Page 68 of Elizabeth Bennet Says Yes to Mr. Darcy

“I know how to count.”

“You seem determined to make the journey impossible.”

“I thought married men enjoyed more privileges.”

“Not in a carriage where the coachman and a valet are a few feet away.”

I blushed, then laughed against his shoulder.

He put an arm around me and kept me there. The warmth of his body, the swaying of the carriage, and sheer exhaustion finally made my eyelids heavy.

I fell asleep against my husband.

When I woke, the lights of London glimmered through the window. Darcy was absently caressing my fingers.

“We’ve arrived,” he murmured.

His gaze reminded me that our day was not over.

It was only beginning.

Chapter 21

Elizabeth

Darcy's London house seemed quiet after Longbourn.

The servants greeted us with perfect discretion. No cries from Lydia, no questions from my mother, no bursts of laughter from Bingley to soften my acute awareness of the night ahead.

A lady's maid led me to an apartment decorated in pale silk. A closed door connected to Fitzwilliam's chamber. I stared at it while she undid my hair and replaced my traveling dress with a thin nightgown beneath a dressing gown.

The young woman worked efficiently, but her movements seemed to take forever.

“Mr. Darcy has requested that a light supper be served to you here, ma'am.”

Ma'am.

I almost turned around to check that she was addressing me.

“Thank you.”

When she had left the room, I barely ate. I walked to the window, returned to the fire, examined a book without reading its title. My courage from the pavilion had vanished along with my corset. I felt strangely naked beneath the light layers of my attire, though nothing was yet revealed.

A gentle knock came at the connecting door.

“Come in.”

Fitzwilliam appeared.

He wore a dark dressing gown over his shirt and trousers. His hair, freed from its usual discipline, fell slightly across his forehead. This simplicity made him more intimate than nakedness might have.

He closed the door behind him without stepping forward.

“How do you feel?”

“Like a woman whose husband has already asked her too many questions today.”

He smiled, but his eyes remained watchful.