by Wells, Linda
“That, I do, sir.” Ferguson rose and closed up his book. “I will just leave you to your business.” Bowing, Ferguson turned and nodding at Samuel, left the room. His rapid footsteps were quickly followed by the front door closing.
“He should use the kitchen door.” Samuel murmured.
“Enough.” Darcy said softly. “I may be sore and exhausted, but if I have to, I will take you on and win.” Samuel stared and Darcy folded his hands and played with his ring. “What are you about?”
“Pardon?”
“Ferguson is a good man, an outstanding man. He deserves your respect.”
“He is a steward!”
“And a damn good one. I think that your issue with him is not his stewardship, but his attention to Georgiana.”
“Where does he get the … Why is he picking her flowers and why are you letting him present them?”
“Let me tell you something.” Darcy leaned forward and traced his finger over a knot in the desk. “I was not that fond of Ferguson’s friendliness when we first arrived, either. And Richard set me straight so I will do the same for you. He is a good man, sincere, kind, and very skilled at his work. He also, for reasons that are his own, chose not to condemn Georgiana, but to be a friend. She has so few of them. So if he takes the time to speak to her, or sends up some flowers to brighten her day, I have no objection. Elizabeth told me that it was a blessing for us to receive any kind of respite. I objected to a servant paying attention to my sister.”
“Exactly!”
“But she may very well marry …”
“Do not say that she would marry a steward!”
“I would prefer not, but it is many years hence. But that is not the point of our conversation.” Darcy looked at him in the eye. “Do you know what I like the most of Ferguson? He accepted her from the very beginning, and she recognized his advances as kind. She needed that lesson as well as the boost to her self-worth.” Samuel said nothing. “Are you jealous?”
“Of him?”
“No, of Richard.” Darcy cocked a brow.
“No, I do not know what it is. Georgiana has been through hell …”
“Ahhhh.” Darcy nodded and smiled. “A bit overprotective, I think.. You are being … Darcyish.” He chuckled and regretted it, but still smiled at his confused cousin. “You have no home or family to protect, but you do have Georgiana. And a Darcy must always have something to defend.”
“What rubbish is this?” Samuel smiled at last.
“You have been protecting one or the other of your parents for years. Now they have Hope, they have each other … they do not need to be protected anymore. You saw a man you think is below Georgiana giving her attention, a steward, such a reminder of Wickham’s origins …” Darcy nodded his head as Samuel’s mouth dropped open.
“I am overprotective!”
“No, you are just following your good nature and not keeping it under good regulation.” Darcy laughed softly. “You are not falling in love with Georgiana are you? I am afraid I would have to discourage that rather strongly for a few years.”
“In love?” Samuel’s hand started waving. “William, I … I love her, but … oh no, in love! I … I …”
Darcy held his side and tried to refrain from laughing harder. “So that is what I look like!”
Elizabeth leaned into the door and watched them with a smile. “Yes, it is. It is becoming harder and harder to tell you two apart.”
“I have the blue eyes that you adore.” Darcy’s lips twitched and he held out his hand for her.
“Maybe I fancy brown now?” Elizabeth squealed when she was pulled forward into his arms.
Samuel relaxed and smiled, then laughed when she kissed Darcy square on the mouth. “I think that you two need to go home so you can continue this without witnesses.”
Elizabeth nodded vehemently and holding Darcy’s face, she spoke directly into his twinkling eyes. “Finally a Darcy with sense! Why can it not be you?”
Smiling, he kissed her. “How is this for good sense? Pack your trunks, Mrs. Darcy. We are going home.”
Chapter 20
With a rattle, the Darcy carriage turned from the dusty public road and onto the smooth gravelled surface of Pemberley’s drive. Relief blanketed the occupants and Darcy’s hand found his wife’s. As they rolled past the stone pillars marking the estate entrance, the man settled comfortably at the gatehouse door hurriedly sprang into action, running to open the great wrought iron barrier to allow them entry. From atop the carriage, Harris called down a merry greeting and the man laughed and waved them through with a dramatic flourish of his hat, only to straighten and nod solemnly when the carriage itself exposed his master’s face at the window.
“I am ashamed that I do not know his name.” Elizabeth said softly as they passed.
“Hayward.” Darcy smiled to see her lip caught in her teeth. “You have not met everyone yet, have you? I keep forgetting that we have not always been married.”
Elizabeth entwined their fingers as her head shook with his fancy. “I have barely met the staff within the house. And I am afraid that I will need to relearn the names and positions of those I have met already. I am suddenly acutely aware of how little I know of this place, and how little time I have spent here. It is like coming here for the first time all over again as a new bride.” Seeing Darcy’s expression change to his familiar, disconcertingly intense stare, she felt a nervous frisson move up her spine when his thumb stroked her palm. Desperate for a distraction, she looked across the carriage to where Parker and Judy sat. “I imagine that the two of you will be glad to return to your proper duties. Mr. Darcy and I were very fortunate to have your loyalty, especially over these past months. I know that Mr. Darcy has spoken to you, Parker, but I want to thank you again myself.”
