My Beginning With Mr. Darcy [Book Two]

by Lauren King

“I love you so much. I was really worried that you would be displeased with me.”

  “Well, now you know I could never be displeased with you about something like this, right?”

  Elizabeth nods and smiles shyly, and then she hugs him snugly as they lie there. He squeezes her tightly and then asks, “Dearest, would you want for us to share a bed every night? I know it is customary for us not to…”

  Elizabeth interjects immediately. “Darling, if you do not want us to share a bed and stay with tradition, then we can do that. I do not want you to be uncomfortable.”

  Even though she does not know what it is like to share a bed with anyone else other than Jane, Elizabeth is disappointed. She thinks that husbands and wives should share a bed, especially if they love each other. However, love is the key point. There are so many marriages of convenience that it makes not sharing a bed with a stranger very appealing. She definitely would not want to share a bed every night with someone that she did not have any feelings for; much less, if she was forced into marriage with him for any reason other than love. That would be a horrible life. How can anyone live together every day knowing that they were forced to be married? How could they…make love? Well, it would not be making love in that case – just procreation. Maybe she is being too obsessive if she wants to be with William during sleep also. She will abide by his decision.

  Darcy says tenderly, “Lizzy, please listen to me, dearest. I did not finish.”

  “I am sorry.” Elizabeth responds penitently.

  “I want you to stop apologizing tonight, sweetheart. You are too quick to interpret what I say.” Darcy states forthrightly with a soothing voice as he gently caresses her curves to signify his understanding and love.

  “I just did not want you to be uncomfortable in voicing it out. I did not want you to feel uneasy. I just want you to know that I understand why we will not share a bed.”

  “Thank you for thinking of me, but what I wanted to say was that I would like you to sleep with me every night unless you are against it and wish for your own bed. If so, then I will abide by your decision.” Darcy really hopes that Elizabeth will not wish for separate beds.

  “I would…like to sleep with you every night, too. Am I too obsessive in wanting to be with you even during sleep?” Elizabeth asks innocently.

  “No, you are not too obsessive; I want that too. We love each other immensely; that is all. I am tremendously happy that we feel the same way in this matter. I do not ever want to sleep alone again. I have my love forever; why would I go back to sleeping alone?”

  “I do understand for people who are in marriages of convenience, though. I cannot imagine….” Elizabeth hesitates.

  “What, Lizzy?”

  “I cannot imagine doing what we just did with some one that I did not love.” Elizabeth states decidedly but still shyly.

  “I am certain that it would be seen as a way of procreating only. If the couple does not learn to care for each other in some way, then it could be a burdensome duty, indeed.” Darcy cozily squeezes Elizabeth into him. “Our love match is uncommon; I am infinitely glad that we have our love. I am immeasurably happy. Are you?”

  “I am ecstatic.” Elizabeth caresses William’s face affectionately.

  William holds Elizabeth on top of him as he lies on his back. Her head is neatly tucked under his neck. She can smell his scent, and she adores it. Elizabeth happily lies still on William’s body. She can feel his naked skin pressed against hers. She is timid about it, but her other half relishes it. She caresses his chest and shoulders freely in silence. It is surprising yet comforting that she can share her deepest thoughts and most intimate actions with William; it feels very natural to do so. They lie in blessed joy until succumbing to sleep in each other’s arms.

  CHAPTER 7

  ***************

  SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 1st

  The next morning finds Darcy and Elizabeth craving each other again. Darcy eases into her with great care and proves to her yet again how much he loves her. He encourages her to show him her satisfaction. She sounds like she did the night before – very satisfied and gratified. Afterwards, they bathe, but Elizabeth is once more beyond bashful when William asks her to share his bath. He assures her that no servants will walk in on them. Certainly, she agrees and is happy to be openly intimate with William. She cleans him from head to toe. He is thrilled with her care for him. He decides to tease her, so he traps her within his embrace and gives her two more love marks on the sides of her breasts. After they leave their bath, he proudly shows them to her in the looking glass with a very handsome grin. Last night, he gave her one on each side of her bottom and one right in front on her soft mound. She was extremely shy when she found out what he was doing, but she was delighted that he wanted to mark her as his. In turn, she gave him a love mark right at the base of the hollow of his neck. He was proud and joyous when he saw it.

