Chapter 11
“Find a woman who will love you as you are, someone who will take care of you.” Richard’s words suddenly came to mind as Darcy watched his bride run up the stairs, away from him.
Is Elizabeth that woman? He stood and followed his wife.
Could Elizabeth ever love him? Was it wrong to go through with the wedding and condemn her to a life with a disagreeable, broken man?
The sooner he released her from their marriage, the better he could protect her from scandal.
All the emotions he had kept buried deep inside of him for months came to the surface when he opened her chamber door and found her sobbing into her pillow.
Until this moment, he never knew himself.
I love her. I love her with every fibre of my being.
She was the most wonderful woman he had ever known.
He sat beside her on the bed and attempted to turn her towards him, but she resisted.
“Go away, Mr. Darcy!” she pleaded between sobs. “You have never been honest with me, and I have had enough! I shall be gone in the morning, and you will never see me again.”
“Elizabeth, if you ever cared for me at all, you must listen to me—to what I should have told you months ago. I wish to be your husband more than I can say, but what you want is more important. Pray look at me.”
He drew her towards him, and she yielded to his touch. He did not hesitate to pull her into his arms. When they looked into each other’s eyes, an incandescence filled the room. His wife’s face glowed in the light. “My love, why have I never before told you how beautiful you are?”
“After all your lies, how can I believe you?” Even with her questioning words, her eyes held a tenderness and her fingers reached out to caress his face.
“You are not scarred,” she said in a whisper.
Her touch was magic. The gesture was so gentle and loving, and his desire for his wife was so great, he found it difficult to speak.
Despite his fear of rejection, he gently stroked her face and was elated when she leaned into his hand.
“Your cheek is perfect, and my leg did not pain me as I walked towards you. What has happened to us?” Her eyes widened, as did his own, with the realization it was the enchantment of the cottage that surrounded them.
She perused his countenance with awe. “We are changed. . .physically—we no longer appear as we were.”
He pulled her close and whispered, “I tried not to show you my love, but my feelings for you are too strong to deny. All I have wanted to do was tell you what was in my heart but I. . .I could not. I am ashamed to think of how I hurt you. For months, I foolishly refused to acknowledge how perfect you are for me and how much I love you. You must forgive this ridiculous man you married because I will never let you go. I love you so deeply and ardently, Elizabeth Darcy, and I always will.”
“There is nothing to forgive now that you are here. My heart is yours now and always, my dearest Fitzwilliam. Tonight, we shall begin our enchanted lives together.” Darcy lifted her chin and tenderly scattered kisses over her face before briefly touching his lips to hers. “Husband, that was our first kiss.”
“Did you like it?” Darcy could barely speak; he was so filled with his thirst for more. She blushed and smiled.
“I shall remember this moment for the rest of my life.”
“Dearest wife, that kiss was just the first of thousands more to come.” Her lips were so soft and full—he pledged to make time to kiss her every day. He would love this woman with the tenderness and passion she deserved for the rest of his life.
* * *
Could this really be happening? He had called her “my love” and said she was beautiful.
Were all her dreams coming true? She feared she would awaken and everything she had been praying for would disappear.
She still had tears in her eyes when she had looked closely at her husband and his face had been perfect.
Her heart pounded when she touched the man she had loved for so long—only to have him reciprocate the gesture.
His expression of love and their first kiss were nearly too much.
Surely her heart would burst! For months she had suffered—waiting for him to show her any sign of affection and now.
. .now she was too overcome with love to remember.
* * *
Darcy and his dearest wife spent the night in each other’s arms, and in the morning, he awoke to the warmth of her form as she slept peacefully beside him.
He quietly rose, wrote a short note to the servants, and slipped it under the door.
When he returned to bed, his heart was full.
Elizabeth’s curls cascaded around her, and the sun reflected the copper highlights in her hair.
Her lips were swollen, and a small smile played on his own lips as everything that occurred after he followed her up the stairs came to mind.
How he loved her. She was his life now, and he needed nothing else.
He could not resist touching the woman he loved and he gently pushed one of her curls from her face.
“‘She sleeps, perchance to dream. . .’” he said in a whisper.
She slowly opened her eyes and smiled. “‘And when love speaks, the voice of all the gods, make heaven drowsy with the harmony.’ Good morning, husband. Shakespeare before breakfast! I believe I shall enjoy being married.” His wife stretched her arms up over her head.
Daylight poured through the windows illuminating her beautiful face. “My goodness, I never sleep this late.”
“Well, we were up rather late last night.” His teasing words made his wife’s face turn pink recalling the pleasures they shared.
“What time will Perkins and Kenton come in?”
“They have been instructed not to bother us until further notice. Do you approve?”
She nodded her agreement. “I have not seen you smile in a long time. Will you promise to smile as often as is appropriate?”
“My dear wife, my happiness is all because of you. Since the fire, I had nothing to smile about. With you beside me, everything lifts my spirits. Sophocles said, ‘One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life: That word is love.’ You saved me from myself and freed my heart to love you as you should be loved. As you slumbered, I realized I have never before shared a bed with anyone and now I hope I shall never sleep alone again. I never dreamt love could feel like this—you fill my heart, my mind, my very being.” He paused and attempted a solemn countenance. “However, I have a serious problem.”
She sat up and faced him, her brow furrowed. “What could be your problem on this glorious morning? Is there any way I can help you?”
He said earnestly, “I cannot decide if you are more beautiful awake or asleep.” His lovely wife beamed as she relaxed against her pillow.
“In the daylight, your exquisite eyes sparkle and now that you have awakened, your face is glowing. You are as beautiful on the inside as on the outside, but I shall have to study this matter further.” He leaned forward to kiss her, and his nightshirt rose high enough for Elizabeth to see the scars on his leg for the first time.
“Oh, my love, I shudder to think of all you have endured.” She gently ran her hand over the deep welts on his thigh.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips for a lingering kiss.
“If there had never been a fire, we would never have met. Whatever we went through, it was worth the suffering to have each other for the rest of our lives.” A soft knock interrupted them, and Darcy walked to the door to find a breakfast tray on the floor outside.
As he carried their meal into the room, she scrambled to sit. “Something smells good! I am famished! I cannot remember the last time I ate anything.”
“Allow me to assist you,” he said as he set the tray on the bed then placed a fresh raspberry in her mouth. They fed each other from the tray of food.
“This cottage has always been occupied by people in love,” he said. “The celebration of that love has continued to this day; to you and me. I seem to remember my father and Mrs. Reynolds talking about the cottage being enchanted—the stories must be true! Do you understand?”
“I do believe you when you say you love me but,”—she set her toast back on the plate as tears filled her eyes—“Why, why did you not speak of your love before last night? Why did you propose if you did not feel any tenderness for me? My heart broke a little more every day of our engagement. If you had not arrived at Mrs. Hopkins’s when you did, I had planned to take the mail coach to London to save myself from the pain of you rejecting me.
” She pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.
“When I saw the expression on your face as you stood at the altar, I was close to turning around and leaving Derbyshire forever. If your uncle had not come to me at the back of the chapel, I was ready to run away and spare you the agony of marrying someone you did not love.” Her tears were flowing freely.
“When I visited the cottage, you either ignored me or treated me cruelly, and I wished to get as far away from you as I could.”
Darcy took a moment to gather his thoughts and used his thumbs to remove her tears before he caressed her face. “Pray do not cry, my dearest. I have been a terrible coward who allowed his excessive pride to rule his heart.”
“What were you afraid of?” She did not turn her head towards him.