by Lauren King
While they were touching and kissing each other, she stroked him a few times, and then she just enveloped him with her mouth. He gasped in shock before telling her that she did not have to do it if she did not wish to. She had suckled him like a baby suckles a bottle when she stopped to ask him if she was doing it correctly and if he was enjoying it. Of course, he enjoyed it! However, he did not want her to do it if she was uncomfortable or if she was doing it out of obligation because he had suckled her. She told him that she wanted to do it correctly to please him; she was not uncomfortable because he had been understanding and gentle with her in everything that he had taught her. From that point on, they promised to be open with each other so they could do their best to please one another. No one will be offended if the other is uncomfortable in trying something new; they just need to take time to teach and to ease the other into it. He could not have been any more ecstatic with their love life; she is the ideal wife!
“Oh, God, love! Yes, love! Let me go, Lizzy! I am there! Lizzzy!” Darcy catches himself with his handkerchief as she continues to gently stroke him. Afterwards, she takes care of him as he has done for her ever since their beginning. “Oh, love, thank you. You were amazing.” Darcy is entranced by her love for him.
Afterwards, Elizabeth sits back on William’s lap and in his embrace. She is greatly satisfied that she can bring him such gratification and elation. He always brings her the same bliss when he loves her.
Time flies by as Darcy has accepts Elizabeth’s idea of letting her sort through and answer the non-business correspondences. They enjoy their time together as she learns more about all that he has to deal with on a daily basis; her esteem for William increases exponentially. She is exceedingly proud to have such an intelligent and a responsible gentleman for a husband.
Everything in their lives seems to be ideal at this point; she could not be any happier. Perhaps if she becomes with child, that would be the only other thing that would make her happier. However, they both enjoy their time devoted only to each other, right now; they both are young, thus there will be plenty of time to have children. On the other hand, not becoming with child for too long could be a sign of a problem. That would be very worrisome; therefore, she would rather they have a child sooner than later. Hence, she will pray that God will bless them with a healthy child when he feels that they are ready for a child.
On the day that Elizabeth and Georgiana go shopping with Jane and Mrs. Gardiner, an old problem comes back into their lives. Elizabeth and Georgiana are seated in their carriage for a couple of minutes while waiting for Hannah to bring Elizabeth a different coat. As Elizabeth sits inside the carriage, she gazes out across the street about three houses down from hers and she thinks she sees a familiar face; he is dressed like someone that may belong on Mayfair but not as well dressed as William. When she is still thinking about whom the man could be, Hannah enters the carriage holding Elizabeth’s coat, and then the carriage starts to slowly pull away. Elizabeth is still thinking about why she recognizes the man when her carriage slows down, and it is side to side with another carriage. It turns out to be William’s carriage coming back from his business meeting earlier this morning.
Elizabeth opens the window area of the door to speak to William. “Darling, you remember that Georgie and I are going to fetch my Aunt and Jane to go shopping today?”
“Yes, I remember. I will be able to join you now, if you wish. I am done with my business for the day.” Darcy does not want to go home and be alone in his study to respond to more correspondences when he could be out with his beautiful wife. He likes to escort her around town; they enjoy each other’s company at all times. He has come to rely on seeing her lovely face every day and being able to talk with her about everything; he does not think other gentlemen in his position long for this unless they are in a love match like him. Well, he does not care about what others think of him wanting to be in wife’s company all the time; they do not have the kind of passionate love that he has. He cannot imagine that any decent man would not want it.
“Are you sure you want to come, darling? I thought you were going to meet Mr. Bingley at your club for luncheon.”
“I will meet him, but I will go with you ladies until that time.”
Elizabeth smiles brightly. “Alright, darling; I am happy to have you with me.” Elizabeth likes to go everywhere with William. “Hannah, that means you can go back to the house in Mr. Darcy’s carriage.”
“Yes, Mrs. Darcy.” Hannah replies amiably as she opens the door to move over to Mr. Darcy’s carriage.
