The Cumberland Plateau

by Mary K. Baxley

  He was instantly at her side, pulling her into his arms, hugging her close. Cupping her face in his hands, he said, “I do love you, Liz, and I mean every word I’ve told you.” He bent low to kiss her.

  When they separated, he dropped down on the loveseat and gathered her into his lap. Holding her close, he said, “In spite of what you must think of my father, I want you to know that my mother was nothing like him. She was kind and loving and good. She taught me to be that way as well. In fact, not just me, but my brother, too. And my sister, who was only four when Mum died, is very much like me. David, despite his bravado, is very much like Georgiana and me as well. He is a good man. They will accept you as my mother would have, had she lived.” He kissed her once more, contented in finally having all of this behind them.

  Almost as soon as they had finished their discussion, Jane and Charles pulled into the driveway, along with Kat and Daniel. Elizabeth and Darcy went to door to greet them.

  “Hey you two, come in. Here, let me help you with those,” Darcy said, taking a package from Jane. “Are there any more packages? I’ll be glad to get those for you.”

  Jane smiled. “Yes, there are a few more in the back of the Tahoe.”

  “I’ll get them. You make yourself comfortable,” Darcy insisted, heading out the door.

  Darcy wore a contented smile, happier than he’d been in years as he and Charles fetched the last two packages from the car. Once they were settled in the house, Darcy and Elizabeth, arms around each other, approached Jane and Charles.

  “We have an announcement to make,” Darcy said, beaming and holding her close. “Elizabeth and I have decided to marry.”

  Jane immediately pulled away from Charles and crossed the room to Elizabeth, giving her sister a big hug.

  “Lizzy, I am so happy for you. I told Charles you two would be perfect for one another. We just had to get you together, but it looks like Fate took care of that for us. Didn’t it, Charles?”

  “I’ll say it did,” Bingley said as he grabbed his friend’s hand. “Congratulations, old man.” He glanced at Jane. “Congratulations are in order here, too. Janey and I also have an announcement to make.” He turned around for Jane’s hand. “Jane and I are to be married, too.”

  The couples hugged each other, happily excited that Kat and Daniel rushed downstairs to see what was happening.

  “What’s going on down here?” Kat asked. “I can hear you all the way upstairs.”

  Jane took Kat’s hands in hers and told her the happy news.

  “Oh, Jane! That’s wonderful. I’m so happy for you both. Let me give you a hug.” Kat embraced first Jane and then Lizzy, while Daniel shook hands with Darcy and Bingley.

  “I guess now I can call you two by your first names, except at school, of course. When are you all getting married?” Daniel asked.

  “Daniel, you may call me whatever you like. As to the other, we haven’t discussed it yet, but it won’t be until after I return from England, probably in the summer.” Darcy turned to his friend. “What about you, Bingley?”

  “It’s the same with us. Maybe we could have a double wedding. What do you two think?” Charles asked, glancing between Darcy and Elizabeth.

  “I think it’s a splendid idea. We must all get together when we come back from England. Perhaps we will have a June wedding.” Darcy gave Elizabeth an affectionate kiss on her cheek while Jane nodded in agreement, looking at Charles and smiling.

  “Well, it’s getting late. I think we need to leave for home, Charles,” Darcy said.

  Bingley glanced at Jane, but before he could speak, Elizabeth spoke. “Jane, will you help me in the kitchen? I need to repackage some of these things for Fitzwilliam and Charles.”

  Elizabeth and Jane put together a basket for the men to take back to their house. As the two gentlemen were about to leave, Darcy pulled Elizabeth aside and kissed her. “Are you happy, Elizabeth?” he asked.

  “Extremely. I didn’t think I could ever be so happy.” Looking up at him, love sparkled in her expressive emerald eyes. “I wasn’t quite sure before, but now I am. I love you, Fitzwilliam.”

  Upon hearing her words, he pulled her into a tight embrace. “You don’t know what that means to me. I love you so very much. I look forward to the day when you truly are mine.” He tightened his embrace and gave her a lingering kiss, his heart overcome with joy. For the first time in his life, he felt he had a real purpose and meaning in being alive.

