in Elizabeth’s neck as they surrounded their crowing daughter with their embrace. 

Mrs. de Bourgh turned away from the happy scene as the rest of the family joined the Darcys on the floor to watch Rosalie perform her miracle again and again.  She looked at Lady Catherine and noted her unreadable expression.  “Tell me, what exactly did you ever hold so dear?  A title?  A house?”  She smiled at the circle of family surrounding the baby with the silly smile.  “Oh, what you have missed.”

Chapter 4

“M
ay I get you anything?”  Darcy said softly and kissed Elizabeth’s cheek.  She blinked and looked up at him.  “You fell asleep, love.”  

“Oh.”  She sat up a little and sank back down into the very comfortable and secure embrace of his arms.  “How did that happen?”  His soft rumbling laughter filled her ear and she smiled into his neck cloth.  “Was I asleep for long?”

“mmm, about a half hour.”  He kissed her hair and hugged her to him.  “I chose to remain awake and on guard.”

“I somehow think that we are quite safe here in this patch of sunshine, but the advantage of a hilltop certainly ruins the element of surprise for any curious deer who might wander our way.”  Elizabeth looked up to see the unhidden warmth of his affection. “What precisely would you have found for me?  Have you a teapot in your pocket?

“No.”

“A bun?  A music box?”

“No.”  His eyes crinkled.

“A flask, perhaps?”

“What gentleman is without one?”

“I can think of any number who are, and no, I do not wish for a drink of whatever you carry.  I prefer to keep my wits about me.”

“Why?”  He whispered in her ear, his breath softly caressed and tickled her skin, and sent a frisson down her spine.

“ohhh.  Because you always take advantage of my vulnerability.”

“I love you being vulnerable, love.  At least for me.”  Their eyes met and Darcy’s gaze moved to her lips.  “Your mouth has been looking especially vulnerable, and has been begging for my rescue.”  He whispered before they joined for several pleasant moments.  “That is better.”  He drew away and watched the tip of her tongue taste where his lips had been.  “Lizzzy . . . That tongue of yours . . .”

She laughed and brushed the hair from his forehead.  “Must we return to London?   We are so close to the coast; could we not take in a little sea air?  I have always wished to see the North Sea.  It would do us a world of good; a little sea-bathing would set us up forever.” 

“Sea-bathing?  This is coming from the woman who objects to the cold water of the lake at the height of summer?”  He chuckled.

“Yes, but I understand that gentlemen bathe unclothed.  I was simply imagining you . . .” Darcy silenced her with a kiss to her throat.  “Perhaps it would be better at the lake.”

“Guaranteed.”  He nipped her skin and soothed the spot with his tongue.  “Much more pleasant, and we could bathe together so I would not have a spyglass pressed to my eye to see you.”

“Men spy on the women?”  She gasped.

“Yes love; and no man will see you, but me.  No sea-bathing for
my
wife.”  He declared and suckled her throat until her breathing became ragged.  Darcy groaned and moved to eagerly explore her mouth.  Their kisses deepened just as the sound of a rising group of geese startled them from their activity.  Darcy closed his eyes and worked to regain control.  “You drive me insane.” 

“Then we shall enter Bedlam together.”  Elizabeth laughed and cuddled against him, sinking back into his arms as gradually, they calmed.  “You smell so very nice.” 

“Thank you.”  He drank in the perfume of her hair and smiled.  “So do you.  Bathing is no sin, I have long determined, even if it is not in the sea.”

“You are one of the few.” 

“mmmm.”  Darcy’s lips traced over her face and slipping his arms beneath her; lifted her onto his lap.  They curled together and kissed slowly.  His hands roamed her body and then settled back into his secure embrace.  “Dearest?”

“Yes?”

“Are you?”  He whispered against her ear and touched her belly.

“I think so.”  Elizabeth whispered and immediately his face buried against her neck.  His arms tightened around her and they remained still for a very long time.  When she felt her neck becoming damp and his shoulders shaking, she drew back to kiss his hair and finally see his eyes.  “Happy tears?”

“Yes, love.”  He sniffed and giving her a watery smile, caressed back her hair.  “How could I not be joyful?”  Darcy kissed her very tenderly.  “When?  You cannot be too far along.”

“No, I am not, I . . . I doubt that it is more than a few weeks.  The symptoms seemed to have only just begun in earnest, it is the same but different from the last time.”  Shrugging, she smiled as he wiped her tears away.  “If it is real.  It is only just barely begun.”

“So this is not our snow baby.”  He chuckled when she shook her head.  “Well, next time.” 

“I have no doubt that you will be happy to try again.”  Elizabeth looked up to see his vigorous nod and laughing, kissed his smile.  “So it seems that it will be November.” 

“So it does.”  Darcy kissed her temples, her nose, her cheeks, then found his way to her lips.  “I love you.”  He whispered.  “So very much, dearest.  I am so grateful to know that my suspicions were true.”

“How long have you suspected?” 

“Ohhhh, when you turned a fascinating shade of green at Easter dinner.”  Elizabeth blushed, and again he combed her hair with his fingers.  “Or when you seem to be a little more emotional than usual.”  He kissed more tears away from her cheek and laughed.  “Or perhaps it was the fact that you wished to sleep after services.”

She protested weakly, “That was for your headache.  I know that a darkened room helps you.”

“I know.”  Drawing her to his chest, his chin resting on her head, he placed his hands back over her waist.  “Please let it be true.”  Elizabeth felt him swallowing and knew that he was fighting back his emotion.  Her hands rested over his and they sat together quietly, trying to find their equilibrium again.  Eventually, he broke the embrace to wipe his eyes.  “I want to love you right here and now, I want to celebrate this glorious news, but I do not wish to be discovered by prying eyes.”

