Imperative: Volume 2, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (20 page)

“You are a proud woman, Mrs. Annesley.  I imagine that it is humiliating to have to speak of your situation to a stranger.”  Elizabeth looked at her admiringly. 

“My husband was incapable of managing his purse, Mrs. Darcy.  Where I thought that he was saving all of these years, he was gambling.  What was left at his death went to his creditors.  I have what is left of my settlement, but . . . a thousand pounds will not last forever, especially if I am paying rent.”  Clearing her throat, she lifted her chin.  “So, I come here today to offer my services to . . . any family willing to take me.  I have no references, but . . . all I need is a first chance and then I will be . . . quite fine.” 

“And you would have taken his secret to the grave, if you could.  I can see the pain you feel having to reveal his failings.” 

“I forgive him.”  She said quietly. 

Elizabeth read the sincerity mixed with fear in her eyes.  “Do you like music, Mrs. Annesley?”

“Music?”  She stared.  “Yes, of course.”

“Have you been to London?”

“I grew up there.  I met my husband there, and we moved here when an uncle died childless and he inherited his home.” 

“If you and your charge were to spend a summer by the sea, what would you do if a gentleman approached her persistently?”

“I would tell him to mind his business and notify her parents!”  Her eyes flashed. 

“Good for you.”  Elizabeth sat back and considered the woman, meeting her seemed like a godsend, but she knew that Darcy would be very cautious about who he hired for Georgiana.  “Well Mrs. Annesley, I will see amongst our circle if there is any need for a companion.  I am positive that the ladies will demand references; they do for their maids, so they are sure to want them for the people closest to their daughters.  I will have the opportunity to know you better over the next few months and that will in turn give me time to send out inquiries.  Is that acceptable to you?”

“Oh, yes, of course, Mrs. Darcy.  I completely understand.”  Mrs. Annesley nodded. 

“I hope that you do not think that we are trying to force your hand, Mrs. Darcy.”

“Mrs. Kelly, you are doing this in the service of a friend.  You cannot force my hand, either there is a girl I know in need of a companion or there is not.”  Elizabeth smiled.  “I will speak to my husband, he might have some ideas where I do not, remember, I am new to this circle as well.  But I promise that I will certainly try.”

“I do appreciate this Mrs. Darcy.  I would take care of her, whoever she is.”  Mrs. Annesley promised as a little of her pride returned.  “I will teach her everything that I know.” 

“Good.”  Elizabeth sat up and looked around at the three women.  “My goodness, and here I thought that I would be interrogated about a certain colonel all afternoon!” 

“Well, now that you bring up his name . . .”  Mrs. Kelly jumped on her. 

Laughing, Elizabeth held up her hand.  “No, you had your chance.  New subject, please!”

“I SEND YOU AWAY for a fortnight of thinking, a fortnight that you said was entirely unnecessary, and here I have you back nearly a month later.”  The General barked while looking over Richard standing stiffly at attention before him, and waved a letter.  “Of course, you were good enough to alert me of your delay.  I presume that the extra time was worthwhile?”

“It was, sir.”

“Hmmph.”  He grunted.  “And what has your father said?”

“I have not spoken to my father since my return.” 

“You came here first?” 

“I owed you an explanation.”

“I see that as too nebulous of a response to draw a conclusion of your intentions, however I do believe you have made a decision?  Is it in the Crown’s favour?”

“No, sir.”  Richard spoke and clearly felt a great deal of emotion doing so.

“At ease, Colonel.”  The general leaned forward with a frown.  “You have made this momentous decision, And yet you have not consulted your father?”

“I attempted to, sir, however my entire family has quit London for Kent.  I forgot that Easter Sunday is coming and ordinarily I would have been there visiting at this time.”

“But these are not ordinary times.” 

“No, sir.” 

The general tossed the letter aside.  “Are you certain of this?  I hate to lose you, Fitzwilliam.  You are a rare breed.”

“Thank you, sir.”  Richard’s face remained impassive and his posture stiff.  “I shall have my resignation on your desk in the morning, sir.” 

“You are so anxious to leave that you still will not wait for your father?” 

“I have no desire to have you work on me until that time, sir.”  At last Richard’s face broke into a smile and the general chuckled.  “Your reputation precedes you, General.” 

“Very well, then.”  Standing, the elder man held out his hand.  “Get used to people not saluting you anymore.”  He smiled and Richard laughed.  “One more night in the barracks for you.  I hope that you are not bored in the civilian world?”