Once everyone has switched places, the Darcy’s carriage gets under way. After a few minutes of getting settled in from the outside cold air, Elizabeth suddenly remembers who the man looks like.
Elizabeth gasps gently, “Huhhh! Darling, I do not know if I am absolutely certain, but I think I just saw George Wickham.”
“What?! Where?” Darcy demands as he speedily looks out of Elizabeth’s window.
Georgiana gasps with fright while covering her mouth with her hand while fearfully not looking outside Elizabeth’s window.
Elizabeth sees Georgiana’s worry and fear, so she leans over to hold one of her hands to reassure her that she is safe. “Back on our street, earlier, darling.”
“You mean just now before you left home?”
“Yes, just as we were leaving. There was a man standing at the corner about three houses down from ours, and he was peeking around the corner down towards us. I did not think anything of it; he just looked familiar, but I could not see his face fully as he walked out of the corner. However, suddenly and quickly, he turned around went back to the corner as if he made a mistake walking into the open. I am not certain that it was him. Would he watch our house to rob us, darling? Oh my goodness – does he want to take revenge on us?” Elizabeth is really worried now; many scenarios appear in her mind and none of them are good for her new family.
Darcy signals for his driver to return home. “We must go back home to ascertain this. He probably has been watching our routine for some time, now, and has decided to rob us while we were out of the house. He is very devious, and he knows Darcy House. He may find some opened window or unoccupied servants’ entrance to try to enter the house to rob us. I am certain he is desperate for money, now – that no-good, vile scum!”
“Darling, it will be dangerous if you try to confront him should he have a weapon. Please, I do not want you to confront him.” Elizabeth pleads with great concern as she holds one of William’s hands; she knows that he will be enraged enough to challenge Wickham. Wickham must be very desperate for money from what William has shared with her in the past about his spending habits. Wickham would not be stupid enough to try to rob such a grand house full of servants without having a weapon to threaten the occupants.
“I will not confront him alone and without my own protection. Please, do not be frightened, sweetheart. I will take care of everything.” Darcy will hurt Wickham worse than last time if he is really trying to rob Darcy.
“Please, William, no. If he has a pistol, then it does not matter who you are with. Please, darling, please. Cannot we call the Bow Street Runners to come and catch him?”
“Dearest, do not worry. I will find out if that man is really him, and then I will deal with him. This time I will not be nice if I find him robbing us.”
“Darling, I have an idea.”
“What, dearest?”
“What if we clear out all the servants and then ascertain if it is him. Then, we trap him in our house until the Bow Street Runners come to arrest him? That way no one will be hurt.”
“But if he does nothing inside the house when the Runners get there, then he can always lie that he was trying to visit someone there. He has to have stolen something in order for the Runners to consider his offense serious. They will not even fine him if they think there has just been an argument between him and me about him coming to the house.”
“I am certain if he is desperate for m
oney, he will not waste any time pocketing something valuable from the house as he tries to look for money. You have plenty of items around the house that are valuable enough to get him good money for them. The Runners can search him for stolen goods and arrest him for that.” Elizabeth hopes her logic holds. It seems most plausible because why would Wickham be so picky as to refuse taking a valuable item and only wait to steal money. He is stupider than stupid if he thinks people like William would leave money sitting around, openly.
“You may be right, but I still must determine if it is really him and if he is robbing us. Which house did you see him at, Lizzy?” Darcy sees that their carriage is approaching Darcy House so he tells his driver to stop before reaching it.
“Over at that corner there.” Elizabeth points in the direction of where she saw Wickham. “There is no one there anymore. Oh God, I hope I am wrong about it being him.”