“It was a pleasure, Mrs. Darcy.” Parker nodded. Noticing the inquiring lift to Darcy’s brow as he slowly swivelled his head away from his wife’s blushing face to take in Judy’s; he cleared his throat to bring his master’s attention back to him, “An education like no other.”
“You learned that you did not care to be a butler, footman, and valet all at once?” Darcy asked.
Parker cleared his throat again and shot a look at Judy. “Yes, sir.”
Elizabeth’s boot pressed down on Darcy’s and he smiled with her silent order to stop. “I cannot say that I blame you. The education I have received is one I would prefer to have learned at another time, and certainly at another place.” He took as deep a breath as he could and let it out slowly. The bruising to his ribs still hurt, but it was nothing to what he had felt after the accident.
Feeling an answering squeeze to her hand, Elizabeth looked out of the window and strained to see through the trees. “I am full of anticipation to see Pemberley in its full glory. Everything should be in bloom now.”
“The leaves certainly are plentiful, so much for any early view of the manor. That is the one disadvantage of coming home in warm weather.” Curiously, he examined the mischievous sparkle growing in her eyes.
“The warm weather is very welcome. I cannot wait to walk the paths, my limbs ache from lack of use.”
Darcy chuckled as he began to cotton on. “Your eyes are alight with the thought of adventure.”
“You promised you would introduce me to every rock and tree.”
“And so I shall, Mrs. Darcy. And we will find you a fine mount to make your own now that you are an accomplished rider. Perhaps you can manage a stallion.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers.
“A stallion? Do you truly think that I can take on something so formidable?” She held his warm eyes as he nodded slowly. “I think that I have much to learn, still.”
“Then I shall be glad to be your riding master.”
“Will you show me any particular points of interest?” She smiled with a little tilt to her head.
“I will take you to a spectacular precipice. I cannot wait to experience the pleasure of the view with yo
u.” His eyes twinkled when she laughed softly.
Judy smiled as Parker turned his head towards the window. Inwardly Darcy sighed. He should have hired a second carriage. When he mentioned the idea to Elizabeth, she had shown her practical spirit and said that without Georgiana along, there was no reason why the two servants could not simply ride with them. While he appreciated her tendency to unnecessarily economize, after three days of close proximity, and no opportunity to explore some intimate ideas he had hatched to while away the hours in the carriage, he was quite tired of the extra company and quite frustrated with desire. Even their time at the inns was no honeymoon. Upon leaving Sommerwald behind, they both discovered that exhaustion ruled the day. They no sooner fell into bed then they were asleep. It seemed that they were both finally giving in to their bodies’ demands to rest.
The carriage began its gradual climb to the top of the ridge. Soon they would reach the summit and the horses would follow their ingrained cue to begin rushing down the slope to the stables. They would be dropped off at the manor, and he could just imagine the endless fussing Mrs. Reynolds would subject them to upon their arrival.
That thought settled it. Darcy made a decision and when the carriage reached the crest, he picked up his walking stick and surprised everyone when he pounded on the ceiling with it. Immediately the carriage came to a stop.
Ben hopped down and opened the door. “Yes, sir?”
“Put the step down.” Darcy ordered and climbed out.
“Fitzwilliam, what …?” Elizabeth felt her hand grabbed and she was swiftly pulled from the carriage.
Shutting the door and kicking the step back into place, Darcy turned to Harris. “Carry on.”
“Sir …”
“We will be along in an hour or so. That should give Mrs. Reynolds plenty of time to order up bath water and whatever other excitement she wishes to bestow upon us.” Looking pointedly at Ben, the boy shut his mouth and clambered back up to his seat beside Harris. “Go on.”
Harris flicked his reins and the carriage rumbled off. Darcy turned his head and smiled at the woman on his arm. “Alone at last.”
She looked at him speculatively, “That was very clever, Mr. Darcy.”
“I thought so.” He leaned down to kiss her. “Your teasing and suggestions were getting the best of me.”
Looking him over appreciatively, she touched his breeches, “They certainly did. What a handsome stallion you are.”
Darcy glanced down rather proudly and started walking. “I must enquire … have you been punishing me by withholding your affections?”
Elizabeth laughed at his somewhat swaggering gait then demanded, “When did I withhold my affections?”
“Every night! Every time I …” Darcy bent to her ear. “Every time I reached for you, I … Lizzy, I wanted to …” Frustrated, the hand waved. “You know full well what I wanted!”
“You fell asleep!”
“You could have awakened me. I would not have protested.” His lips twitched.
“I have no doubt of that. I have noticed that you would likely be glad to be awakened several times during the night if the poking in my back is any indication.” She looked down at their clasped hands when he sighed resignedly.
“It is a hazard of my sex and proximity to you.”
“Even while sleeping?”
“When else are we so close and so private?” Darcy touched her face when she blushed. “I do not know what it is, but … leaving Scotland behind was … I could practically feel the weight and the tension falling away as the miles between us and Sommerwald increased. By the time that we reached the first inn it was all I could do to set one foot before the other.”
“Lead was in your boots?”
“I think so. I have not felt so free, I suppose, in so long.” He watched her nodding and caressed back a stubborn curl. “It has taken you longer to relax, I think.”