  Throughout the entire first full day of their marriage, Darcy and Elizabeth spend every possible minute with each other. They take pleasure in the fact that they can be in a room alone together with the door closed and be intimate with one another without being worried that it is improper. Darcy surely proves that he can make love to her in places other than their beds. Elizabeth is even shyer than usual, but Darcy does not let that stop their love making. He persuades her to let him love her in his study so that he can have the memory of their love every time he is there. After some encouragement, he eases her into it and soon she satisfies him to no end. He will love her in every room and make his dreams come true.

  They talk about everything and anything; they even enjoy being silent together. Elizabeth does not care what they do as long as they are together. However, they are not silent for very long because one flirts with the other, and then they end up hugging and kissing each other again. Elizabeth sits on William’s lap quite a few times the whole day. Obviously, she does not mind it one bit as Darcy encourages it. She will do whatever pleases him.

  Their married life is blissful beyond either of their imaginations.

  In the meanwhile, the Gardiner’s residence is noisy this Sunday morning because the Bennets are getting ready to leave for Longbourn. The trunks are being loaded onto the Bennet carriage and the Darcy carriage. Darcy had offered one of his carriages to help transport his new in-laws back to Longbourn so that there would be more space and comfort for Mr. Bennet, Mary, and Kitty. It seemed that no one wanted to be stuck in a carriage for five hours with Mrs. Bennet and Lydia.

  There has been tension in the air ever since last evening after everyone came back from Elizabeth’s wedding breakfast. Unquestionably, Mrs. Bennet was very extremely irritated because she was forbidden by Mr. Bennet to attend the grandest wedding that she, most likely, would ever attend. Lydia acted like her usual self; she acted like she did not care about Elizabeth’s wedding because she was ‘already a married woman’ before any of her sisters. She was very proud of being the youngest and being the first to marry; she mentioned it again. Jane did not even want to correct her; she was too disappointed. It would have led to another reprimand or lecture which she did not feel ready to face, again.

  Jane is relieved and happy that Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner have granted her permission to remain in Cheapside until after Easter, possibly until summer. She does not want to go back right now with all the tension between her and her Mother. She would rather have some time pass then maybe her Mother will see things differently. Moreover, she wants to give Mr. Morgan more time to court her and see where their relationship will lead.

  Lydia hurriedly asks Mrs. Bennet if they are getting in the carriage yet; she wants to go home to her husband. “It is boring here with nowhere to go; on top of which, Papa and everyone else are mad at me all the time. Can we go home yet, Mama?” Lydia complains and whines as usual. She rushes to get her Mother ready to leave for Longbourn.

  “Yes, yes. Hold your horses, Lydia. Are all of our trunks brought out yet?” Mrs. Bennet is disappointed that they a
re not staying longer so that she could find a way for Kitty or Mary to meet some of Mr. Morgan’s rich gentlemen friends.

  “I do not know those things, Mama. Did the servants do it?” Lydia states conceitedly. “Can we leave, yet?” Lydia hastens and rushes around wanting to leave as soon as possible.

  “Wait, Lydia. Go sit down in the sitting room and wait a little for everyone. I will go see what the holdup is.” Mrs. Bennet says with annoyance at her favorite daughter as she walks towards the study to look for Mr. Bennet. She thought that Lydia would have wanted to stay in town longer. If Mr. Bennet does not want to leave today, then they will have more time to visit Bond Street. That would surely be more fun than going home right away.

  In the interim, Mrs. Gardiner comes to ask Jane in the sitting room, “Jane, I would like to show you something. Will you come with me, please?”

  “Certainly, Aunt.” Jane follows her Aunt to her Aunt’s bedroom chambers.

  “Jane, did you drop any of Lizzy’s jewelry before you gave them to me?”

  “No, Aunt; why?” Jane is suddenly alarmed at her Aunt’s question.

  “There is a brooch missing; look here.” Mrs. Gardiner opens up all four jewelry boxes. The wedding jewels are missing because Elizabeth wore them, but the other three boxes should all be accounted for after Jane, Mary, and Kitty wore the jewels yesterday evening; they returned them to the appropriate boxes. “It is Lizzy’s ruby engagement brooch. Did it drop somewhere?”

