At that moment Elizabeth rushed into the study about to tell him that Ellie was nowhere to be found, suddenly stopping when she took in the scene before her. Her eyes then went to William’s.
“Miss Bennet, you will leave this study immediately. We are discussing a private family matter, a matter that is none of your concern,” said Lady Catherine.
“Miss Bennet is my fiancée, Aunt, and she can stay wherever she wishes while in my home.”
“Your fiancée? That is what comes from associating with tradesmen and servants! Are the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted? Now I shall be twice as happy to remove my granddaughter from this house.”
Elizabeth startled.
“I believe we have had this conversation before. Ellie is to remain with me, under my care and protection.”
“That is your opinion. Now others shall make that determination.”
Darcy walked over to his aunt. “You will hand over my daughter right now, Aunt. Do you understand? Right . . . now!”
“It will make little difference, Fitzwilliam. For tomorrow I will return with the magistrate, and I shall have the papers that will force you to relinquish Ellie’s guardianship over to me.”
“Do not make me ask you again,” he said as he stared her down.
As she allowed him to remove the child from her arms, she again retorted, “I can wait one more day to claim her.”
“You will never take Ellie from my care, Aunt Catherine; that I promise you.” As he spoke, Ellie put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He kissed her cheek and turned towards Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth, will you take her to the nursery and please tell Georgiana not to worry.”
She took Ellie into her arms but did not move towards the door. She gave him that look, the defiant one, but he smiled at her reassuringly.
“It will be all right, Elizabeth.”
She left the study with Ellie, happy to remove her daughter from Lady Catherine’s view, but unhappy that she did not know what the woman was plotting.
“Now, what is all this about?” asked Darcy.
“I am sure you know why I am here, Nephew.”
“I repeat, Aunt, I have no idea what has brought you to Pemberley this morning.”
“Then let me enlighten you. I have come to take my granddaughter to live with me at Rosings.”
“As long as I draw breath, that shall never happen.”
“Let me be rightly understood, Nephew. I will have the law on my side this time! A report of an alarming nature reached me six days ago. I was informed that my granddaughter has been the victim of neglect and abuse!”
“I assure you that is not the case. As you saw, Ellie is perfectly safe.”
“I do not think that is the case, nor does Dr. Smyth. Is that not so, Doctor?” she inquired of the grim looking gentleman beside her.
Dr. Smyth cleared his throat. “I have examined the girl and have found multiple bruises on both her arms and legs. Clearly, the child has been abused, and I will say so in my report to the magistrate.”
“And I will petition to become the child’s legal guardian; I am not in the habit of brooking disappointment. What do you have to say to that, Nephew?”
Darcy studied his aunt for a long moment. “I am sure the report you received also included the fact that Ellie’s bruises were a result of an accident. Dr. Chisholm can verify this fact.”
“Of course your doctor would lie to cover up your misdeeds. But I assure you, Dr. Smyth is a well-respected physician with connections in very high places, and his word shall prevail.”
“Aunt Catherine, I believe it would be prudent that we continue our talk in private.”
“Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of Dr. Smyth,” she countered.
“I am curious, Aunt; why are you so intent on having Ellie live with you? Is it so that you can bestow the same loving attention on her as you did Anne?”
“Of course, I would do no less for Ellie than I did for Anne. The child belongs with me, and I will see that it comes to pass.”
He again gave his aunt a long studied look. He then reached down to the bottom drawer of his desk and withdrew a small box, secured by a lock. Producing a key from under his blotter, he unlocked the box and removed an envelope.
Lady Catherine watched intently as he did these things. As he placed the envelope on the desk, she noted the broken seal. She recognized it immediately as that of her late husband’s. Her look of confidence was less apparent.
As Darcy watched his aunt eye the envelope, he said, “I will give you one last chance to discuss this matter in private.”
She glared at her nephew. What was he up to? Until she found out, she would act on the side of caution.
“Perhaps my nephew is right. We have some family matters to discuss. Wait in the barouche, Dr. Smyth,” she said, her eyes never leaving those of her nephew.
Dr. Smyth bowed as he left her company, and Darcy waited until he had closed the door behind him before he spoke.
“Have a seat, Aunt Catherine,” he said as he walked around his desk and sat in his chair.
She did as he bade, but made her annoyance known as she harrumphed as she sat.
“I would suggest that you cease with this fallacy or, as much as it would grieve me, I shall have to make the contents of this envelope public knowledge.”
“I am not so easily put off. I am sure whatever is contained in that envelope is of no concern to me.”
“Perhaps you had better learn of its contents before you make such a determination, Aunt Catherine.”
Darcy picked up the envelope and removed the official document from within.
“Well, if you are so intent upon my knowing what it contains, then tell me. What is it?”
He held up the document. “This is the registrar’s certificate of Anne’s birth,” he said quite simply.
Darcy could see the colour drain from her face. “No such thing exists. You are bluffing, and I will not be intimidated.”
He ignored her rebuff.
“I would have said it was the registrar’s certificate of your daughter’s birth, but we both know that is not the case, do we not, Aunt?”
