Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth

by Greer Boyd

  As Frances entered the bedchamber, Aunt Lilly was immediately taken with her kind face. The two women chatted comfortably for more than half an hour before the twins started to whimper to be fed. When Aunt Lilly introduced Frances to her baby girls, she could see the tender care with which the young widow held each baby, as she gently lifted one and then the other from the cradle.

  “My goodness, they are beautiful,” cried Frances, her eyes open wide, “and they look exactly alike. How do you tell them apart?”

  “Well, for right now we use ribbon,” explained Aunt Lilly with a slight chuckle. “The ribbon is for Eleanor, the first one born, and her younger sister is named Anne.”

  “Almost like Jacob and Esau,” sighed Frances with a quiet laugh.

  As Aunt Lilly laughed with her and prepared to nurse baby Eleanor, Frances asked, “Would you like for me to nurse Anne while you nurse Eleanor, and next time we can switch so that you will have equal time with each of your daughters?”

  “I think that would be a wonderful idea. Do you not agree Mrs. Reynolds?” asked Aunt Lilly with a wink.

  “Indeed I do,” responded Mrs. Reynolds. “Mrs. Farmer, when you have finished nursing Miss Anne, please come to my study, and I will direct you to your quarters in the nursery wing and give you a quick tour of Pemberley House.”

  “Thank you Mrs. Gardiner, and thank you also Mrs. Reynolds,” replied Frances, warmth and sincerity a quite natural part of her speech. “Thank you very much.”

  ∞∞∞

  The eighth of April finally arrived. Elizabeth’s period of mourning officially ended at midnight the night before. That morning, everyone assembled in the larger sitting room at Pemberley House before breakfast and waited patiently while Darcy paced back and forth before the fireplace, looking anxiously toward the door every few minutes for Elizabeth to appear.

  “Wills,” explained Georgiana as she walked up to her brother and took his hands into her own. “You have waited more than a year for her. Now, it is only a few more minutes. Be patient.”

  Those words had barely been uttered when Elizabeth appeared. Finally, gone was the bombazine. She was dressed in a vivid yellow silk gown. The bodice was fitted and had tiny tucks trimmed in dark blue silk. The tucks ended at her waist where the gown began to flare into a full skirt. The final four inches at the hem bore the same plethora of tucks trimmed in the deep blue silk. The décolletage was demure, accenting and flattering Elizabeth’s ample form, and the sleeves extended to just below the elbow.

  On her feet she wore slender yellow slippers, also trimmed with blue ribbon. Her hair had been piled loosely on top of her head with tendrils of spiraling curls escaping to frame her face and shoulders in a most seductive and alluring manner.

  As her eyes searched for Darcy among the assembled mass of their family and friends, her heart beat in her chest so loudly and rapidly she feared that everyone could hear its sonorous rhythm. Georgiana knew immediately when her brother first saw Elizabeth. His eyes fixed on her and, suddenly sucking in a deep breath, he could only say, “Beautiful.”

  Elizabeth walked farther into the room never taking her eyes from his face. He brought his sister’s right hand to his lips and kissed the back of her hand, then released it to stride toward Elizabeth. He met her before she was a third of the way across the room. Bowing to her, he purred, “Good morning, my love.” She curtsied to him in turn, saying softly but brightly, “And to you, my heart.”

  As both smiled from ear to ear, Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand and sank to one knee. Looking fully into her face, he asked, “My Lizzy, will you consent to be my wife?”

  Tears filled her eyes, but she laughed as she answered, “Oh, William. With all my heart, I will.”

  When Darcy slipped the ruby ring on her finger, great whoops of joy came from everyone in the room, and they crowded around to express their elation for the two people who had waited for more than a year for that perfect exchange.

