by Wells, Linda
“No, no.” He laughed.
“Ode to a Lover.” Elizabeth grinned. “My lover is …”
“Shhh!” Darcy kissed her smile to silence her, and they remained pleasantly engaged for several minutes. “Mmm. Now, my dear, are you prepared for your first adventure?”
“I think so.” Elizabeth laughed. “Am I dressed for it?”
He stepped back and looked her over. “It will do. However I suggest riding boots.”
“Oh!” She was gone in a flash and returned ten minutes later in a new dress and boots. “There! What do you think?”
“I am flabbergasted with your speed!” Taking her hand he led her down the stairs to the breakfast room, and after enjoying the meal they walked first to the kitchens to inspect the repairs, then examined the rooms that were scrubbed free of smoke, and finally outside to stroll towards the stables.
Elizabeth looked down at their clasped hands and back up to his face. The slight smile was there, but again she could tell that he was lost in thoughts of the estate. “The kitchen is unlike one that I have ever seen before.”
Torn from his reverie he looked to her. “It is the newest and most efficient design, I understand. I wonder what our cook thinks of it.”
“From what I could see she is delighted. Did you not notice her practically caressing her new things?” She laughed. “I can see her bragging of them to any who would listen.”
“I missed that. I suppose that I was more concerned with the structural changes.” Darcy smiled. “I am not always so obtuse.”
“I suppose I will find that out.”
“Hmm. I was just thinking that we need a house steward and a new butler. Both of the positions became available when one man died and the other retired this spring, but I have not been home to interview candidates.”
“Would you promote from within? That might encourage a better working environment; the men would be already loyal to Pemberley.”
“I thought that as well. I will speak to; we will speak to Mrs. Reynolds and Mr. Nichols about it.” He kissed her hand and then swung it back and forth as they walked. “Here we are.” They entered the stables and he walked up to a stall holding his black stallion. “This is Onyx.” He rubbed the horse’s nose and he nickered in recognition of his master. “He is a nervous beast, but fast as the wind.” Darcy offered him a carrot and rubbed his forelock before moving along. “This is my favourite gelding, Richard.”
Elizabeth giggled. “First a pearl, and now a horse? What is the story this time?”
He laughed softly as he opened the stall and a groom ran up to lead the animal out to be saddled. “When he was a foal Richard stood a little too close and received a rather painful kick in a treasured area of a man’s anatomy.” Elizabeth blushed but her gaze fell on Darcy’s breeches. He cleared his throat and took her hand to walk out to the paddock. “When the horse was castrated, I naturally thought of my cousin.”
“Fitzwilliam!” She gasped then covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “You have a very wicked sense of humour!”
He smiled a little but his eyes were twinkling, then leaning forward he whispered in her ear, “That is a story I never could have told you only a few weeks ago.”
“Are there more?”
Darcy shrugged. “I am not given to bawdiness.”
“No, but I love to hear you laugh.” She smiled at him and he looked down, then led her to the mounting block. “Let us see if I remember what to do.” She put her foot in the stirrup, and grabbing a bit of mane, bounced for a moment before pulling herself up.
“Well done!” He said happily. “I thought you were a novice.”
“I just prefer walking. I really did fall off twice, but I did have some lessons between the accidents. Besides, our riding horse is very old and tired, and sometimes I felt I was moving faster on foot than Jane was on Nellie.” She settled into place. Darcy swung up behind her and gathered the reins. He nodded to the boy who was holding the horse’s head and they began to move off and out the gate. “I did not realize that Jane rode.”
“Oh yes, but of course with one old horse, that was not a favourite past time.”
“She did not tell Harwick, did she? He would have liked to have known that. It may have helped to have some mutual interest.”
“I cannot imagine why, unless … maybe she was actually trying to give him reasons to reject her?”
“I do not think that he needed much help.”
“Fitzwilliam!” Her eyes flashed and he raised his brow and looked at her with his head tilted. “Well …” Darcy kissed her and she sighed. “Why are we talking about my sister?”
“Good question.” He smiled and hugged her. “I have thought so much of riding together like this.” Leaning down to her ear he whispered, “It has been the subject of dreams.”
“How so?”
He kicked the horse and they picked up speed, until they were galloping rapidly across the field. They moved together with the horse’s gait, and Elizabeth leaned back against him as he kept one arm firmly around her waist while she held onto his with both arms. He pressed his mouth to her ear. “Does this remind you of anything, my love?” Their eyes met as they continued to rise and fall in harmony. “Your letter made me imagine so many things.”
“I did not mean to put ideas in your head, truly.”
“I know.” Darcy kissed her. “I know.” He slowed and stopped the horse and put the reins in her hands. “Now, you take control, show me what you remember.”
“It is not a great deal. I observed more than I actually rode.” She said nervously. Darcy smiled and she drew a deep breath, then slowly urged Richard forward. “Where should we go?”
“Do you see that ridge over there?” He pointed ahead. “Just follow the trace here in the pasture; it will lead you right up.” Elizabeth nodded and putting her lip between her teeth, focussed completely on her task. Darcy placed both hands lightly on her waist and gazed from her hands, to the path, to her determined eyes. He did not break her concentration, and only a few times did he involuntarily reach for the reins to resume control, but managed to stop before he wrested them from her. He limited himself to speaking softly and giving her directions to improve her skills. “Perhaps we should have given you your own horse.”