“I suppose that I could not do so until I knew you were.” She blushed when Darcy’s eyes warmed. “Please do not do that.”
“What am I doing?”
“Looking so handsome and … kissable.”
“I would not object to being kissed, Lizzy. I thought that you and I would be rather exhausted from constant lovemaking and here we have not coupled once since we departed. What is wrong with us? Are we tired of each other?”
Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open. “Tired!
Laughing, Darcy reached out with both hands and pulled her to his chest. “I knew that would inspire a response from you.”
She glared. “I am not in the least tired of you.”
“Good.”
“I was, am … was … just …”
“Tired,” he kissed her gently, brushing his mouth over her cheek and whispering, “Are you tired now?”
She closed her eyes and rested her head over his heart, “I think that we need to simply rest, Will. I have never been so exhausted, and I lived this nightmare only half as long as you. I wish with all of my heart I had been with you the entire time. Your strength overwhelms me.” She felt his arms tighten and they stood silently embraced for some time. When she felt his kiss upon her brow, she let go and touched his cheek. “Besides, the walls were very thin in those inns. I did not wish us to entertain the other guests. They were busy enough entertaining us.” Her smile graduated to a grin. “Last night, oh my, the grunting and creaking from our neighbours!”
Darcy’s eyes widened and he nodded, “You heard that? What were they doing, do you think? It went on for hours … I was trying to imagine the scene. His lady seemed to enjoy …”
“Fitzwilliam Darcy!” Elizabeth gasped.
“They woke me and I could not sleep!”
“It went on for five minutes. I assure you, his lady was not as satisfied as he.” She said sternly.
“It seemed like hours.” He muttered.
Elizabeth laughed and poked her finger in his chest. “That is because you were wishing it for yourself.”
“I certainly was.” His voice was a low growl.
“I could just imagine him …”
“Elizabeth Darcy!”
Her mouth dropped open, “You could imagine, but I could not? Hypocrite!”
“What did you imagine?” He demanded. “What he looked like? How handsome he was? How … ?” His hand waved in the general vicinity of his breeches.
“Look at you! Becoming jealous of an invisible man! He is not even a statue to stare at and fondle! Which reminds me, I do need to visit the gallery.”
“The gallery is off limits to you.”
“Oh, do not tempt me, sir!”
“Lizzy …”
“Did you not just ask me what I thought they were doing in their chamber?”
“Yes, but that was before I remembered that your imagination is quite vivid.” He shot her a look. “As is mine.”
“What do you imagine we would be doing to elicit such sounds?” She smiled wickedly.
A slow smile crept over his face. “I would like to find out.” Elizabeth giggled when he added proudly, “And it would last longer than five minutes.” Darcy hugged her tightly when she nodded in agreement. “I have missed this so much, love. Playing and arguing, about anything at all, just talking about nothing.” He looked down at her, “talking about anything. I cannot express how happy I am to be home.”
“I feel the same. I cannot wait to truly begin.” She looked around contentedly. “At last.”
They had reached the spot on the drive where the trees opened up and Pemberley House was laying at their feet. Elizabeth stopped and he looked at the view, and then back to the woman at his side. The teasing sparkle in her eyes was warm with happiness. Peace suffused her face and he felt the same emotions filling up his heart.
“Do you know how beautiful you are?” He whispered and drew her back against his chest.
“Hush.”
He smiled as she blushed anew. “What are you thinking?”
She held his hands, watching a fam
ily of geese travelling like tiny white dots over the distant lake, then looking to the house, spotted the window to their chambers and below, seeing for the first time the sparkle of water from the fountain in the courtyard. “This is home.” A breeze blew and all around them the leaves seemed to be applauding their arrival.
“Yes.” Darcy took in everything and drew a full and painless breath. He kissed her ear. “It was before …”
“It was, but not quite. Before it was a … background, a … setting for some great production put on in Drury Lane. We were on a stage. We were never ourselves, not completely.” She looked up to see if he understood.
Darcy murmured, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players …”
“It was a stage because we were living a lie.”
“My loving you was never a lie, Elizabeth.” Darcy turned her around and caressed her cheek. “I wanted you here. Even before I thought of that colossal impossible scheme to save Georgiana, I … I wanted you. Here. I can imagine no other woman here.”
“You said that before, when we were walking. The day that we found the cabin and we were going to love each other …” She looked into the walnut grove and just made out the lines of the cabin.
“There are no more lies, dearest. No more pretending, no more worries that somehow everything will be discovered. We are coming home to finally be … whatever fate decides we shall be.” Darcy kissed her and closed his eyes, murmuring over her mouth before kissing her again. “My God, I love you.”
“Will …”
“I think that you have it precisely right. Pemberley had become a stage and if I had been left to manage Georgiana alone …” He shook that thought from his head. “I fear that Pemberley would remain a place of secrecy forever. How lonely that would have been.”
She went to work fixing his crushed neck cloth. “I would have saved you.”
“Would you?” He smiled. “And how would you do that? What if I had been stubborn and resisted you after all?”
“I would have given you a second chance.”
“A second chance? After I botched the first at Netherfield? How could that be? Where would I ever have met you again?”