“Rosalie has dampened your desire to be free?  Will I have to coax you to agree to lovemaking in the sunshine now?”  She smiled when he sighed.  “Well, we learned a lesson with her.  Our daughter is not to be trusted.”

“I will have a lock of some sort put on the nursery door.”  He mused and pulled himself together.  “And as soon as she can understand, she will be taught how to knock.”

“I agree, although I believe that may be a little while.”  She paused.  “Perhaps it is time for her to move to the nursery upstairs.”

“Oh no!”  He protested and sighed in resignation.  “Perhaps.  Then she will be well-established there when the new baby arrives.”

“Yes, and Mrs. Robbins will sleep there, as well.”  They both grew silent with the thought.  “She will be fine.” 

“Of course.” 

They sat quietly, each contemplating that already their little girl was growing up too fast.  “She handled your aunt admirably; she will do very well in that enormous nursery.”

“Elizabeth, she took one look at Aunt Catherine and nearly strangled me with her desperate embrace!”  He laughed.  “I believe my ears are still ringing from her wails!”

“So you see, she displays excellent taste!”  Elizabeth smiled at his shaking head and kissed him.  “What a clever child!”

“Well before that display, I believe that my aunt was showing some hint of admiration for our daughter.  I swear that if she dared to proclaim her accomplished . . .” He growled.

“I think that Rosalie has effectively discouraged that opinion now.  She made it clear that she wanted to be well away from her great aunt.”  Elizabeth smiled as she remembered Rosalie being carried upstairs again.  “All of our children should be so clever; she will not be fooled by the women of society when she comes out.”

“You are wicked.”

“
You
are thinking the same, even if you do not say so.”  Noticing his pursed lips, Elizabeth decided a change of subject was needed.  “Will?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Peter loves Mary.”

“Clearly.”  He kissed her and gratefully moved his thoughts away from a vision of Rosalie in her wedding gown and concentrated instead on Mary in hers.  “Peter wishes to propose.  I think that it is too soon.”

“I wonder if we are becoming an impediment to them.”  Feeling him startle, she continued on.  “Well he knows that he loves her, she knows that he cares for her, they both assume that they will marry, so who are we to stop them?”

“What are Mary’s feelings?  Have you really talked about them?”

“No, but then we have not had much opportunity here.  She surely does not wish to waste a moment of her time with Peter, not here.  Can you imagine how we would have been if you had brought me to Pemberley?”  She hugged him and looked out between the trees to see a meadow full of sheep, all slowly gathering near a large pond.  Just at the edge of the field they could spy Anne de Bourgh’s barouche travelling along with de Bourgh, Mary, Georgiana and Kitty within.  “I try to compare their courtship with ours.  Once we were at last together, things moved along very quickly.”

“But what of your argument that you had . . .” He swallowed hard, “experience.”

She looked up to see him staring unhappily into the distance.  “Will,” She caressed his cheek and turned his face back to hers and received a fervent and deep kiss in response, “You are the only man I have ever loved.”

“I know.”  He slowed and kissed her gently.  “But I am not the first to court you.”

“I was not the first to court you.”  She whispered.  “And yet you loved me alone.”

Darcy caressed her face, and tried to force back the worry for her life that suddenly stole over him.  “Only you.”  He closed his eyes and concentrated, “You feel that Mary is too innocent, remember?”

“Would it be so terrible to allow them to just have their moment together and see if they become engaged?”

“I do not want Mary to feel pressured to say yes.”  Darcy focused on the distant barouche.  “Did you feel pressured by me?”  When she did not answer, he turned back to see her thoughtful and faraway expression.  “You did.”

“No.  That is not what I was thinking.”  She settled her head onto his shoulder.  “I was . . . well honestly Fitzwilliam, by the time that you went to Gracechurch Street the day that we at last met, the moment that my hands were being caressed by yours, it was over, it was settled, it was . . . destined.”  She heard him sigh.  “Of course we needed to actually talk to each other, and spend time together, actually see if all that we had imagined on our own was real or not, but truly, even if I had guessed completely wrong, which I should point out, I did not, I would have said yes to you in a second.  I think that Mary and Peter are so much further along than we were.  They have exchanged letters by proxy for months, she has read his journals, and they have essentially courted for the last month.  What more do they need?  If they were engaged, they would still have two months or so to spend time together in London, just doing it with a little more freedom.”  Feeling his tension remained, she laughed.  “No, you did not pressure me.”

“Thank you.” 

“Shall we leave them alone and see what happens?”

“Dearest, I know what he wants to happen.”

“Yes, I saw him in the fencing room.”  She said with a wicked grin.

“You
looked
!”  He growled.

“I glanced at him, I stared at you.”  She sat up to kiss his ear and suckled his throat.  “How impressed I was with you.  How very proud you were.”

“Ohhhh, love.”  He moaned when her hand travelled down to rest over his expanding manhood.  “I impressed you?”

“If we had been alone . . . I love your scent now, but to have you then, your skin glowing with the warmth of exercise, your beautiful chest exposed, I wanted to taste the salt on your body . . .”

“Lizzy . . .” He said heatedly.  “You won the bet . . .what is your fondest wish?  What do you want of me?  Please let it be something of me . . .pleasing you.”  He rolled so that suddenly Elizabeth was below him in the long, cool grass.

Laughing, she took his face in her hands.  “What happened to us being seen?”

“Nobody walks these groves, love.”  He kissed her and quickly their practiced hands were lifting the unnecessary fabric away, and just as quickly, they were joined and loving each other.  “Ohhh, Elizabeth . . .” He panted as they moved and rocked.  “Tell me what you wish for.”  He whispered and pressed his nose into the swell of her breasts to drink in her heady scent.  Tasting the skin that her bodice exposed, he asked hoarsely, “Is this it?”