  “I wish you could come home with me now.”

  “As much as I would like to, you know I cannot do that. I have to prepare for tomorrow. We have a short vacation coming in two days. We’ll spend the five-day break together when we go to Longbourn for Thanksgiving. I’ll call you tomorrow, and we’ll have lunch on campus. Oh, and don’t let me forget—I need to tell you some details about me and my own financial situation. I’m not penniless. I have an inheritance, too. Though not as large as yours, the Bennetts are not exactly poor.”

  Chapter Nine

  …A promise is yet to be fulfilled…

  The day dawned cold and miserable with a biting wind coming down off the mountain and settling into the plateau. Having driven down to the farm the night before for the Thanksgiving holiday, Darcy and Bingley were up at the crack of dawn, preparing for the morning’s shooting party with Elizabeth’s uncles. Darcy had been looking forward to this all week as they were going to shoot wild turkey, Canadian geese, and Mallard ducks. Pulling on his boots and donning his camouflage jacket, he was more than prepared to meet the challenging elements when Henry peered around the corner into the mudroom.

  “Fitzwilliam, let’s get a move on. Charles and Robert are waitin’ on us. I’d like to get at least two turkeys. A couple of geese would be nice, too, and perhaps two ducks.”

  Darcy cast a wide grin. “I’d like that, too. Let me grab the shotgun and several boxes of shells, and I’ll be right out.”

  Exiting through the back door and stepping out into the garden, he met up with the others where Henry made the introduction to Elizabeth’s father’s brother of whom he’d heard so much about. Robert Bennett, a tall, lean man in his mid-forties with clear blue eyes and sandy blonde hair, had just arrived for the morning’s event. Darcy could see the family resemblance. He looked very much like the picture of Elizabeth’s father that hung in the family gallery.

  Grabbing the offered hand, Bennett had a hardy handshake and a firm grip. “Darcy, I’m pleased to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you that I feel as if we’re already friends, especially since you’re soon to be family. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage to one of my favorite nieces.” The man flashed a wide grin.

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Bennett,” Darcy replied with a smile.

  “Darcy, we’re to be family, so there’s none of that Mr. Bennett stuff,” Bennett insisted. “Like I told Charles here, it’s either Robert or Bennett, but emphatically not Mr. Bennett. That’s reserved for my secretary and the office staff.” He let out a hardy laugh. “Now, let’s get goin’, or those turkeys will leave for higher ground. They’re in the rye fields now, but they’ll quickly move if they sense us comin’. These are wild turkeys—not those domestic birds with undersized brains. They’re smart and cunning, so we’ll have to be one up on ‘em.”

  “Bennett, you’ll do splendid for an uncle. I already sense camaraderie. Are these your dogs?” Darcy asked, gazing at the two black labs poised at Bennett’s heels.

  “Yeah,” he answered with a lilting laughter. “That’s Ruff and Ready, and they are just that—rough and ready, two of the best retrievin’ dogs in the county. They’ll pick up anything we shoot,” he said, rubbing the male dog behind the ears. “Let’s head out.” Glancing at the sky, he added, “It looks like snow, so we’d better get a move on.”

  Darcy and Bingley exchanged grins. They both knew this was going to be a quite an adventure. Turning up their collars and pulling their fur-lined hunting hats down over their ears, the four braced agai
nst the cold as they moved in the direction of the winter rye fields where, just as Robert had predicted, a flock of wild turkeys took to the air. Not just any turkeys, either. They were some of the biggest, plumpest birds Darcy had ever seen. All four men fired at once and four birds fell. Ruff and Ready sprang into action, and Robert gingerly snatched the retrieved birds, placing them in the burlap sack.

  After the rye fields, they left for the cow pond, which Darcy thought more resembled a small lake than a pond, but then, no, it had to be a pond with all of the cattails and marsh reeds springing forth out of the water. As they approached, a flock of ducks and geese flew up. Once again the boom of shots rang out, and two geese and four ducks fell. At the sound of the first shot, Ruff and Ready were in the water, paddling out to the center of the pond, bringing the birds back one at a time. Their bags full, the men walked back to the house, declaring the trip a success. Tomorrow there would be turkey and a goose on the table to complement the ham from this year’s spring pigs.