Darcy quickly explains to Hughes, the driver and to Smith, the postillion about Wickham possibly robbing their home, at the moment. Darcy sends Smith to the house first to find Mr. Brooks to ascertain if anyone has come calling for any of the Darcys, and then Mr. Brooks is to clear the house of the all servants – put them in one room. In the mean time, Hughes is to tell Burns, the stable handler to come out to this carriage to stand guard. Then, Mr. Brooks, Jansen and Tate, the two footmen, and Smith should all, quietly, search for Wickham or any thief. Once Burns arrives at the carriage then Darcy will go into the house with Hughes to help with the search. They should start searching in Darcy’s study.
“If anyone should see Wickham in any room, then they should lock him in there and then yell out for reinforcements. Alright, go, Smith – quickly.” Darcy urges his trusted postillion.
Darcy turns back to his fearful wife and frightened sister. “Do not worry, dearest.” Darcy reassures Elizabeth and then says to Georgiana, “Do not be scared of him, Georgie. He will not get close to you again.”
“Please, brother; if something bad should happen to you, I will not survive it. Please, do not go back inside our house. Please, do as Lizzy has suggested with the Bow Street Runners.” Georgiana’s fear rises as her tears start to well up for her brother.
“Yes, please, darling – it will kill me. You know it will kill me if something bad should befall you. Please, darling.” Elizabeth pleads again, but she knows William will not sit idly by while others protect his home.
“Dearest, I need to make certain that it is him.”
“Please, let Mr. Brooks, Hughes, Smith, Jansen and Tate go look for him, darling. You can give all of them weapons; you do not need to be there. They all know that the security of our home is also their responsibility because it brings security to them too.” Elizabeth knows that it is unfair to make the others go after the potentially dangerous thief, whoever he is, but she is selfish when it comes to William. She cannot live without him – she cannot!
“Dearest, I cannot sit here cowering and hiding while they secure our home. I am the master; I have to go with them. The five of them will be more than enough to help me deal with Wickham, once and for all. Now, I want the both of you to stay inside this carriage and lock it. Burns will guard outside the door. No matter what, you will remain here until I come to get you.” Darcy bends towards the opposite bench seat where there is a little door that opens under the seat to reveal a box with a pistol inside; he takes it out and shows it to Elizabeth.
“Lizzy, I will leave this pistol here for your protection. If someone tries to do something bad to either of you, then point this pistol at them to scare them away, but do not get close to them. If they continue to attack you, then you pull back this piece here until it clicks, and then you pull on this trigger while you have the pistol pointed at them – just point it at their upper body. If you fire at them, they will get hurt, and then you both can run away. There is only one firing round; therefore, you and Georgie run away as fast as you can. You should hang onto the pistol in case you need to use it to beat them with it. It will not fire again, but you can use it to hit them. Do you understand, Lizzy?” Darcy asks urgently.
Darcy hands Elizabeth the pistol pointing downwards and away from them while Elizabeth nods wearily. “Be brave, dearest. I know you can do this. I will be fine; you and Georgie will be fine if you stay away from the house until I retrieve you. I will resolve this for us.”
Elizabeth’s eyes glisten at the thought of losing William, but she does not want William to be worried about her and not be able to concentrate on his task of securing their home – from any thief. “Please, be careful, darling. I will perish if something bad should happen to you, please, darling; do not go.” She holds back a sob but her tears fall unbidden.
“Dearest, I have to go and secure our home. I will not let Wickham scare us out of our own home. He will pay dearly for this. Do not worry; I will not confront him if he has a pistol. I am smarter than that.”
Darcy pulls out two midsize daggers and hands one to Georgiana for protection. She is afraid to hold on to it, but she knows that she must be brave to protect herself, at least. Elizabeth has to hold a pistol – that is much more frightening. Darcy quickly kisses Elizabeth’s lips and squeezes Georgiana’s hand to reassure them before he leaves with Hughes as Burns arrives at the carriage to stand guard.
Darcy hands the other dagger to Burns before heading back to Darcy House. Both women look at each other for comfort as they hold their weapon tightly with both hands away from themselves.
Elizabeth bolsters her courage in front of Georgiana so they can get through this. “We must be brave, Georgie. William will be alright. They will catch the thief, and then he will go to prison forever.” Elizabeth reassures Georgiana just as much as to reassures herself. William will be well; William will be well.