  The very next day they were to marry. Although some in England may have been surprised, it was no surprise at all to their family, extended family, and friends. Both had been very careful to observe and meet all the requirements of their mourning periods, but their plans to marry as soon as that time was over were well known. Gabby and her sisters had completed Elizabeth’s wedding dress and her beautifully colourful trousseau months earlier. The chapel was prepared, the special license obtained, the wedding breakfast planned and carefully prepared. All of the wedding guests had been at Pemberley, Caenvista, and Avonlea for at least a week waiting for this special day.

  Upon their arrival only a couple of days before the long awaited engagement, the Duke and Duchess of Avon had greeted Elizabeth as though she were their own daughter. The Duke took the first opportunity available to pull Darcy away from Elizabeth for a private conversation.

  “Darcy, I know that you intend to take Elizabeth to the Continent for a grand honeymoon after the birth of all the babies,” he began, “but instead of your staying here at Pemberley House for your wedding night, I think I have a better idea.”

  Darcy smiled at the older man, whom he had come to consider almost as a father, “A better idea? Oh ho, and what might that be?”

  He began to chuckle when the Duke explained what he had done with the help of Darcy’s closest cousins. “Your Grace,” he laughed with great fondness for the older man, “has anyone ever told you that you are quite a romantic?”

  “Yes,” grinned the Duke unashamedly, “my lovely wife.”

  The morning after the proposal, the entire Darcy clan and their guests walked to the Pemberley Chapel along with the Duke and Duchess of Avon, a choice few of Lady Matlock’s closest friends, and a great many of the Pemberley staff and servants. The ten-minute walk took them to the small glen where the quaint chapel stood encompassed by stately tall trees. The doors to the chapel were opened, but the wedding ceremony was to take place on the front steps, so that everyone would be able to see. A bolt of dark ruby red cloth ran from the interior of the chapel down the steps to end just beyond where the knot of family and friends were gathered.

  As soon as Darcy had taken his place beside the rector from the chapel at Kympton with Richard and Piers at his side, Jane and then Mary walked down the aisle to the steps. Each took a moment to kiss him on the cheek before taking their places opposite him. Anne Elizabeth and Thomas soon stood on the far end of the cloth walkway. Thomas carried a small pillow on which Elizabeth’s wedding ring was carefully pinned, and Anne Elizabeth carried a reed basket filled to the brim with lavender blooms from the Pemberley hothouse. They walked slowly to the steps of the chapel as Anne Elizabeth dropped the blooms along the way. When they reached the steps, Thomas walked to stand between Piers and Richard, and Anne Elizabeth stood with Jane and Mary.

  Darcy looked to the end of the cloth as Elizabeth took her place on the arm of her Uncle Edward. Her ivory satin wedding gown glowed in the soft sunlight. To say that she looked radiant would have put the word to shame. She was breathtaking, and Darcy’s eyes never left hers as she slowly walked toward him. When Uncle Edward placed her hand in his, the birds in the nearby trees ceased their singing as a tendril of her hair gently wafted in the softly blowing breeze. After the vows were spoken, the newly married couple shared an almost chaste kiss. They had held their desire and their passion in check for over a year. They knew that they could wait a few more minutes. Once the registry was signed, the rector introduced the Duke and Duchess of Pemberley to the family and guests that were assembled.

  When the entire party walked back to Pemberley House for the wedding breakfast, they were greeted by most of the families from Lambton, along with the families from the neighboring estates. The wedding breakfast was sumptuous in every aspect from appetizer to dessert. After biding their time for almost an hour, the newlyweds managed to catch Aunt Eleanor’s eye. She smiled knowingly and gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head. Darcy quietly took Elizabeth by the hand and led her up the wide staircase to the
mistress bedchamber. Katie was there and helped her to change from her wedding gown to a riding habit then directed her down the servants’ stairs to the rear of Pemberley House, where Darcy waited with her dapple gray mare. She knew that they were going to be away for the next three days, but she had no idea where they were going. She and Darcy had entrusted both Thomas and Anne Elizabeth to their three aunts that morning before the wedding ceremony.