“I like this better.”
“I do, too.” He squeezed her and kissed her cheek. “I do have a new pony for you, just waiting for a name.”
“Not Richard.”
He chuckled. “No, not Richard.”
They gained the top of the ridge and Elizabeth hesitated. “Where do I go now?”
“Nowhere, we have arrived.” Jumping down he led the horse to a tree and tied him off, then held up his arms to help her to slide down. When she reached the ground they naturally paused to kiss, then he took her hand. “Come Mrs. Darcy.” They walked to the edge of the precipice and he stood behind her, slipping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. “What do you see?”
“Oh … Fitzwilliam, this is the landscape in your study!” She looked up to his smiling face. “This is where the artist sat?”
“Yes. It is my favourite view. You see the house, and the lake, and even the gardens, there, just around the side of the house.”
“It is beautiful.”
He held her tighter and whispered. “I had my last conversation with my father here. One of the very last things he said was to remind me that I should marry with my heart. I regret that I forgot that advice until the day we met in the park.”
“Stop, Will. Tell me why this is your favourite view.” Elizabeth looked around and pulled his hand so they settled down in the grass. Darcy removed his coat and she curled against his chest. “How long have you come up here?”
“Father brought me here for as long as I can remember, and his father brought him.” He kissed her smile and rested his head on her hair. “I remember riding here with him and Mother.”
“What was she like? I know that Georgiana resembles h
er in looks, does her personality match as well?”
“Yes, it does, and every so often she will look at me and I have to remember that it is my young sister.”
“Is this when she is angry?” Elizabeth laughed.
“No.” He chuckled. “No, it is when she is playing.” He sighed and looked around them and closed his eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you.” She caressed over his cheek then holding his jaw kissed him.
Darcy sighed and his eyes reopened. “We need a new memory for this spot.” He turned and pressed her down into the grass and stretched out beside her, propping himself onto his elbow. Slowly he traced his fingers down her throat then kissed her tenderly.
“What … what do you have in mind?” She said nervously.
“I know what I would like, very much.” His gentle fingers continued tracing over her shoulders and he watched them travel slowly lower to draw circles around and around her breast.
“In the open? Fitzwilliam, anyone could come along and hear or … or see us!”
Darcy lifted his eyes from her bosom to see her looking so shy, “No one will see.”
“How do you know?”
“Look around you dearest, we are surrounded by trees.” His hand moved over her gown to slide under the skirt and up her leg, to stroke her thighs. “I have thought of loving you here for so very long. I thought of you kissing me here, and you have. Please kiss me again.”
Elizabeth stared up into the sweet blue of his eyes, and read the vulnerability within. He was asking her for reassurance, in this very special place. She sat up to take his shoulders and lay him down on the ground. She smiled at his surprise and leaning over him, gently traced her tongue over his parted lips, then nipped at them lightly. “Like this?”
He moaned, “Oh yes.”
“I want to kiss you the way that you kiss me.”
“Elizabeth.” He swallowed and closed his eyes. “What does that mean?” Again he felt her tongue delicately tasting his lips then slipping inside of his mouth to explore and suckle him. Darcy moaned and his arms rose up to embrace her while Elizabeth’s hands held his face and she put all of her feelings into the endless strokes over his lips. She lost herself in her wish to show how deeply she loved him and he lay still, drinking in the sensation and moving far beyond physical desire to become absolutely enveloped in the emotion of her gift. When her sensual soft kisses slowed, and she began to gently kiss the corners of his mouth, then his eyes, he looked up to see her smiling at him. He brushed back the hair that hung loose around her shoulders, dislodged by his caressing hands, then touched his thumb to her lips. They stayed embraced and looking at each other as their hearts beat in tandem until wordlessly, Darcy drew her face back to his, and kissed her, then rolled so that now he hovered above, and proceeded to kiss her exactly as she had done for him, leaving her in no doubt at all of his feelings. When at last he moved away and kissed her nose, he looked down to see her sparkling beautiful eyes smiling at him. He returned the smile and touched her reddened mouth.
Elizabeth brushed his hair back from his forehead. “Now tell me, have we made a memory worthy of this place?”
“I will never forget it.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand then settling against a tree, drew her up to rest in his arms where they sat silently embraced and looking out over their home. Their quiet reflection was at last interrupted when a grouping of geese announced their arrival and they looked up to watch them fly overhead then on over the house before circling back to land in the lake. Darcy hugged her and she kissed his chin. He looked down and smiled. “What shall we do next?”
“We should have packed a picnic, then we could stay here all day.”
“I thought that you would want to be wandering the paths and exploring the park.”
“Oh, we have forever for that.” She sighed and rested back on his waistcoat. “I am just as happy appreciating the view with you. I never had the opportunity to show you, but there is a place near Longbourn called Oakham Mount, where I would go to sit and contemplate … everything. I suspect that is what you do here?”
