Chapter 58 Husband and Wife
Elizabeth woke slowly to the warmth of Fitzwilliam’s body pressed against her back, his arms wrapped around her waist.
He lay so close behind her that she could feel the slow rhythm of his breathing and the warmth of his breath against the nape of her neck.
Elizabeth closed her eyes again, relishing the simple pleasure of lying within his arms, surrounded by his warmth and the familiar masculine scent of him.
She had missed waking within his arms. She had missed reaching for him before she was fully awake and knowing that he would be there. For months, she had remembered the ordinary intimacy of their marriage while being unable to share it with him.
Elizabeth carefully shifted beneath his arm until she could face him.
Fitzwilliam was still asleep. His hair had fallen across his forehead, and Elizabeth reached up and gently moved one dark curl aside.
His eyes opened.
For a moment, he simply looked at her. Then his arm tightened around her waist.
“Good morning, Mrs. Darcy.”
Elizabeth smiled and touched his cheek.
“Good morning, Mr. Darcy.”
His hand moved slowly along her back as he drew her nearer.
“I have longed to wake and find you in my arms.”
Fitzwilliam's hand came up to cradle the back of her head as he bent near to kiss her lips.
Elizabeth slipped her arm around him and settled against his chest. Fitzwilliam drew the bedclothes higher around her shoulder and held her.
She lay listening to his heart beneath her ear until she raised her head and looked at him.
“I am very happy, Mr. Darcy.”
Fitzwilliam touched her face. “So am I, darling.”
Elizabeth reached up and kissed him.
Fitzwilliam rolled her gently beneath him and returned her kiss. Today, the world outside could wait.
* * *
“I have already told you whom I intend to marry.”
Alexander stood before the fireplace at Lucas Lodge, facing his mother.
Lady Lucas sat rigidly upon the sofa. “And I have told you that you are behaving like a fool. Mary King has ten thousand pounds. Ten thousand, Alexander. Mary Bennet has almost nothing. You have known Mary King all your life. She is a pleasant girl from a respectable family, and her fortune would be a considerable addition to your own.”
“I do not love Mary King. I love Mary Bennet, and I intend to marry her.”
Lady Lucas made an impatient motion with her hand. “Love is a very fine thing when one has nothing more important to consider. You are the eldest son. You will have responsibilities to this family.”
“I have responsibilities to the woman I marry as well, and I will not marry one woman while wishing she were another.”
“You have allowed yourself to become infatuated with Mary Bennet because she has a lovely face and figure, but youth and beauty are fleeting. We all grow older, Alexander. When her beauty is gone, what will you have then?”
Alexander’s jaw tightened. “I will have the woman I love and, God willing, our children.”
Charlotte rose from her chair. “Leave him be, Mamma. He is happy in his choice, and Mary is a good, kindhearted woman.”
Lady Lucas looked sharply at her. “This does not concern you, Charlotte.”
“It concerns all of us if Alexander is to be made miserable for the sake of Mary King's money. If Papa were to die tomorrow and Alexander took his place with Mary beside him, you would be grateful that he had chosen such a woman. She is sensible, she works hard, and she cares for people who can do nothing for her in return. He might have fallen in love with a tart, and then where would you be?”
“Charlotte!”
Charlotte kept her eyes upon their mother. “You are speaking of ten thousand pounds as though Alexander were destitute without it.”
Lady Lucas looked back at her son. “You have your future to consider. Your father and I can still determine what assistance is given to you while he lives.”
“My future is secure. Grandfather saw to that, and I require nothing from you or Papa.”
Near the wall, Maria stood with her hands clasped tightly, and tears ran silently down her cheeks.
“And what of Michael?” Lady Lucas demanded. “Do you expect your father and me to diminish what we might do for your younger brother because you refuse an advantageous marriage?”
“Give Michael whatever you please. Better yet, have Michael marry Miss King. She is nearer his age.”
“You may regret saying that.”
Alexander stepped toward his mother. “Go ahead, Mother. Give Michael every pound you intended for me and every advantage that is yours to give. I will not sell my choice of wife for any of it.”
He crossed the room and stopped beside Maria. Her face crumpled as he bent and kissed her forehead.
“Do not cry, little one. All will be well.”
Maria caught his hand and held it for a moment before releasing him.
Alexander went to Charlotte. She kissed his cheek and rested her hand briefly against his.
“Go to Mary.”
He squeezed her hand and left the room.
* * *
Alexander arrived at Longbourn and asked to see Mary.
She found him waiting in the drawing room. He crossed to her immediately and took both her hands.
“Mary, I am not given to pretty speeches, so I will simply say what I came to say. I love you. I love your kindness to people who can give you nothing in return. I love your good sense, and I think you are very beautiful. What is perhaps more important is that you have not a trace of vanity about it. I want you beside me for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
Tears filled Mary's eyes.
“Yes. I will.”
Alexander pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly.
Mary's hands came up to his shoulders, and she returned his kiss. His arms tightened around her before he finally raised his head.
“I love you, Alexander,” she said.
Alexander brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb and kissed her again, more gently this time.
Then he took her hand. “Come. Let us go to your father and ask for his consent and his blessing.”
They found Mr. Bennet in his study. He looked from their joined hands to Mary's flushed face and set aside the book he had been reading.
Alexander kept Mary's hand in his.
“Mr. Bennet, I have asked your daughter to marry me, and she has accepted me. I hope you will give us your blessing.”
Mary went to her father and kissed his cheek. “I love him, Papa.”
Mr. Bennet covered her hand with his. “But what of your mother's preference for Miss King, Alexander?”
“My mother has nothing to say about my choice of wife, sir. If she cannot learn to live in peace with Mary, I will lease another house until I inherit. I mean for my wife to be very happy, and I will do everything in my power to ensure it.”
Mr. Bennet regarded the young man before him.
“If it comes to that, son, I will lease Longbourn to you. I believe Kitty will also leave me before very long, and I have often wished for more time with my books. Perhaps I shall take a smaller house at Margate or Ramsgate and take Lydia with me. We should do very well.”
Alexander looked at Mary, and she met his gaze and held it.
“Sir, Mary and Lydia have been doing good work in the parish. If you should decide to leave Longbourn, perhaps you would consider allowing Lydia to remain here with us. She would remain in her own home and continue serving her neighbors alongside Mary. I give you my word that we would take very good care of her.”
Mary leaned a little nearer to Alexander.
Mr. Bennet looked at the two of them. “Then come to me in the morning. We shall go to my brother Phillips's office and have the lease drawn.”
Mary's fingers tightened around Alexander's.
He raised her hand and kissed it.
“Thank you, sir.”