A Most Civil Proposal (36 page)

“I do thank you, Lady Matlock,” Elizabeth said. “It is exceedingly thoughtful of you.” Elizabeth indeed felt true appreciation, for by coming that morning to be with her when she received her first visitors as Mrs. Darcy, Lady Matlock would squelch any gossip cold in its tracks. A more overt gesture of approbation could not be imagined.

“Then let us take this tray of cards into the parlour, Elizabeth,” said Darcy’s aunt, “and we can sort it into various piles — those whom we wish to see, those who wish to see us, and those who shall not be allowed past the front door! That way”—she smiled— “my nephew might catch up on those duties he has surely been neglecting while keeping his new wife locked in his chambers!”

Darcy groaned in response while Elizabeth and Lady Matlock joined in cheerful laughter.

* * * * *

Darcy reluctantly quitted the library to join the ladies as the first of the callers knocked at the front entrance. When he entered the parlour, Lady Matlock was seated with Elizabeth on a sofa just large enough for the two of them, thus ensuring that they would not be separated. Darcy would normally have been amused at his aunt’s skill in social manoeuvring, but he was distinctly out of sorts. Just the day before at that same hour, he had been reclining in bed with Elizabeth at his side, talking of Pemberley and its surrounding environs, always one of his favourite subjects. And he also recalled the way his discourse was interrupted when Elizabeth, in a sudden fluid, catlike motion, had somehow shifted from his side to completely on top of him. The way in which she smiled wickedly at him while she lazily moved her hips had —

He had to firmly squelch that line of thought as he came to sit in a chair beside Elizabeth. He looked over at Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was talking with Georgiana. “Not that I am not always glad to see you, Cousin, but it confounds me how you continually manage to just suddenly be here without any indication of your arrival.”

Richard grinned cheerfully. “I rode Wellington in from the Dragoons and left him in the care of Johnson. I came in the back way.”

“Ah,” said Darcy noncommittally. Then he cocked his eye at his cousin. “Wellington? New horse?”

“No — same horse, new name. When Wellesley was made Earl of Wellington in February, I deemed it a good time to promote Arthur accordingly, thinking it might change his disposition. But alas, I fear that Wellington is as ill tempered as Arthur was. He barely missed taking off one of Henderson’s fingers the other day.”

“Perhaps a different animal might be advisable,” suggested Darcy.

But Fitzwilliam was firm. “Not for any amount of money. Wellington is a mean, nasty animal, I grant you, but the sound of gunfire only makes him prick up his ears. And he will go all day and half the night without tiring. No, I think I will put up with his little foibles in return for a better chance of surviving the next encounter with that rabble Bonaparte calls cavalry.”

“But if they are a rabble,” asked Georgiana suddenly and somewhat sharply, “why do you need a beast like Wellington?”

“Because there are so blasted
many
of them, Georgie!” Fitzwilliam exclaimed airily.

“And you make
such
a lovely target with that red coat,” Georgiana shot back in some spirit.

“Ah, yes, well I might agree with you there, Pigeon, but their lordships believe the colour provides the proper inspiration for the men. No one else dares to wear red, so when we see it, we know it is one of ours.” He turned back to Darcy, “But my arrival was not pure coincidence, Darcy. It was at Mother’s special request — I will have you know — so that I might assist her and your lovely bride in doing combat with the social mavens of our fair city. She specifically requested full dress uniform — including medals,”

“I did notice that you appeared even more awesome than usual,” Darcy said dryly.

“She considered asking Father to also make an appearance, but she rather thought that might be deemed a trifle heavy-handed. Between the ladies and myself, I believe that we shall be able to cover your own social inadequacies quite brilliantly.”

“No doubt,” Darcy said. However, if Elizabeth felt any measure of uncertainty, it did not show, and she seemed perfectly at her ease as the door was opened for the first of their guests.

“Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Wallace,” Stevens called out, as a heavy-set man whom Darcy recognized from one of his clubs entered with a much younger woman on his arm. Darcy was certain that he had never seen her before in his life.
Now it begins,
he thought wryly.
For what we are about to receive, let us give thanks . . .

* * * * *

“Well,
that
went rather well!” exclaimed Colonel Fitzwilliam buoyantly as they heard the front door close after the last of their guests.

“Perhaps you feel so,” groused Darcy as he sprawled in his chair. “But I, for one, am exhausted by inaction and feel an inordinate desire to indulge in some type of exuberant exercise by way of compensation. Perhaps you and your Wellington against me and my Ned? To Matlock and back, perhaps? For a guinea?”

“Darcy,” his aunt said, “I believe the constabulary takes a decidedly dim view of gentlemen racing through town streets. It would be rather a scandal to have your name mentioned in the
Times
for being fined ten or twenty pounds for behaving like a common ruffian — especially after your wife’s triumph this day. Elizabeth,” she said, “I cannot imagine why I ever worried about your first contact with London society. You acquitted yourself marvellously; as a hostess, you charmed them out of their slippers.”

“You are too kind, Lady Matlock,” Elizabeth responded. “I noted several of our visitors who might have been positively fearsome had it not been for your presence by my side.”

“Certainly, certainly, my dear, though I am confident you would have found a way to handle them. But a goodly number of them were like Mrs. Wallace, who may not be an intellectual giant but is certainly as good-hearted a young lady as you might ever meet.”

“She very much reminds me of Jane,” said Elizabeth with a smile, “and I plan to call on her next week. Mrs. Simmons was also of the same sort. She was curious, of course, but it was a simple, honest curiosity — not at all malicious.”

Before the conversation could progress further, Colonel Fitzwilliam rose to his feet, having just glanced at his watch. “I just noticed the time, Mother, and I believe that we must hasten on our way,” he said. “I am already late returning to the regiment, and did you not mention an appointment at two o’clock?”

“Oh, yes, and it is past one already. My goodness, I do need to hurry.”

“I ordered your coach readied at the stables a half-hour ago when I saw the rush of visitors start to decline,” said Darcy, also rising to his feet. “I will escort you there. I do thank you for your assistance this day though I also am certain that Elizabeth would have done splendidly in any event. But your thoughtfulness is much appreciated.”

“Very much so,” agreed Elizabeth. “But, if I might be excused, I believe that I will retire to my chambers. I feel a slight headache coming on.” She came over to embrace her husband, stretching up on her toes to kiss his cheek with a gleam in her eye and a slightly wicked smile that only he could see.

Darcy struggled to keep his features immobile, but the futility of this was made clear by the flash of Colonel Fitzwilliam’s teeth as he walked by Darcy’s side to the stables, though he surprisingly made no comment. Darcy was more uncertain as to his aunt, but he was inclined to believe his feelings must be clear to everyone since even Georgiana had repressed a smile when she left the parlour for the music room.

* * * * *

After seeing his aunt and cousin on their way, Darcy headed briskly back to his bedroom and bounded up the stairs, taking them two and three at a time. As soon as he entered his room and closed the door, he came to a sudden halt, for the view was arresting. Elizabeth stood near the window, looking out at the sunlit street below, wearing one of those alluring nightgowns that he loved so much. The bright sunlight streamed through the filmy material, outlining her slender body in a manner that made Darcy’s mouth go suddenly dry.

Elizabeth turned as she heard the door close to see her husband standing stock-still, staring at her as if mesmerized. It was still surprising to her that she could have that effect on him when he was such a masterful man in so many other areas.

Perhaps this reaction would fade in time, but it was really most flattering that she could cause such a response in so confident a man. If that was what love did to a person, then the warmth and attraction she felt for him could not be the same emotion that he felt. But perhaps, the love the poets waxed so eloquently about could not have the same expression on two such dissimilar creatures as she and her husband. Whether it were love or another emotion, there was no disguising the way she had come to want and even need to spend so much of her time with him.

