Memory: Volume 3, How Far We Have Come, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (Memory: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice) (72 page)

“No, stop.”  Louisa looked to Elizabeth.  “You receive strangers into Pemberley and invite them to tea, and look how important that has been to our family.”  She looked at Abbey.  “And it impressed so many.”

“It is not the same situation, Mrs. Hurst; you know full well why these women come.”  Elizabeth reminded her.  She shook her head.  “Very well.”  She sighed.  “Come on.”

“Thank you.”  Louisa sighed.  “I am too afraid of disappointing people.”

“They want to take advantage of you, just show that you are in charge.”  She lifted her chin and smiled at Louisa.  “All right, mistress of Netherfield, lead on.  We are with you.”

7 OCTOBER 1811

Poor dear Mr. Bingley.  At last he and Miss Martin are in the same heavily supervised company, he is permitted to speak to her and further explore their mutual attraction, when half the ladies of Meryton invite themselves to his door.  Of course it was to greet Mrs. Hurst, they claimed.  If I believed that, I would also believe that pigs fly through the air with their tails facing forward!  It was awful, but oh, so very polite.  I truly got a sense of what my dear Fitzwilliam has mentioned in passing but never really could explain clearly.  It is one thing for a young lady to be thrust into the marriage mart, full of her charms and accomplishments, hopefully attracting a gentleman’s attention, but for the gentleman, to be surrounded by eager mothers pushing one increasingly desperate child at him after another, it has to be mortifying!  Unless of course you are the type of gentleman whose ego enjoys such stroking, and certainly I have met enough of those sorts, even before I met my dear husband.  My Aunt Philips was present and  I was surprised that Mama did not appear with Kitty in tow!  

Besides the local young ladies coming forward there were two others of note, the Simkins sisters, along with their mother.  How they knew that Mr. Bingley was in residence or that Mrs. Hurst was receiving guests today is a mystery.  I suppose that their estate’s distance from Meryton is not so great that such news would easily be spread.  I understand it was Mrs. King overhearing our conversation at church about Miss Martin visiting that got the word out around Meryton.  In any case, into Netherfield walked the Simkins sisters; and poor Miss Martin, already relegated to a corner while the others pressed around Mrs. Hurst and Mr. Bingley, had to witness Miss Simkins, a stunningly beautiful woman, enter the room and stop all conversation.  She was radiant in her beauty and quite frankly, her behaviour, conversation, manners, everything, were absolutely spot on perfect.  She was the answer to every mother of the ton’s wish for her son’s wife, if her pedigree and sister’s past were not considered.  Poised, perfect, educated.  She made the girls of Meryton look like servants, and Abbey shrank in her glow.  Mr. Bingley was momentarily dumbstruck, I cannot blame him, as he told Fitzwilliam later, he had never seen Miss Simkins actually be herself before.  I suppose that being at home and away from having to play the game of town was behind it.  Miss Martin could hardly compete in such a melee, and Miss Simkins cannot help that she was essentially the town version of Jane.  Mrs. Simkins was clearly assessing the competition, and I am not sure that I liked her sharp eye landing on Abbey.  Fitzwilliam was playing time keeper and when the half hour was up, bent to my ear and told me that I was the only woman in that room who could command control since Mrs. Hurst was lost.  I called out to her that we really had to return to our interrupted plans.  I was proud to see Mr. Bingley snap to the call and he bowed to the ladies, and pointedly offered his arms to Miss Martin and Mrs. Long, and led them from the room. Jane and Robert immediately followed, Fitzwilliam’s eyes were twinkling when he took my arm, and Mr. Hurst took Mrs. Hurst’s arm and announced that he will be happy to show the ladies the way to the door.  It happened so quickly that they had no time to react.  I am sure though that tongues wagged busily all afternoon!

Elizabeth laughed softly and chewed on the end of her pen.  “Command control.” 

Fitzwilliam is preoccupied with something.  I tried to convince him to talk about it this afternoon in the garden

“What amuses you, love?”  Darcy blew out the candle in the dressing room and joined her in a chair next to the writing desk, and read her entry.  When he reached the end their gazes met, and deliberately, he closed the book.  “I love it when you become the mistress of Pemberley.”  He ran his foot up beneath her dressing gown and along her bare leg.  “Very, very inspiring.”

Elizabeth accepted his wish to delay the conversation and smiled, capturing his foot in her hands.  “You did not dare become inspired in that company.” 

