Chapter Four #2
He ushered them all out, while Mima looked around at the rooms. A study, with a sturdy desk for Pel and another desk, more delicate and elegant, for Mima.
A sitting room. A dressing room, which was large enough to contain two large wardrobes, a rack of open shelves, hooks on the walls, a chest of drawers, two comfortable chairs, a table, and other furniture, and still leave floor space for a huge bathtub.
And one bedchamber. With one bed. Apparently, Pel intended them to share. She looked at him, uncertainly. She had not shared a bed since Marge had moved to the schoolroom and been given her own bedchamber, leaving Mima in solitary possession of the girl’s room in the nursery.
Her unease must have been obvious, for Pel said, “Mima, I want you to know I am willing to wait if you are not ready.”
It was a bewildering remark. “Wait for what?” she asked.
“To consummate our marriage,” Pel said, looking just as confused as she felt.
As an explanation it was singularly devoid of meaning, at least to Mima. She flounced into a chair and snapped, “Consummate. Do you mean complete? Please explain. We have made our vows in front of the altar. I wear your ring. What else do we need to do to complete our marriage?”
Pel sat, too. Or, rather, he collapsed into a chair as if his knees had given out. He seemed to be searching for words. “Did your Mama not explain about… um… bedding?” he asked.
Again, he was using words she knew but that made no sense in this conversation. “Sheets, you mean, and blankets? I have some pillowcases in my hope chest.”
Her new husband dropped his face into his hands and made a noise that sounded something between a groan and a laugh.
“Do not laugh at me, Pelham Townswell,” Mima growled. “Just tell me in plain terms what on earth you are talking about.”
“I beg your pardon, wife.” Pel at least had the grace to look contrite. “I was laughing not at you, but at the situation. I am not very experienced myself, you see, and I have never had to describe it to anyone else. But I shall do my best to explain.”
At first, Mima couldn’t believe him. It sounded so unlikely. And undignified. And potentially painful. “I think you should show me,” she said.
He was willing, but said they could not proceed immediately to what he called “the act.” “The preliminaries involve a lot of kissing and touching,” he said. “You can stop me whenever you feel uncomfortable.”
The preliminaries were delightful, and grew more so as Pel helped her divest herself of her clothing and removed his own. That brought about something of a pause, as she took in the sight of her naked husband, and particularly of the part of him he called his “cock.”
“That is not going to fit,” she declared.
“It will,” he promised. “You and I are made to fit together.”
Mima had her doubts, but as yet in their short acquaintance, he had never lied to her. “Then let us proceed,” she said. “What do I need to do?”
“Touch me,” Pel replied, “wherever you wish,” and he lay back on the bed, waiting for her.
So, she did, using a tentative finger to stroke the appendage so conveniently within her reach. One thing led to another, and it was not long before she discovered for herself that they did, in fact, fit together.
Furthermore, although Pel had warned her it might be uncomfortable, even painful, when he entered her for the first time, all she felt was a momentary sharp pinch, almost unnoticeable amidst the torrent of new and pleasurable sensations.
That first time, she did not reach what Pel called completion. He had to describe what he meant by that word, too, when he asked if she had and she demanded an explanation of the term.
The description turned into another demonstration, this time with his mouth and fingers for, he said, it would take a little while for his cock to recover. Mima found the change in shape fascinating, but he batted her hands away, laughing, and insisted he had to take care of her, first.
Which he proceeded to do, to Mima’s great satisfaction, by which time he was ready to start again, and after that, they slept for a while in one another’s arms.
All in all, it was late evening before they left the bed, washed in the now cold water, for they both agreed they did not want to be interrupted by servants, and ate their supper.
And then it was back to bed and more exploration of one another. “You said you are not very experienced,” Mima accused him at one point.
“I am not,” Pel protested. “If you must know, dear wife, I have been with two women in my life, both widows who had been left in poverty, and who relied on generous lovers to pay for their housing and keep. They taught me what I know, and I am grateful to them. I liked them both, but was not in love with either one. Nor were they in love with me. Indeed, each relationship ended when the woman remarried, and no longer needed my money.”
Mima thought about that for a moment. “I am grateful to them, too,” she said. “But you will not require such services in the future.”
Pel kissed her. “‘And keep me only unto her as long as we both shall live,’” he quoted. “I made that solemn vow to you and to God, my wife. I intend to keep it. My third lover and my best. The only one I shall truly love.”
She had to give him a hug for that, and she was conveniently in his arms at that moment. “My only lover,” she said. “My only lover for a lifetime.”
Her husband made it a prayer, “So help us, God.” He kissed her, and they spoke no more for some time.