Darcy and Hughes head towards the library where Darcy keeps another pistol and a couple of rapiers. Afterwards, they quietly head for the study; they see Smith on the way, and he tells them that Mr. Brooks said that no one has come calling for any of the Darcys this morning. At the moment, Mr. Brooks is sequestering as many of the servants as he can find into the servants’ eating quarters. A couple of maids are in the family bedroom chambers cleaning, currently so he has gone there to retrieve them. Hansen, Darcy’s valet, has been told of the situation, and he has gone to all the other chambers to search. Tate and Jansen are searching in the rest of the other rooms. Smith is about to search the study and library.
“We have just come out of the library; no one is in there. We need to search the study immediately.” Darcy states firmly but quietly.
The three men silently walk towards the study. Darcy whispers to Hughes and Smith to stand on the other side of the door. He will open the door and then Smith will stick the hallway chair in between the door so if anyone tries to escape the room they will not be able to without tripping over it. No one should run inside until Darcy can quickly assess if anybody is inside. All are in agreement as Darcy holds onto the door knob and Smith is ready to use the chair as a door jam.
Darcy whispers, “One, two, three!”
The door flies open; Smith pushes the chair in between the door and speedily moves back outside the door. Darcy rapidly pokes his head to look inside the study and then pulls his head back after an instant; he does not see anyone. Just to be certain, he speedily takes another quick glance; this time he is certain that no one is in his study. After another instant, he points his pistol ahead of him as he slowly pushes the chair out of the way in order to walk further into his large study. Darcy signals with his head for Smith and Hughes to come in and search behind the sofa, and Elizabeth’s desk as he looks behind his own desk.
Everything is clear; they move out of the study and up to the master’s chambers where he keeps a large safe with all of the mistress’ jewelry and important papers; only he and Elizabeth have the combination to it. As they walk pass the garden’s door, Darcy sees a flash of an unknown man not in servants’ uniform. Darcy signals for Smith to go out to the servant’s e
ntrance from the side of the house to block the garden exit. He and Hughes will block him from here. Just as Smith runs off to do Darcy’s bidding, the man turns around and locks eyes with Darcy. It is Wickham!
Damn it! Such bad luck of all days for them to have all windows and doors secured; Wickham cannot find any door to break into unless he wants to break the glass to that window which would most likely alert the servants. No, he cannot risk being seen. He knows there are always some valuable knick-knacks inside Darcy House that he can get good money for; he will have to settle for that if he cannot find money anywhere. Darcy is too smart to leave money loosely about. Damn Darcy for his injuries! Luckily, his leg and hand has mostly healed after four and half months, given he was imprisoned for the first two months and did not get enough to eat. He has lost much weight; his clothes hang loose on him, and he looks like some dreaded, unfit man even though he is clean and sober. Thank goodness he had the bright idea to have left a change of clothing at Mrs. Younge’s place for emergencies; minimally, he can pass off as a gentleman.
He has to think of another way to get inside this house; even the garden door to the house is locked. It was lucky that the gate itself was unlocked. He remembers that there is a door that leads to a room where the gardener leaves all his tools, but he cannot take anything from there of value that he could easily hide, anyways. Well, he is going to try to jiggle this garden door again; perhaps he can try to break the glass on this one area near the door knob, then it will not be too loud.
As Wickham turns around to walk towards the glass door, he is stunned into immobility. BLOODY HELL!! It is Darcy and two other men! Blasted Darcy is back! Wickham’s last chance at stealing some valuables from Darcy is gone for today. When Darcy goes back to Pemberley, Wickham will try again. Wickham needs to escape from here instantly; he does not want a confrontation with Darcy. After what happened last time and although he did not do anything except stand in the garden, Darcy still may allow his servants to beat him and then get the magistrate to arrest him for trespassing his precious home. Wickham cannot be injured and go to jail again.