  With the hunt behind them, Darcy looked forward to spending time with Elizabeth. As they approached the house, Robert called out, “Darcy, Henry and I’ll clean these birds, and when Daniel gets up, he can help. You and Charles are guests, and I suppose you want to spend every spare minute you can with my nieces, so y’all head out to wherever you wanna go. Tana and the others will take care of the cookin’. We’ll be fine.” Robert shot him a smile that indicated he understood what it was like to be in love and to want to be alone at every chance.

  “Thanks, Bennett. I believe we’ll ride out after breakfast.” Gazing upward, Darcy said, “You may be right. It looks like rain or snow, so this may be the only chance we’ll have.”

  “Well, there’s always the barn loft, but you didn’t hear that from me. You either, Bingley.” He tossed a look over his shoulder to Charles, who was bringing up the rear. “Tana would kill me, but truth be known, we spent quite a few hours there ourselves when we were datin’.” He winked.

  Darcy laughed aloud. “Bennett, now I know I like you.”

  “I quite agree with Darcy,” Bingley added.

  “Well, I suppose a young college professor’s not much different from a young lawyer, and as long as your intentions are honorable, I see no harm with stealing away whenever you can. Besides, it’ll give you somethin’ to look back on when you’re middle-aged like me. Now go on…and remember, you didn’t hear it from me.” He winked.

  All three laughed.

  After the birds and guns were deposited in the mudroom, Darcy went to find Elizabeth. Searching the various rooms, he finally found her ensconced in the library, drawn up in the bench seat of the bay window with a book.

  “What are you reading, darling?”

  “Hmm? This?” she replied, marking her page as she closed the book. “It’s Sarah Morgan’s journal, The Civil War Diary of a Southern Woman. It’s an account of what it was like to have been sixteen when The War Between the States began. Sarah lived on a sugar plantation in Louisiana. I’ve almost finished it.”

  “Is it good?”

  “Yes, I’d say it is. It’s informative, but not very much different from what it was like around here from 1861 through Reconstruction. It reinforces what I already know. The sorrow and misery was everywhere. I’m nearly to the part where she marries her handsome beau and moves to Charleston,” she said with a grin. “She was a girl much like me. It’s a history that’s heartfelt and heart-shared as she reveals what they suffered. I’ll tell you about it sometime,” she said, setting the book aside. “Let’s have some coffee and scones, and then we’ll go for a ride.”

  “Handsome beau, huh….” He smiled.

  “Yes,” she said, returning his smile. “Now help me up, and let’s go. Oh, and by the way, I have a handsome beau, too.”

  He reached out his hand, taking hers as they walked hand in hand to the kitchen.

  Once they’d finished eating, they saddled up and headed in the direction of the cove. The temperature had dropped and was still falling when they made it to the cabin. Elizabeth was chilled to the bone and shivering, so Darcy started a blazing fire in the fireplace.

  “Come here, love. You’re cold. I’ll hold you and warm you up.”

  “Fitzwilliam, it may not have been such a good idea coming out here. With the way the temperature has dropped, it could possibly mean snow. The weather forecaster is not always right when he calls for rain. Occasionally they miss it.”

  “Well, if it does, we’ll live with it. But for right now, let’s get you warmed up. Your cheeks are chapped and your hands are frozen.”

  As the fire burned bright and cozy, he held her close while they sat on the bed. Unable to resist, she pulled him to her for an innocent kiss, but when their lips touched, she lost all conscious thought. As the kiss deepened, he began to caress her, stroking her arms and sides, and then her breasts, gently massaging them through her soft flannel shirt.

  Caught up in the moment, she fell backwards onto the bed without breaking their kiss, taking him with her. Soon he was lying with her in an intimate embrace, kissing, touching, caressing, and stroking her inner thigh ever so gently. Elizabeth knew they should stop, and yet she didn’t want to. The more Fitzwilliam kissed her, the more he touched her, the more she burned with an insatiable ache.