Richard thought of Sophie and smiled.  “Somehow, I think that will be the least of my worries.”  They shook hands and Richard saluted him smartly.  “Thank you, sir.” 

Watching him go, the general called out, “Good luck, Colonel.”  He looked down at his desk at the letter and swore.  “Damn!”

DARCY WATCHED ELIZABETH scoop up the dice and place them into the cup.  “You wear quite a maniacal smile when you do that.”

“That is because I might finally have a chance at besting you at backgammon.”  She laughed at his annoyance.  “I knew there was something I could play . . .” Dumping out her dice, she nearly squealed, “Double sixes!”

Darcy groaned as he watched her checkers fly off the board.  “Not fair!”  He picked up her dice and examined them with a frown.  “These are weighted somehow . . .”

“Tish-tosh!  This is not my game; it was here in the house.”  Snatching the dice out of his palm, she dropped them back into the cup.  “Another?”

“No.”  He stood and went to the sideboard, turning his back to her.  Seeing her flushed with triumph was just as alluring as seeing her flushed with exercise, and it was taking a great deal of willpower to contain himself.

Elizabeth tilted her head and watched him curiously.  “Sore loser?”

“Not at all.  I am happy to see you finally win a competition with me.”  He cleared his throat and turned back to face her with a smile.  “What shall we play next?”

Georgiana came into the room and stopped when she spotted Elizabeth shooting daggers at her brother.  “Oh, Elizabeth!  Did he beat you again?” 

Darcy’s chin fell to his chest and he started laughing.  Elizabeth’s glare turned to her sister.  “No, as a matter of fact,
I
won.  Fair and square, and
he
,” she pointed at her husband, “cannot tolerate it!”

“He seems awfully merry to me.”  Georgiana eased herself into a chair. 

“There you are, dearest, I am delighted to have lost.” 

“You were vexed not two minutes ago.” 

“Me?  Anything but amiable?”  He sighed.  “Do you not know me by now?”  She watched him pour out two glasses of sweet wine.  “Truce?”

“Were we fighting?”

“My mistake.”  His eyes twinkled and taking a seat on the sofa, held out her glass.  “Come, love.” 

Joining him, she took a sip of the wine and looked at him.  “I know this wine . . .”

“I will never forget the first time I tasted it.”  He glanced at her mouth and licked his lips.  A blush crept up Elizabeth’s face.  “I will save the rest of the bottle for later.” 

“What did you want to speak to me about?”  Georgiana asked.

“Oh . . .” Elizabeth started from her study of Darcy’s darkened eyes.  “Will?”

“Mrs. Annesley.”  He said softly and taking her hand, gently rubbed his thumb over her palm.

Georgiana watched the two of them, and knowing full well what they were feeling, asked cheerfully, “Who is that?” 

“Who is what?”  Elizabeth blinked.

“Mrs. Annesley, Lizzy.”  Darcy whispered while tugging the glass of wine from her hand.  He smiled and hugged her.  “You always become so relaxed when I . . .”  He looked up to his smiling  sister and cleared his throat.  “Well . . . I shall tell you then.  Mrs. Annesley is a widow living nearby and a friend of the Kelly family.  She is hoping to find employment as a companion.  Elizabeth interviewed her and after spending the afternoon in her company, she suggested that this might be the perfect new companion for you.  Of course, one afternoon does not satisfy either of us, and we want to know her much better before we would speak of you to her, but she is a possibility.” 

“Oh.”  Georgiana’s smile faded and she started twisting her fingers. 

“Jennifer is working out well for you during this time, dear, but she cannot teach you anything.  When your confinement is over, you will need to return to preparing for your future, and after losing a year, you will need to work in earnest.” 

“When will I meet her?”

“That is a good question.”  Darcy looked down at Elizabeth. “To meet her now is to reveal you not only to Mrs. Annesley, but probably to the Kellys as well, and then . . .”  He sighed.  “Well, it makes bringing you to Scotland under an assumed name to be pointless.”

“And that is why we have decided that if she is the woman we choose for you, she will not meet you until we are home at Pemberley.”  Elizabeth smiled at Georgiana.  “She need never know that you had a baby.  For all she knows, you left school, Fitzwilliam hired a companion who was found to be unsuitable, and it was decided to leave the search for a replacement for September when the hiring fairs were on.  I know that you do not want anyone to know of your situation, so we can leave it to you.  Perhaps one day you will trust her enough to tell her the truth.” 