  They rode out over the fields behind Pemberley House. At the far edge of the furthermost field visible from the great house, they turned in the opposite direction from the trail that led to Caenvista. A little more than an hour and a half later, they arrived at a little valley almost completely hidden from view near the top of one of the peaks. From the rim of the valley, Elizabeth could see a small, beautiful, cascading waterfall that fed a tiny stream. Nestled in the trees close to the waterfall, and seemingly built into the easterly facing steep valley wall, was what appeared to be a hunters’ lodge about half the size of one of the small stables that sat behind the larger main stable at Pemberley House.

  “Oh Wills,” sobbed Elizabeth, “it is absolute divine.”

  “When Lord Dove told me what he and the others had done, I knew you would be delighted,” explained Darcy, as he reached for her hand and slowly brought it to his lips.

  A quarter hour later, he was performing the duties of a groomsman as he removed the saddles and remaining tack from the horses, then brushed and wiped them down. Elizabeth helped him prepare food and water for the animals in the small stable that took up about a third of the lodge at one end.

  After cleaning themselves in the small stream, Darcy and Elizabeth walked hand-in-hand into the main room of the structure. There before them on a small table with two chairs sat a large picnic basket, two bottles of wine, and two wine glasses. At the far end of the room, there was a large fireplace with a fire that had obviously been lit shortly before they arrived and then banked to fill the room with welcoming warmth. An ample supply of wood to last the duration of their stay was stacked neatly in the corner.

  But Elizabeth’s eye was drawn to the huge bed situated in the middle of the room, beautifully made up with the Darcy fine linen, feather pillows, and two duvets should they be needed during the night. Her silk nightgown, robe, and bedroom slippers were laid out on the bed beside Darcy’s silk robe.

  “Wills,” Elizabeth spoke softly, “everything is beautiful, and I hate to complain, but I would have preferred to come to you not smelling of horse and travel dust.”

  “And so you will,” replied Darcy, as he opened the door of a small closet and took out several large towels and a ball of scented soap. “Shall we bathe in the stream?”

  “WILLS,” exclaimed Elizabeth in disbelief, “that water is freezing.”

  Darcy smiled wickedly and looked at her with mischief in his eyes. “Not that stream . . . this one,” he said as he opened the small door in the back of the lodge.

  When she walked through the door, she saw five large flat rocks that formed a natural walkway leading down to a hot spring that looked to be two or possibly three times larger than the bathing tub in her bedchamber at Pemberley House. The sides appeared to have been worn smooth through the centuries, and the overflow from the spring formed the tiniest of brooks that cascaded over more flat rocks to join the narrow stream that ran very near to the lodge before veering away to meander through the small valley.

  Elizabeth turned slowly to look at Darcy. Her eyes sparkled with barely contained passion and so much desire that Darcy immediately felt his arousal grow almost painful. He walked to her and slowly began to unbutton the jacket of her riding habit.

  “Please, let me perform the duty of your maid,” he stated with a husky voice. Moments later, he gently laid the jacket of her riding habit on the flat stone behind him. Both of them trembled with anticipation as he began to unbutton her vest and then her silk top. She gasped softly and leaned gently into him as his hands brushed lightly over her breasts.

  Immediately, her nipples puckered and heat traveled to her most private of places. As he pulled the top away, the cool air made her shiver, and she trembled even more. Carefully unlacing the ribbons of her stays, he pulled the garment along with the shortened chemise over her head and took one of her breasts in his hand. As he gently squeezed and ran his thumb over the nipple, it puckered even more. She moaned as he licked over the nipple of the other breast and nibbled it gently with his teeth until it puckered and stood firm and sensitive. Pulling her into his embrace, he kissed her deeply with all the pent up desire of the last year. As she clung to him returning his kiss with equal longing, she could feel his desire pushing firmly against her stomach.