  His fingers hovered at her neckline for a moment, and then he gently began to unbutton her shirt. Pushing the flannel aside, he freed one breast from her bra and cupped her flesh as he palmed it. The feel of his cool hands against her hot skin sent pleasurable sensations coursing through her body, pooling in a hot desire she’d never expected to experience. Pulling him on top of her, she instinctively parted her legs, allowing him to settle between them. Fitzwilliam arched against her, and soon they writhed against one another. Elizabeth had never felt such desire…such need. She wanted him and she wondered if she could wait until her wedding night, or if she even cared.

  Fitzwilliam felt the strain on his self-control snapping as her soft body pressed against his. His mind and body conflicted with one another. His body wanted her now, but his mind was determined to respect her wishes. Lying there together, reality finally slipped back into play, and he abruptly pulled away.

  “Elizabeth, we shouldn’t be here like this. If we continue, we won’t be able to stop, and I know that is not what you want.” His heart pounded as his pulse raced in time with his throbbing body. It would have to be her call, not his, no matter what the cost to him. Releasing a long breath, his control held firm even as his body ached in pain.

  “I know, Fitzwilliam…I know. It’s just that I have never felt this way before. It’s all so new to me. I love you, and I want you…but…” She looked down and then cut her eyes over to the corner of the room. Chewing on her lower lip, she said nothing.

  He looked at her with longing, his eyes searching, waiting to see how she would respond, and waiting for her to ask. He had told her he would not take anything from her unless she freely gave it. He wondered if she realized how much he needed her, how much he wanted her.

  He waited, but she never asked. Releasing a tightly-held breath, he figured it was best if they left temptation behind. “Come Liz, we need to go.” He pulled her up and buttoned her blouse, straightening their appearance before extinguishing the fire in the fireplace as well as the one in his soul.

  The following day was Thanksgiving, and the house hummed with the hustle and bustle of the day’s preparations. The smell of delicious food cooking permeated the air. Casseroles already baked, cornbread dressing and mashed potatoes and gravy sat on the side table while field peas and corn on the cob simmered on the stove. A goose was in one oven and a turkey in the other. Cooked ham cooled on the counter, and pies, cakes, and bread, baked fresh earlier that morning, filled the baker’s rack. The table was spread with a white damask cloth and set in Old Country Rose china. Cranberry relish and spiced blueberries lay about the table in crystal dishes, and goblets filled with iced tea were alongside each person’s place.<
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  A soft chuckle emanated from Darcy’s throat. This was nothing like a formal dinner at his house, where servants took care of these seemingly meaningless tasks. Seemingly meaningless, and yet not.

  The difference was that this house was filled with love, while his house was filled with order and careful routine. How he almost envied Elizabeth and her family. They were the picture of family life he’d often dreamt of—the American Norman Rockwell, and God help him, he loved her for every bit of it. This, his first Thanksgiving with the Bennetts, would be a day for him to remember. Not since his mother’s death could he recall a better one. With the ladies scurrying about, neatly placing dishes on the table, the feast was about to begin.

  The tinkling of Henry’s fork against his tea glass called the family together as they all took their seats around the table. Except for Mary Beth and Joseph, they were all here—Robert and Tana, Jane, Elizabeth, Kat, Daniel, Grace, Henry and Lori, and he and Charles.

  Clearing his throat, Henry began. “Let us give thanks for this bountiful meal before us. As you know, most of it has come from the farm this year, even the turkey and goose, which Charles and Fitzwilliam helped to provide,” Henry said with a twinkle in his eye. “Yes, we have much to be thankful for. The crops were better than expected, the cattle bred well with no problems, aside from the coyotes that is. But the best news of all is that there are to be two new additions in our family circle. Jane and Charles… Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam, congratulations! Now Jane, would you give thanks?”

  Linked together, holding hands, Jane returned thanks for all the blessings bestowed upon the family as another year had come and gone. When she finished, they all said in unison, “Amen.”

  Robert broke out in a big smile. “Now let’s eat. Pass the food!”