Page 53 of Wickham Likes 'Em Young
“I am to be mistress of this perfectly enormous house?”
“Yes, along with another town house in Edinburgh, three small estates, one medium sized estate, and Pemberley.”
“I…I believe that I have reconsidered my answer to your proposal, and I am now thoroughly humbled to say that I shall not marry you.”
“Oh, my dear, it is far, far too late now. My heartfelt apologies, but you must come inside.”
“Very well, sir, I will attempt to make the best of the situation!”
He kissed her—just a brief, chaste kiss—and whispered, “For luck.”
Her surprised laugh was the first thing the staff heard as the footmen threw open the double doors to Darcy House at the same time that the master opened the carriage door and stepped out. He reached in and helped his laughing bride down. He proudly escorted her up the stairs and into the hall, introducingher with the words, “I am the most fortunate man alive, and you will all soon realise that you, too, are very fortunate. I am honoured to introduce Mrs Darcy, and I ask that you do for her what you do for me.”
He went on to introduce the butler and the housekeeper to Elizabeth, and then he whisked her into the master and mistress suite right away. There stood Wilkins and Elizabeth’s new lady’s maid, Morgan. “Should we begin with the tubs, sir?” Wilkins asked.
“Just the one tub, in the master’s washroom, if you please.” Darcy looked over the bottles of wine and the array of food laid out in the little study that linked the master’s and the mistress’s rooms. “This will do very nicely, I think,” he said.
“Ring if you need anything else, sir” Wilkins said; he rang the bell himself, and a parade of footmen carrying steaming buckets of water appeared, walked swiftly to the washroom, and returned with empty buckets. Surprisingly quickly, Wilkins announced the bath’s readiness and the location of the soaps, wash rags, and towels.
“Thank you. I think we can take it from here,” Darcy said.
“Very well, sir.” Wilkins left and closed the door with an audible click.
“Just the one bath, Fitzwilliam?” Elizabeth gave him a saucy smile. “How very selfish of you, sir.”
“Yes, I can be very, very selfish,” he responded while he carefully began to unpin her hair and unbutton her gown, kissing her neck, her ear, her back…
Elizabeth felt pampered for someone who had a selfish husband, and she revelled in his selfishness as he rubbed her feet, washed her body, combed fingers across her scalp and through her hair….
“Oh, Will, it is my turn to make you feel—” Elizabeth got no further with her plans to be a bit selfish, herself, because herselfish husband insisted on carefully drying her off, lifting her to the bed, and bringing her two goblets. "Drinking chocolate, or sweet wine?” he asked. “Or perhaps some of each.”
After she made her choice and drank her fill, she chided him: “Oh, you selfish man.” For the rest of the evening and almost all night, he continued to prove to her, over and over again, just how selfish he could be.
Epilogue
23 JUNE 1821
“Master John, what do you think you are doing with that giant branch?”
“I am getting ready for the bonfire tonight, Miss Worsley. Papa says we need all sizes of logs.”
“But surely there is not to be a bonfire in the house!”
“‘Course not, Miss Worsley. I am taking it to the gravel drive, where it is safe to build a bonfire.” The boy, having just turned nine, had recently realised that he knew more than most adults, and certainly more than his nursery governess. He laughed at her ridiculous suggestion of a bonfire in the house.
“No, you do not go to the gravel drive by way of the house!” Miss Worsley took a hold of the boy’s shoulders, turned him sharply around and steered him around the kitchen garden and to the gravel drive without dragging bark and leaves across the elegant tiles that made up the flooring of Pemberley’s entrance hall.
Two other Darcys, Anne and James, followed behind with their much smaller sticks and branches. Everyone put their contribution on the growing mountain of fuel.
“Let’s find some more!” Anne said, running through the kitchen garden and into a copse of trees.
A maid appeared. “Miss Worsley, Mrs Darcy asked that I attend to you because she does not want the children to run you ragged. Should I stay here and supervise the wood collection while you go back to supervising the bonfire pile?
“Yes, thank you.” Miss Worsley caught the mistress’s eyes, where she stood on a balcony watching over the scene. “Thank you,” she mouthed, and she smiled to see the mistress nod and smile.
And then the master joined her on the balcony, and Miss Worsley instantly dropped her eyes. Because when the master and the mistress were even close to being near one another…well, all the servants were very adept at dropping their gazes at a moment’s notice.
Upstairs, Elizabeth retreated from the balcony and closed the filmy drapes, giving her and her beloved husband privacy without cutting the light. “The children are preparing for tonight’s bonfire,” she said.