“I just . . . I do not want to see disdain in her every look.”  Georgiana said softly. 

“In that case, I think that we have our plan.  She will not be told.”  Darcy smiled.  “I met her as well, Georgiana, and I liked her.  She has never been a companion before, and I think that is to all of our benefit.  She has years of real experience behind her.  But as I said, I will be extremely cautious before hiring her or any woman to be with you.  We have the advantage this time of actually seeing her conducting her life before hiring her.  I think that is a distinct advantage over reading some references and meeting a stranger.” 

“Of course, Fitzwilliam.  I . . . I know that you and Elizabeth will make the best decision.”  She pushed up on the arms of the chair and stood.  “I am feeling sleepy.  I think that I will retire.” 

“Sleep well, Georgiana.”  Elizabeth smiled. 

“Good night, dear.”  Darcy stood and kissed her cheek, and watched her go.  “Well . . . that went over quietly.” 

“I expected nothing less.”  Elizabeth said thoughtfully. 

“So I should not be worried?”  He had remained standing and held out his hand to her.

“No.”  Elizabeth laughed and he pulled her up.  “No worrying for you.  I will puzzle this out and report to you.”

“Are you a spy, love?”  He smiled and reached for the wine bottle as she picked up the glasses.  “Have you spent too much time around my wayward cousin?”

“I think that it is too much time around my wayward sisters.”    Elizabeth looked back at him when he rubbed the wine bottle on her bottom.  “What are you up to?”

“Does that feel good?”  Darcy whispered in her ear as she walked up the stairs before him. 

“I can think of something that would feel much, much better.”  Hearing his soft groan, she laughed and hurried up to the landing.

“Careful, do not spill in your haste.”  He admonished and he came to a stop when Elizabeth turned to face him.

Her eyes were sparkling.  She leaned down to his upturned face and traced her tongue over his mouth before suckling his lower lip ever so gently.  Darcy’s sharp intake of breath was all the assurance she needed.  “Do not speak to me of haste and spilling, Husband.”  She whispered as her lips wandered to his ear.  “If anyone should take things slowly, it should be you . . .” Elizabeth nibbled his earlobe. 

“Oh Lord . . .”

“And I hope that you spill in abundance tonight.”  She returned to his lips and nipped them again before turning and hurrying down the hallway to their bedchamber. 

Darcy’s grip on the banister was like iron, and it took him several moments before he was able to move comfortably enough to chase after her.  By the time he arrived, Elizabeth had put down the wine glasses and was at work unbuttoning her gown.  He pushed the door shut and setting down the bottle, began tearing off his clothes.  They fumbled, tripped, undoubtedly ripped his cuffs as they fought to pull his sleeves from his hands, until at last they stood naked and laughing in each other’s arms, kissing and caressing.

“What a mess we have made.”  Darcy beamed at her and scooped her up and onto the bed.  Elizabeth squealed as she bounced and moved aside just before he landed with a thud beside her.  Propping his head up with his hand, he rubbed his palm over the fascinating softness of her breasts.  “Now then love, what was this talk of moving slowly?”  His palm moved down over her belly and between her legs.  Elizabeth sighed and reached up to caress his face.

“Not too slowly . . .” 

They kissed and Darcy sat up, slipped his hands beneath her hips, and in one fluid movement lifted her up over his lap and down onto his rigid pole.  They both sighed.  Darcy brushed her hair away from her face and smiled into her eyes.  “Show me, love.”  He kissed her and laughed, “Teach me how to ride.” 

“Shall we leap a hedge?”  Elizabeth giggled and circled her hips.

He hugged her tightly.  “As long as you do not dismount to show me how it is done.”   He pinched her bottom and she gasped and laughing, buried her face against his shoulder.  Darcy rubbed her back and rocked his hips.  “Teach me, Mrs. Darcy.  I am all yours.” 

Chapter 8

R
ichard woke and stared at the ceiling.  “Where am I?”    He moved and groaned; it seemed that every bit of his body ached.  “Oh, to have some of Elizabeth’s evil tincture . . .”  Six hard days of riding from Scotland, one night in the barracks followed by an entire day of interrogation, demands, and pleading by his superiors to stay on, he finally threw up his hands, climbed onto his weary and unhappy horse and took an unhurried ride to Kent.  “Rosings.  Good Lord, I am at Rosings at Easter.”