Page 46 of Through the Eyes of Love

“Dearest wife, that kiss was just the first of thousands more to come.” Her lips were so soft and full—he pledged to make time to kiss her every day. He would love this woman with the tenderness and passion she deserved for the rest of his life.

* * *

Could this really be happening?He had called her “my love” and said she was beautiful. Were all her dreams coming true? She feared she would awaken and everything she had been praying for would disappear.She still had tears in her eyes when she had looked closely at her husband and his face had been perfect. Her heart pounded when she touched the man she had loved for so long—only to have him reciprocate the gesture. His expression of love and their first kiss were nearly too much. Surely her heart would burst! For months she had suffered—waiting for him to show her any sign of affection and now. . .now she was too overcome with love to remember.

* * *

Darcyand his dearest wife spent the night in each other’s arms, and in the morning, he awoke to the warmth of her form as she slept peacefully beside him. He quietly rose, wrote a short note to the servants, and slipped it under the door. When he returned to bed, his heart was full. Elizabeth’s curls cascaded around her, and the sun reflected the copper highlights in her hair. Herlips were swollen, and a small smile played on his own lips as everything that occurred after he followed her up the stairs came to mind. How he loved her. She was his life now, and he needed nothing else. He could not resist touching the woman he loved and he gently pushed one of her curls from her face. “‘She sleeps, perchance to dream. . .’” he said in a whisper.

She slowly opened her eyes and smiled. “‘And when love speaks, the voice of all the gods,make heaven drowsy with the harmony.’Good morning, husband. Shakespeare before breakfast! I believe I shall enjoy being married.”His wife stretched her armsup over her head. Daylight poured through the windows illuminating her beautiful face. “My goodness, I never sleep this late.”

“Well, we were up rather late last night.” His teasing words made his wife’s face turn pink recalling the pleasures they shared.

“What time will Perkins and Kenton come in?”

“They have been instructed not to bother us until further notice. Do you approve?”

She nodded her agreement. “I have not seen you smile in a long time. Will you promise to smile as often as is appropriate?”

“My dear wife, my happiness is all because of you. Since the fire, I had nothing to smile about. With you beside me, everything lifts my spirits. Sophocles said, ‘One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life: That word is love.’ You saved me from myself and freed my heart to love you as you should be loved. As you slumbered, I realized I have never before shared a bed with anyone and now I hope I shall never sleep alone again. I never dreamt love could feel like this—you fill my heart, my mind, my very being.” He paused and attempted a solemn countenance. “However, I have a serious problem.”

She sat up and faced him, her brow furrowed. “What could be your problem on this glorious morning? Is there any way I can help you?”

He said earnestly, “I cannot decide if you are more beautiful awake or asleep.” His lovely wife beamed as she relaxed against her pillow. “In the daylight, your exquisite eyes sparkle and now that you have awakened, your face is glowing. You are as beautiful on the inside as on the outside, but I shall have to study this matter further.” He leaned forward to kiss her, and his nightshirt rose high enough for Elizabeth to see the scars on his leg for the first time.

“Oh, my love, I shudder to think of all you have endured.” She gently ran her hand over the deep welts on his thigh.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips for a lingering kiss. “If there had never been a fire, we would never have met. Whatever we went through, it was worth the suffering to have each other for the rest of our lives.” A soft knock interrupted them, and Darcy walked to the door to find a breakfast tray on the floor outside.

As he carried their meal into the room, she scrambled to sit. “Something smells good! I am famished! I cannot remember the last time I ate anything.”

“Allow me to assist you,” he said as he set the tray on the bed then placed a fresh raspberry in her mouth. They fed each other from the tray of food.

“This cottage has always been occupied by people in love,” he said. “The celebration of that love has continued to this day; to you and me. I seem to remember my father and Mrs. Reynolds talking about the cottage being enchanted—the stories must be true! Do you understand?”

“I do believe you when you say you love me but,”—she set her toast back on the plate as tears filled her eyes—“Why, why did you not speak of your love before last night? Why did youpropose if you did not feel any tenderness for me? My heart broke a little more every day of our engagement. If you had not arrived at Mrs. Hopkins’s when you did, I had planned to take the mail coach to London to save myself from the pain of you rejecting me.” She pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “When I saw the expression on your face as you stood at the altar, I was close to turning around and leaving Derbyshire forever. If your uncle had not come to me at the back of the chapel, I was ready to run away and spare you the agony of marrying someone you did not love.” Her tears were flowing freely. “When I visited the cottage, you either ignored me or treated me cruelly, and I wished to get as far away from you as I could.”

Darcy took a moment to gather his thoughts and used his thumbs to remove her tears before he caressed her face. “Pray do not cry, my dearest. I have been a terrible coward who allowed his excessive pride to rule his heart.”

“What wereyouafraid of?” She did not turn her head towards him.

“I saw how Mr. Butler gazed at you and how much you seemed to enjoy his company. I proposed because I could not abide the idea of you being with anyone but me. I dreaded you having second thoughts about marryingmeso I kept my sentiments to myself. I feared you would be repulsed by my touch and reject a taciturn man with a scarred face and a bad leg. Then I began to wonder when you would realize you did not truly care for me. When I saw you in church yesterday, your beauty took my breath away, but my ridiculous pride would not allow me to show you how I felt.”

She turned her head and looked into Darcy’s eyes. “I was too frightened to talk to you about us. We are both responsible for our misunderstandings—neither of us had the courage to speak honestly. I have loved you with all my heart for a very longtime, butmygreatest fear was thatourswas to be a marriage of friends, of two lonely people who sought a compatible spouse. When we were alone together after the breakfast yesterday, I watched you and saw nothing but apathy in your eyes. Mrs. Hopkins told me the stronger your love is, the more painful is its loss. I had to get away from you so I came upstairs because my heart was broken. I was certain we had made a terrible mistake. All I could think about was how quickly I could leave here and spare you the pain of resenting me more and more every day. As soon as you came into this room everything changed. I cannot explain it. The room had a brilliant radiance, and although you had not yet spoken those words to me, I felt the power of your love.”

A profound sense of elation continued in Darcy’s breast with her expression of the similar sense of the magic they had experienced. “I had those same sensations before I took you in my arms. As long as our love continues to grow, it matters not how long this enchantment lasts.”

“Do you believe the change in our physical appearance will only be temporary?”

He leaned across the bed to kiss her. “Every day since our first meeting in the rose garden, I have admired your brilliant mind, your beauty, and the compassion you showed for my mother’s labour of love. You are forever a part of me=, and I shall always regret I did not tell you what was in my heart months ago. I allowed my arrogance to keep my love for you locked deep within me, but that all ended last night. When we opened our hearts to each other, my life began. Mr. Martin told me that true love must be within me and now I understand what he meant. You have brought me out of a very dark place and captured my heart with bonds that will never break.”

“We cannot change the mistakes we made in the past. I suppose I must learn to be content with being more joyful thanI have ever been. Nothing, nothing will ever change the way I feel about you and I promise to love you more every day. Do you believe me?”

“Yes, I do. Our love will grow and deepen every day.” Darcy rose and placed the breakfast tray on a table.

“What are you doing? We just started to eat.”

“There arecertainthings more important than food. For now, I need to show my wife how much more I love her today than I did yesterday.”