“Yes.” He hugged her. “I am so happy that you understand my need to just be quiet out here. Now I will no longer do it alone. I think that was one thing that spoke to me when I first spied you in the park. I remember you looking around and embracing the trees. I think then was when I first knew how much you would love Pemberley.”
“I will.” She smiled at the view. “The park is ten miles around?”
“Yes, but the estate covers a great deal more. Many, many acres have been purchased and we have a great many tenants for you to meet. I will come with you, of course.”
“Do you have time?” She asked seriously.
He chuckled. “I would certainly not send you alone. I consider tenant relations part of my position. I meet with Mr. Repair, the reverend who has the living here, regularly to discuss their welfare.”
“Papa just paid his taxes and grumbled about it.” She sighed. “We were not poor, but there never seemed to be much left at the end of the year. Between Mama overspending on clothes and Papa overspending on his books and …” She grew quiet then said softly. “I am very aware of how important it is to be careful.”
Darcy embraced her and asked quietly, “Did you learn this from observing your parents or the Gardiners?”
She smiled back at him. “Both, the good and the bad examples. I still have the twenty pounds I won last year at the Derby.” She gasped and raised her hand to her mouth. “Oh! That is yours now! I should have given it to you!”
Darcy laughed softly. “I do not think that is necessary, my love.”
“But I brought so little …”
“You brought everything. Now I do not want to hear another word about that.” He hugged her tighter, and looked towards the stables. “I see Mr. Nichols has returned.”
“How can you tell? They are so far away.”
“He always has his two assistants with him, so three riders in the stables, it must be him.” He smiled at her. “He is probably there to meet with me.”
“Shall we return? There must be so much to talk about; the fire repairs alone should be addressed.”
Darcy looked at her for a long moment then nodded. “Yes, duty calls.” They rose to their feet and brushed each other off. Elizabeth tried to fix her hair. “You should have worn a bonnet.”
“I do not see your hat.” She said pointedly.
“It is too hot.” He bent to pick up his coat and sighed when he put it back on. “Much too hot.” An idea occurred to him and he tilted his head. “Have you ever walked in the moonlight?”
“Only when leaving an evening somewhere. What do you have in mind?” She laughed as he nodded thoughtfully. “Fitzwilliam!”
He shrugged. “You will see.” Giving her a leg up, he settled her back onto the horse and swung up behind her. “Now, you are in charge, show me what you know.”
“You are a brave man.” She nudged Richard backwards then down the path towards home. By the time they arrived, Darcy had taught her how to urge the horse to gallop, and although his hands were hovering ready to take over, and commands were poised to fall from his lips, he bit back his desire to control, and let Elizabeth discover her weaknesses. They walked slowly into the paddock. He leaned around to see her smiling broadly, and was glad to have let her alone.
“What do you think, dearest? Would you like to learn on your own pony next time?”
“I … I think so.” She tilted her head up and laughed. “I have all the confidence in the world with you sitting behind me.”
Darcy chuckled and jumped down. He nodded to a waiting groom, who came to hold the bridle, then held out his arms for her. “I think that you can have just as much confidence if I were riding beside you, Elizabeth.”
“How did I do? Really?”
“Satisfactory.” He smiled when her eyes narrowed. “You asked.”
“I know.” She sighed and watched Richard
amble away. “I need to practice. Perhaps I can do that while you are out with Mr. Nichols.” Darcy’s brow creased and she put her hands on her hips. “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing.”
“Fitzwilliam, I was not proposing a journey to London, can I not ride around the stables until I know what I am doing? I am sure the boys here will look after me.”
Darcy looked up to see several stable hands, all at or very near to Elizabeth’s age, looking their way. He spotted the stable master, and strode over to him to have a word before returning. “Mr. Grassel will be glad to supervise you in my absence. However, you are not to ride out alone.”
“I had no intention of doing so. I suppose that you wish to assert your husbandly rights and prevent me from doing anything that does not please you, including speaking to the grooms?” She waved over to the young men who were being addressed by Mr. Grassel. “I can take care of myself.”
“Lizzy.” Darcy said quietly. The name instantly claimed her attention. “I trust my staff with my sister, why would I not trust them with you? As for riding alone, I know how dangerous horses can be for an experienced rider, and frankly if anything ever happens to you, particularly if I could have prevented it, I would never recover.” His face had no expression, but his eyes searched hers to see if she understood.
Elizabeth’s anger disappeared and she returned to him and took his hand. “Forgive me.” He squeezed and nodded, and they began walking towards the house. “I am unused to being protected.”
“I am very sorry to learn that, however, it is something that you will have to become accustomed to, Elizabeth. I take your well-being very seriously.” His lips were pressed together and he gripped her hand hard. “Very seriously.”
“Then I will not jump to conclusions that you are thinking me unworthy or foolish.”
“I never would think that in any case.”
“I have to grow used to that, as well.” She smiled a little. “I apologize.”
“You are a challenge.” He relaxed and smiled back. “I wonder if you could have caught any man besides me.” Elizabeth began to laugh. “Think about it, dearest. You are defensive and ready to take on the man who loves you more than his own life for the tiniest hint of a slight, you are very quick-witted which would frankly frighten most men to feel inadequate, you are …