“I see you lost little time in acting on my hint, Mr. Darcy,” she told him wickedly as he seemed to shake off his bemusement.

“I would be daft not to respond to such a sensible suggestion, Mrs. Darcy,” he said huskily, as he walked across the room, tugging on his cravat. He paused by his bed long enough to throw back the covers before turning to Elizabeth, removing his coat and tossing it over a chair as he crossed to her.

“I did worry a little that you might not have taken my meaning,” she said, cocking her head in an inquisitive manner.

“There is little chance of that, madam, not until I have completely taken leave of my senses,” he said, as he reached her and slipped his arms around her waist. Elizabeth had already tilted her head back as his arms pulled her close, and her eyes were half-closed as he lowered his mouth to hers. Even the familiarity of the past week could not dull the sweetness of her kiss as he felt her arch upward, kissing him back with an eagerness equal to his own. He drew back slightly as he felt her fingers at the buttons of his waistcoat, but then, realizing what she was about, he again lowered his mouth to hers. Her tongue darted and teased at his as he slipped it between her eager lips, and his hands explored the curves he found so exciting as she finished with the buttons of his waistcoat and began to tug it over his shoulders.

“I am glad you decided to wear trousers today, sir,” Elizabeth said breathlessly, her fingers fumbling at the buttons at his waist. “I have decided that I much prefer them to . . . ooohhhh!” She gasped in delight as she felt the delightfully delicate touch of his tongue on her ear, and she tried to concentrate on unfastening the buttons of his trousers. That was especially difficult since she could feel his arousal through the fabric of the garment. Finally, she finished with the last of the buttons and pushed his trousers downward until they fell to his knees.

“It is fortunate . . . ohhhhhhh . . .” she leaned her head to the side as Darcy moved from her ear, pressing delicate kisses down the column of her neck. She tried to concentrate on the fastenings of his shirt as his hands roamed freely over her back, from her shoulders down to her bottom while his wonderful lips left a trail of tingling flesh down her shoulder to the upper slope of her breast. “It is fortunate,” she managed to continue, as Darcy slipped one shoulder strap of her gown off her shoulder, “that I am not disposed to flee . . . ahhhhhh . . . for I fear you would be . . . oh, yes . . . rather hampered if you tried . . . if you tried to pursue me . . . oh, William, yes . . .” She finally managed to finish her sentence as Darcy’s mouth found the tip of her breast. Meanwhile, she had finished with the last fastening of his shirt, and he aided her in removing the garment.

Suddenly, he bent at the waist and scooped her up, with one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. Awkwardly, he shuffled around in a turn, taking little baby steps toward his bed, hampered by his trousers still pooled around his ankles. Elizabeth smiled and then laughed aloud at the lurching motion that was all he was capable of as he carried her over to the bed, and Darcy grinned back at her in shared delight. Her arms circled his neck as he finally reached the bed, and she shrieked in sudden surprise as he held her out over the centre of the mattress and dropped her. She bounced as Darcy sat down and feverishly worked at his shoes and trousers until finally he ripped them off. Quickly, he rolled to his side to join Elizabeth.

She was smiling as she felt his hands at the hem of her nightgown, and she lifted her hips so that he could free her from it. Darcy managed the rest, as he lifted her shoulders to pull the nightgown completely over her head before launching it out into the room. As they embraced fully, their bodies melded together in that special way they had both learned to love so much, and Darcy was immediately aware that Elizabeth needed little preparation. Her hands on his hips urged him to move on top of her, and she was only too willing to help guide him as he entered her fully. She sighed in contentment at the wonderful feeling that resulted, both from the physical pleasure and from the incredible closeness she felt to him at this time. She began to match her movements to his own rhythm as she pulled his head down to hers, arching up to him to feel the glorious sensation of his bare skin on hers. Her kiss was hungry and eager, her tongue searching, and Darcy responded in kind as she quickly picked up and matched the now-familiar motion of their lovemaking.