“No, but I surely wanted to carry you off to bed.”  Rising to his feet, he bent down and scooped her up. 

“Will!”  She squealed. 

“No, my love, you have had a long and difficult day.  Yesterday was worse.  Our daughter seems comfortable, despite her desire to hear the same story ten times . . .”

“Fifteen.” 

“Fifteen.”  He laughed.  “Mother Goose is driving Robert Burns from my mind.”

“It is both poetry, of a sort.”  Elizabeth pursed her lips when he snorted.  “Do you feel your brain shrinking?”

“Only my brain.”  He whispered huskily and laying her down onto the enormous bed, kissed her lingeringly. Stepping to the fireplace to add some logs and a few lumps of coal, he turned and smiled.  “That should hold us for a while.  No wind in here.”

“No.” Elizabeth’s hands went to her mouth when he whipped off his nightshirt and stood before her, naked and very aroused.  “Ohhh.”

“I told you I was not shrinking, love.”  Climbing onto the bed, he crawled over to her and smiled, tugging at the night dress.  “Off.” 

“You were so concerned with my lack of sleep!”  She clutched the gown protectively, but failed at suppressing her laughter.  Darcy hovered above and licked her lips.  “ohhhh.”

“Off.”  He tugged again.  “I have been in a state of unrelieved arousal since we left Oakham Mount, Miss Bennet.  That is three days too long.”

“You plan to compromise me, sir?”  She gasped. 

“Oh yes.”  He whispered against her ear.  “You see, I have determined that Miss Elizabeth Bennet paid a call on Netherfield, much as the ladies today did.”

“And who was she seeking?  Mr. Bingley?”

“Noooo, there were two unmarried men here, were there not?”  Darcy’s tongue traced down her neck and then back up to suckle below her ear.  Elizabeth’s back arched.  “Your sister Jane accompanied you.”

“And?”  She moaned when he nipped her and licked over the tender spot. 

“She saw no person of interest.  But you, you Miss Elizabeth, were attracted to the proud man standing alone in the corner.”

“I was?  Why would I want a . . . ohhhhhhhhhh, Will!”  Darcy had slipped his hands up her gown to caress her thighs while his mouth found her lips and kissed her deeply. 

“What do you want?”  He demanded.

“A proud . . .”

“You liked to argue with him.”

“Of course.”

“You wanted to see why he was so unfriendly.”

“I could not make him out.”  Elizabeth reached her hands up to drag his face down to hers and kissed him hungrily.  “I so wanted to know him.”

“And he wanted you.”

“Why?”  She looked up to his darkened eyes and caressed his hair.  “Why?”

“He was lonely and she made his heart light.”  Darcy smiled down at her and she kissed his nose.  “He wanted to hold onto that joy he had never known, so he hatched a plan.”

“Oh?”  Elizabeth laughed and stretched to grasp his bobbing shaft.  Darcy shook his head and moved his hips out of reach. 

“Not yet.”  He kissed her and mouthed her breasts through the fabric of her gown.  “He noticed that Miss Jane Bennet had a cold.”

“She had been riding in the rain, I believe.”

“Foolish thing to do, but . . .”

“Her mother ordered it.”  Elizabeth sighed.  “We both had ridden to Netherfield in the rain.”

“But she became feverish, and the proud man . . .”

“You.” 

Darcy looked up from where he had raised her gown to her naval.  “Me.”  He kissed the baby.  “Suggested that she stay the night.”

“And I would remain as well?”  Elizabeth gasped when his lips and tongue wandered down to her thighs, and nudging them apart, he suckled her pearl until she cried out with the pleasure.  Darcy looked back up at her, smiling and licking his lips, then crawled back up her body, lifting the gown off as he did and tossed it away.  They watched it float down to a chair and looked back at each other.  Darcy moved so that he could trace the tip of his erection over her lips, and closed his eyes when they parted and he sank into her warm, welcoming mouth. 

“Ohhhhh, Lizzy.”  He groaned and slowly thrust, and revelled in the feel of her tongue swirling over him as her hands did the same over his bottom.  Desperately trying to hold back, he looked down at her as he moved.  “I love your kiss, Lizzy, I love it.”  Finally, he pulled away and fell upon her, drawing her tightly to his body, moulding her soft form to his and kissing that beautiful mouth.  “I . . . I would come to your room.”

“And . . .”