  Darcy pulled away from her and peered into her eyes while he went down on one knee to help her out of her boots. With shaking hands, he began to remove the split skirt. When she stepped out of the skirt, he caught her leg and held it in the air as he kissed her curls through the opening in her undergarment and began to run his tongue along her folds.

  Elizabeth screamed her pleasure and would have crumbled to the ground had she not gripped his shoulders to brace herself, and he not held her tightly upright. When he had opened her folds with his tongue, he found her nub. As slick moisture gathered there, he began to gently bite and then run his tongue over her. After a few moments, wave after wave of pleasure swept over her and she moaned his name. Holding her firmly until she was once more herself, he released her leg and continued to undress her until she stood before him wearing only a look of longing and desire.

  “Let me help you into the bath,” stated Darcy, his voice so husky with his own desire that it sounded almost hoarse. As she looked steadily onto his face, he held her hand firmly while she stepped into the warm water. He released her hand, and she never took her eyes away from his as she lay back and submerged herself up to her neck.

  Still held in her gaze, Darcy stepped back and began to remove his clothing in the same order that he had removed hers. When he removed his trousers and stood up in only his small clothes, Elizabeth’s gaze dropped to his arousal. He removed his small clothes, and she held her breath as he stepped into the pool with a small cake of lavender-scented soap in one hand, a washcloth in the other, and an arousal that made her blush. She came to him and gently ran her fingers along his length before replacing her hands with her lips and tongue. His groan echoed from the valley wall, as he grew even larger and harder within her grasp.

  “Oh Lizzy,” he groaned again, laying the washcloth and soap on the rock behind him before taking her hands from around his member and pulling her to her feet. Reaching around her, he grasped her bottom firmly and lifted her up until she could wrap her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. Lifting her bottom, he slid her up and down along his arousal until he could feel her moisture start to cover him. As he looked deeply into her passion-filled eyes, he lifted her up until he met her opening. Slowly lowering her over him, he entered her in one tortuously long, slow, delicious movement, until he was completely sheathed within her.

  Elizabeth felt herself being stretched and began to think that he could not possibly all fit, when the thick mass of hair at his base began to tickle her nub. She clung to him tightly as the beginning of a wave of pleasure began to build. When Darcy felt her begin to tighten around him, he bent his head to possess her mouth as he slowly began to pump in and out of her a little at a time. Elizabeth began to moan aloud. A wild scream tore from her throat as she started to quiver, and with a sudden shudder, she felt wave after wave of pleasure flow over her.

  “Wills. Oh my heart,” she moaned in undulating ecstasy. When she was once again more herself, Darcy moved to lay her on the thick pile of towels he had placed atop the large flat rock at the lip of the small pool. Still joined with her, he grasped her hips as he thrust into her and back out, again and again, until she screamed his name. Another wave of rapture swept over her and carried her to a pleasure that she had never known existed.

  He with
drew from her, and she suddenly felt empty until he again nestled his head between her thighs, nibbled her nub, and reached up to knead her breast and pinch her nipples. When she began to feel yet another wave of pleasure build, she quickly sat up and pulled his head up to possess his mouth as he thrust into her and back out again and again until she screamed his name and he roared hers as they climaxed together.

  As the residual pulses flowed over her, Elizabeth looked fully into Darcy’s face. “Oh my heart, I have never before felt such delicious pleasance.”

  “Nor have I, my love,” he uttered, as he hugged her closely to his chest.

  As he slowly pulled her into the pool, Elizabeth felt him start to again grow hard within her as he lay back against the wall of the spring and positioned her above him. He looked at her with such love and desire that passion swept over her as he began to slowly raise her up and down until she gained her own rhythm. As he assisted her movement, she slowly slid up and down over him until she felt the deep, drumming urges begin again. She slowed her movements making the moment last as long as possible. As her eyes began to close in pleasure, Darcy lowered his hand and gently caressed her nub. He grasped her hips and moved her rapidly along his length until moments later they again screamed their pleasure to the side of the valley wall.