She reached for the document, and he allowed her to look at it for a brief moment before he took it from her shaking hands.
“Be forewarned, Aunt; should you ever try to take guardianship of Ellie, I will not hesitate to make the contents of this document known to all.”
“You would not dare.”
“Are you willing to take that chance? I doubt that Anne would have objected to my revealing her true parentage if it meant saving Ellie from your grasp. Would you care for all of London to know of Sir Lewis’s bastard child? To know you were neither Anne’s mother, nor are you grandmother to the heir of Pemberley?”
“You would be harming your own reputation as well, Fitzwilliam, by revealing such a thing. Imagine the scandal that would erupt upon announcing to all good society that you married the daughter of a scullery maid!” The words spewed from her mouth with disdain.
“It would not concern me for a moment. Anne was one of the sweetest, most generous women of my acquaintance. For those reasons alone, I should have realized years ago that she could not have been of your blood. I will not hesitate to disclose her true parentage should you dare try anything like this again. Miss Bennet will be my wife in two weeks, and she will be the best of mothers to Ellie, and you will do nothing to interfere in our lives. If you think I am bluffing, Aunt, I would think again if I were you, for I assure you I am not.”
Lady Catherine stood. She opened her mouth to speak, but, for once in her life, she was speechless. She turned and, without so much as a backward glance, left his study.
Darcy looked down at the document in his hand. His talk that night with Lord Westcott had confirmed his suspicions that Sir Lewis had fathered a child by their cook’s eldest daughter, Margaret. Meg Harrigan. Anne had spoken of her once, of the affection she h
ad received from the young girl with the copper hair and green eyes.
He refolded the document and placed it carefully back into the box.
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Mr. Edward Gardiner stood at the rear of the small church in Meryton, his niece Elizabeth beside him. She took his arm as he proudly led her down the aisle towards the man who in moments would become her husband, her life’s companion. Their pace was slow, for she was preceded by her sister Jane, her matron of honour, and Ellie, her flower girl.
Darcy waited patiently at the front of the church, Colonel Fitzwilliam standing beside him as his best man.
The church was filled to capacity as Mrs. Bennet had told as many people as she could in the short time she had, that her favourite daughter Lizzy was to be married to the Master of Pemberley. Mrs. Long, Sir William and Lady Lucas, and Mr. And Mrs. Philips were seated in the same pew as Mrs. Bennet. Kitty, Mary, Mrs. Gardiner, Maria, and Charlotte sat behind them.
Lydia did not make the trip as her confinement was nearing its end, and she would give birth at any time. She did, however, send a letter of congratulations. Well, at least it started out as such. She ended the note by saying that if Mr. Darcy was half as dull as her dear Wickie had described, she was sure Elizabeth would be most discontented.
Mr. Collins declined to attend the service, most likely advised by Lady Catherine that it would not meet with her approval.
Lord and Lady Matlock, Georgiana, Charles Bingley and Hannah sat across the aisle, along with Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, Lord Westcott and his daughter, Arielle.
As Ellie eyed her father at the end of the aisle, she moved more deliberately towards him. When she reached him, he took her hand, and she stood beside him, while Jane moved to the opposite side of the altar.
Mr. Gardiner kissed his niece on the cheek and relinquished Elizabeth to Mr. Darcy.
The couple looked into each other’s eyes, and their exchanged looks conveyed all they needed to know. They turned and stood before the minister, their daughter between them. They spoke their vows and pledged their love to each other.
A breakfast wedding feast was held at Netherfield following the ceremony, after which the bride and groom, Ellie, and Hannah departed for Pemberley.
~*~
Elizabeth Darcy sat before her pier glass, draped in the beautiful pink silk dressing gown she had bought that day in St. Andrews. She remembered sitting in her room at the Fairmont Inn, wearing the same gown, thinking how she must look as a bride might on her wedding night, waiting for her husband to come to her. And now it was so. She was waiting for William to come to her.
She had declined his offer of a honeymoon trip, at least for now. She could not bring herself to leave Ellie just yet. Perhaps in a few months she would feel comfortable enough to do so. William had assured her she had nothing to fear; Ellie would never be taken from them.
He did not knock but entered from the sitting room. He was dressed in a dark blue silk robe, which emphasized his muscular form. He walked to where she sat and stood behind her as their eyes met in the pier glass. He let his fingers run through her hair, which was brushed out long and flowing over her shoulders. He bent down and moved it aside as he kissed her neck, while inhaling her lavender scent.
“You look beautiful, Lizzy,” he said as their gazes met again in the pier glass.
She stood and turned towards him. “And you look devastatingly handsome in that robe, William.” She let her hands run over the silk fabric as she caressed his shoulders.
She knew it was illogical to be nervous. Had they not already been intimate? Indeed, two years ago they had made love on their final night together in Scotland. But their recent trips to the orangery had revealed to Elizabeth that William had far more to teach her; there were more pleasures yet to discover.