“I would ravish you.”  Darcy bit her neck, then suckled it hard, not caring about the mark he surely would leave, then down to her breasts, sucking, licking, teething her nipples and running his enormous hands all over her warm skin.  His breathing was erratic, and when he lifted his head to return to her mouth, groaned in pleasure when she rolled him over and lay on top, now covering his chest with kisses, nibbling his dark, puckered nipples, teasing her hands down through the wiry hair of his chest and to caress and weigh his stones.  “You want to ravish me, Miss Bennet?”  He gasped.

“Every night, as my sister lies asleep, I will come to you.”  Elizabeth moved her hips and very slowly slid down his throbbing pole.  Darcy’s head fell back as she began to grind into him.  “I want to be filled with all of your pride.”  Darcy laughed and looked up to see her warm smile. 

“
All
of my pride?”

“mmmm.  Every inch.”  She closed her eyes and circled her hips.  Darcy watched her with love, and reached out to help.  One hand rubbed her pearl, the other caressed her heavy, tender breasts until at last her body gripped him as she came again. 

“My turn.”  He pulled her to him as she continued tremble.  Still connected, he rolled her over and they lay entwined and kissing slowly as they had for all those hours on the overlook.  Their tongues and lips slid together, the longer they kissed, the more they felt, their pulses beat in time, he became harder and revelled in how slippery she felt.  At last, unable to hold off any longer, Darcy dragged his mouth from hers and lifted his shoulders, and began moving hard, fast, so deep.  She was so ready for every bit of him.  He cried out as he slapped against her, filling her completely and back out to repeat it once again.  Her cries and moans only made him want her more.  “Look at me!”  He commanded.  “Come with me.”  Panting hard, he kissed her deeply and pulled up and away.  “Come with me.”  Feeling her squeeze him hard, Darcy shouted, at last losing control.  Elizabeth held his head in her hands, loving the sight of his face when he felt rapture at last, and wrapped him up tightly in her embrace.  When his trembling and gasps ended, Darcy’s heart pounded hard against hers, and he could not let go. 

“I love you.”  Elizabeth whispered against his ear.

“I love you, my dearest wife.”  He rolled and held her to him, at last separating.  “That was wonderful.” 

“Do it again.”

Darcy chuckled and caressed her long hair back from her face.  “Again?”

“You are ravishing an innocent girl who has come to stay in this house with her sick sister, are you not?” 

“That is correct, I am.”  His eyes smiled at hers.  “That is not so far off from the reality of my thoughts, you know.”

“What is that?”

“Do you know how many times I ravished you in my dreams, love?”  His hands continually caressed her, just as hers moved over his skin.  “I dreamed of so many possibilities, so many places.”

“When we were engaged?”

“No love, long before that it began.  Do I shock you?”  He nibbled her swollen lips. 

“A little.”  She giggled nervously.  “I dreamed of kissing you.”

“You did not know what a kiss was, I remember, I had to explain it to you.”  Kissing her very gently he drew away.  “Do you remember, you asked if that was a kiss?”

“And you said that it was a little one.”  They kissed slowly, and Darcy pulled the covers over them, closing his eyes.

“Sleep dearest.”

“You, too.”  She hugged him and they settled, Darcy with his cheek on her hair, Elizabeth with her ear against his heart.  They listened to the crackle of the fire and slowly drifted into their dreams. 

If they had been awake, they might have heard the scratching at the door, they might have heard the faulty latch move, they might have heard the hinges squeak and the laboured breathing.  If they had not been so exhausted from the past few days and their lovemaking, they might have awakened when the covers were tugged, or the bed rocked, or with the feel of a little girl crawling unsteadily over the counterpane and negotiating the uneven terrain of their limbs.  They felt nothing, neither felt a thing until hours later, when the clock chimed three o’clock and Darcy opened his eyes sleepily to kiss the hair that tickled his face, and hugged the warm shape that lay beneath his arms.  “Rosa!”  He gasped.  Elizabeth woke and found that she was embracing their daughter as well.  They looked at each other over her sleeping form and started to laugh.  Darcy saw that the door was cracked open.  “How?”

“I do not know.  I do not even want to think of her walking about in the dark.  I will find out tomorrow though.”  Elizabeth kissed her and caressed her back.  “She seems well.” 

“She liked being held all last night.”  Darcy surmised and looked over her peaceful face.  “We should return her to bed.” 

“Oh Will.” 

“We are naked love, I for one am grateful that she is not under the covers.”  He smiled at her reluctance to let Rosalie go.  “When we return home she will be a floor above us again, do you want her to go wandering Pemberley in the night?”