  “Oh my goodness, Aunt! I did not notice anything dropping anywhere when I brought all four boxes to you earlier. To be honest, I did not open any other boxes up other than the one for the emeralds that I wore. I saw Kitty put back her pendant necklace in this smaller box and here it is. Mary gave me the emerald brooch and hair comb to put back in the box. Of course, here is the entire emerald set. Oh my God, Aunt; where can it be? What are we going to do? Oh my God; it is so very expensive.” Jane worries greatly because the brooch has immeasurable sentimental value to Elizabeth, not to mention the monetary value. Jane was in charge of it to be given to their Aunt for safe keeping and now it is lost. Oh God, what is she going to do?

  “It was especially made for Lizzy for their engagement.” Mrs. Gardiner sighs heavily. “Alright, let us think about what to do. We have to search your chambers, the entire walk way leading to my chambers, and my sitting room. We have to get Kitty, Mary, your Uncle, and your Father to help look for it. I will go speak to all the servants. Oh my Lord; I do not know what we will do if we do not find it.” Mrs. Gardiner is distressed over this because of the jewel’s two essential values – sentimental and monetary. She prays that her servants did not have anything to do with its disappearance.

  Mrs. Gardiner speaks to all the servants except one, Mildred, because she went home to visit her sick Mother for the morning. They all say they do not know anything about a ruby-diamond brooch or any jewelry. Nobody has been up to the family chambers except Mildred and the young girl assisting Mildred, Jenny. Mildred should be back in three hours.

  The six family members do their part to search for the brooch. Mrs. Gardiner even went into the children’s play area to ask them if they have been up inside Elizabeth’s and Jane’s bedroom chambers. They all ask which room it is. They mention that their nanny does not allow them to go into other people’s chambers. Mrs. Gardiner thanks them and leaves so that they can resume their playing.

  All six people congregate at the hallway between Jane’s and Mrs. Gardiner’s bedroom chambers to report their lack of progress. No one has seen any jewels anywhere.

  “Did everyone look behind and under the dresser drawers, the beds, the closets, the corners of the rooms, under the rugs – everywhere?” Mrs. Gardiner asks urgently. She does not know where else to look. She desperately prays that her servants are not involved in this. Could Mildred have taken it and now has left her employment for good? Mrs. Gardiner guesses that the brooch could be sold for hundreds if not a thousand pounds. That could support Mildred for years.

  Everyone answers that they have looked in the entire room under and behind everything. Everybody is distressed.

  “Well, the only servant that I have not spoken to is Mildred. She will be back here in a couple of hours. I trust my servants, but these jewels are very expensive, and that may be tempting enough to nudge them into the wrong direction. Goodness, Edward; what are we going to do if we do not find it anywhere and no one is held accountable? I imagine that the brooch may cost upwards of a thousand pounds.”

  “Madeline, we will explain to Lizzy, and, if anything, I will pay for it since it was in the possession of Jane when it went missing. Do not worry. I am sorry this is distressing you.” Mr. Bennet states compassionately. Undoubtedly, he is worried too; how will he be able to pay for such an expensive piece of jewelry?

  Mrs. Gardiner sighs heavily with worry and shakes her head. “I did not open it right away when Jane handed me the jewelry boxes, so I do not know when the jewel went missing, Thomas. I feel responsible because this is our house and there are servants around the house.”

  At this point Mrs. Bennet and Lydia walk up towards the group because they want to reach their chambers. Mrs. Bennet can tell that all six people look distressed and very serious. She wonders what is happening; maybe they will not leave today; that would be delightful. Mrs. Bennet would like to stay in town longer; perhaps they can attend some more dinner parties.

  “Are we not going to leave for Longbourn today, Mr. Bennet?” Mrs. Bennet asks casually. Mr. Bennet had already told her that they would leave in half an hour but it has been over an hour already.