He drew her into his embrace as her arms went around his neck, and they kissed; a slow, meticulous, lingering kiss that was meant to arouse all their senses. She took pleasure in the velvet of his tongue against hers as his hands unravelled the bow of her dressing gown.
He kissed along her jaw and down her neck while his hands traced over her body. He moved the material of her gown aside and slid his hands over her curves, cupping her breasts and running his thumbs over her nipples.
“Lizzy,” he breathed out, “I know I am impatient, but I have been waiting for you for so long, imagining this night.”
“I am just as impatient as you, William,” she assured him.
He turned her towards the pier glass so that she could see their reflection. At first she was embarrassed at the mirror image looming so large in front of her, but, as she watched his hands caress her breasts, she let herself relax. The sight of watching themselves was arousing them both as their eyes stayed focused on the passion that was displayed before them. He slid the pink silk dressing gown from her shoulders, and she watched the reflection of it fall to the floor. Darcy stopped momentarily and stared at the bountiful beauty before him.
She was unknowingly holding her breath as his hands started moving slowly across her body, one resting lightly on the curve of her stomach while the other continued its journey towards what was now the centre of her universe. As his fingers mercifully reached their objective, she let out a sigh of pleasure. She turned in his arms, and they kissed again, while her hands searched for the tie of his robe. She moved her hands over his chest and was amazed to discover that he enjoyed much the same pleasures as she as her fingers traced the circle of his nipples. Her mouth was soon to follow, and her tongue flicked over a nipple. The sound he emitted confirmed his pleasure.
He brought her lips to his, and his kiss was so searing that she thought they might soon be enveloped in flames. Then, starting with her neck, he began to kiss her with torturously exquisite slowness, his lips making their way down her body until he was finally on his knees, worshiping her with his mouth.
When he felt her tremble, he rose and carried her to the bed, placing her on the pillows. He quickly ridded himself of his robe and lowered himself over her. She reached her arms up, drawing him closer. She revelled in the weight of him, the warmth of him, and the feel of his body over hers as he caressed her everywhere. Her only thoughts were of his next kiss, his next touch.
He could hold out no longer as he moved his body between her thighs and drew her to him, entering her on a sigh of pleasure. Their pace was quick as they reached the pinnacle of bliss which they had denied themselves for so long.
He nestled her in his arms. “I am afraid my love for you is equalled only by my desire for you, Lizzy. And you know I love you beyond measure,” he said with some amusement.
“I guess it is a hardship I will have to endure as best I can, William,” she responded with equal amusement.
They kissed again, and she snuggled against him.
“I love you, Lizzy.”
“And I love you, William.”
They were both asleep in minutes.
During the night, he moved against her, and his hands automatically drew her close, bringing her back to rest against his chest. As he felt the warmth of her body brush against his, he was immediately aroused. He reached around to cup her breasts and felt the nipples tighten with his touch. He was unsure if she would think him a beast to again indulge his passion for her, and her sigh of pleasure only served to increase his desires.
As his touches awoke her, she soon responded. She turned in his embrace, and they kissed. As each subsequent kiss was more intense than the last, it was evident that their hunger had not yet been fully satisfied. In the haze of sleep and the total darkness of the room, her boldness grew as she allowed her hands to explore his body. She circled his nipples with her fingers, and then kissed each one as she moved her mouth across his chest. He welcomed each touch, each caress. When he tried to bring her lips back to his, she resisted. She wanted to know more.
Her attention then made its way towards his hardened arousal, and she caressed him there, moving her hand down its length and then up a
gain to encompass the tip. His breath became ragged. “Lizzy,” he breathed out as he struggled to maintain control.
She moved her mouth down his body, and he closed his eyes as the pleasure engulfed him; he knew her destination. He also knew his restraint was on the verge of exhaustion. He forced her upwards and pulled her into his arms, then quickly rolled her onto her back.
“Do not worry, Lizzy,” he whispered into the dark, “in time we shall experience all of it.”
He entered her swiftly as they once again sought to relieve the insatiable need of their passion.
With their desires replete, Darcy acknowledged that he had yet to take his time with his new bride. But then again, they had the rest of their lives to become accustomed to such intimacies, a highly enjoyable prospect.
EPILOGUE
Elizabeth awoke the next morning and stretched her arms over her head. The smile on her face said it all. She reached for her husband, only to find him gone. For a brief moment she thought perchance he had he gone back to his own room during the night. Perhaps it was his intention for them to sleep in separate rooms. She knew many married couples did. But as she thought upon the night they had just enjoyed, she did not think it very likely.
Then the door to her chamber opened, and he appeared. “Oh, you are awake,” he said as he removed his robe and slipped back into bed.
Her eyes grew wide, and she bit her lip, still unused to seeing her husband naked.
“Where had you gone?” she asked.
“There was a matter I needed to attend to,” he responded as he drew her into his arms. As Elizabeth snuggled against him, he made his intentions quite clear, and Elizabeth was reassured that sleeping in separate rooms was definitely not in their future.
This time as they made love, it was not in a frenzied rush, but slowly, as they took their time enjoying each other, teaching and discovering each new pleasure that brought them once again to the height of passion.
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