  “No, I think we have to stay another day. We are looking for a missing piece of Lizzy’s engagement jewels. Would you have seen Lizzy’s ruby brooch anywhere, Mrs. Bennet?” Mr. Bennet asks straightforwardly. “Lydia have you seen Lizzy’s ruby brooch anywhere?”

  “I have not, Papa.” Lydia answers concisely while looking very briefly at her Father and then busying herself with her magazine not caring about this problem, at all.

  Concurrently, Mrs. Bennet gasps. “Lizzy’s ruby brooch is missing? Oh Lord! That thing looked expensive. I have not seen it. I do not even know where she kept her jewelry. Did you talk to the servants? They are free to walk everywhere and jewels like that are enticing for them to steal. Oh my Lord! Why did Lizzy not take it with her to her husband’s home? When did it go missing?”

  Mrs. Gardiner explains the details. Everyone switches places to search once more. Mrs. Bennet and Lydia also join in, but Mrs. Bennet becomes frustrated and impatient after about a quarter of an hour, thus she says she is going to rest in her chambers. Lydia says that she will go with her Mother.

  Mr. Bennet asserts that they will stay until tomorrow so that they can contact Elizabeth and Darcy to notify them of what has happened. He does not want to bother them on their first day of their honeymoon, but he feels he has to tell them right away because this involves a large sum of money. They and Mr. Bennet can decide what to do about this loss; afterwards, they will leave for Longbourn. Good Lord, why is everything piling up on him?

  When Mildred arrives at the Gardiner residence, Mrs. Gardiner speaks to her immediately in Mildred’s servant quarters. Mildred asserts that she never touched anybody’s jewelry boxes. She only goes into the bedroom chambers to dust, make the beds, and remove any soiled linens and clothing for washing. She cleans the rooms but does not move anything around. She admits that she has seen Elizabeth’s jewelry boxes only once. She hesitates to tell Mrs. Gardiner what she did see because she may be blamed, be called a liar, and be dismissed for something she did not do. The Gardiners are not going to believe what she saw.

  Filled with apprehension, fear, and anxiety, Mildred states, “Mrs. Gardiner, I did not take anyone’s jewelry, ma’am. I swear to you. You have always been good to me, and I like my job here; I would never risk it by stealing ma’am. I swear to God, ma’am. May God strike me dead and I die horribly if I stole that jewelry, ma’am. I did not take it,
Mrs. Gardiner.” Mildred is tearing up, and she is frightened of the consequences of being blamed. Would the Gardiners call the magistrate on her and have her hauled off to prison?

  Mrs. Gardiner feels unkind to ask Mildred this because it does sound like she is interrogating and blaming her. Mildred has always been a good worker; she never gave Mrs. Gardiner any trouble, but Mrs. Gardiner remembers how Mr. Clarke took advantage of Mr. Gardiner’s trust and embezzled from Mr. Gardiner. She would not want to dismiss Mildred if it is not definite that she took the brooch. Mrs. Gardiner has tested each of her servants several times before she decided to keep them on permanently. Whenever she hired a new servant, she planted some money for him or her to find during their normal day at work in the house. Each and every time they would return it to her with nothing missing.

  “Mildred, I am not saying you stole the ruby brooch. I just want to know if you have seen it anywhere. I have asked everybody else already, but since yours and Jenny’s responsibilities are the bedroom chambers then I had to ask you, too.”

  Mildred tears up because she can feel that she will lose her job, eventually. Mrs. Gardiner will never trust her again and dismiss her anyways. She cannot afford to lose her job this way. She will never get a reference and find another decent housemaid job again. She desperately needs the money to live on and to help her family.

  “Mrs. Gardiner…the only time I saw the ruby brooch was yesterday afternoon. That was the only time. But I did not touch it. I only saw it from afar.”

  “Where did you see it, Mildred?”

  Mildred sighs with angst and foreboding. She will be cursed and thrown out without any prospects of getting another job in town – that is if she is lucky. If she is unfortunate, then she will be blamed and thrown in prison for stealing. Oh God help her! She has always been nice to others – God, please help!

  “Mrs. Gardiner…please, I do not want to get into any trouble. I swear to you, I did not take the brooch.” Mildred’s tears fall freely as she sobs. She tries to stop them but cannot because she is afraid for her life.