Chapter Two
The Next Day
As was my habit I was up early the next day. I opened my eyes and took pause to admire the Beauty with whom I shared a bed. It was her room and not mine, and I could not stop and let my breath be taken away by this creature of such beauty and purity. Oh, oh if only it hadn't been a mistake! I stealthily left the bed and did the things I needed to do. In a way I did not want to wash away her smell and stickiness off me, but I did because I wanted to be as clean as possible. I shaved my pathetic stubble and dressed in the best possible way I could. I combed my unruly curls.
I stole my way down into the kitchen and had morning tea with a beaming Mr. Robbins. A while later Mrs. Robbins let me know that there was a stirring upstairs. Her long service and experience in the house had let her know this was happening. I had not a clue. I went and stood at the bottom of the stairs and prayed that Cathy hadn't changed her mind.
I had awakened in my gorgeous room in the mansion and reveled in the fresh air and the sunshine and the lovely scents that wafted into my window. New mown grass…the scent of roses…the feel of sunshine on my body…which felt incredible anyway. I realized that Thomas was not there with me, but I knew he rose early. Was everything all right? Was last night something to regret? I put my dressing gown on and continued to ponder that question….was last night a good thing? I left the room and headed downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs stood Thomas..all bigheaded and crooked of him. In his eyes and on his lips was absolute adoration. No, there had not been a mistake. The look on his face, at this second in time, was worth more than any athletic hunk of a man. I felt adored.
I walked down to him at the bottom of the stairs. I put my hands on the prominence of his oversized ears and pulled his face to mine. I kissed this strange looking man with all the depth of my soul. He kissed me back with the touch of an angel, cancelling out any physical image that I had before. He was now Thomas, he of the perfect kiss. I mussed his curly head because I loved to touch his curls. He was not displeased.
At Cathy's insistence we ate in the kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Robbins. We had our eggs and toast whilst Mrs. Robbins regaled us with the gossip she had picked up at the pub quiz. They actually had picked up Ryan and paraded him through the village, but they didn't bother to strip him down. The whole village had loved that my big, hard head had knocked him out. I was a bit self conscious about this but the others were having such a laugh I quickly forgot. Mrs. Robbins became a bit risqué when discussing which bedroom in the house should be ours. I could have easily deferred that discussion, but she was clear as to which mattress was the best and which bed had the most room…she clearly was bawdier than I had ever imagined. The Robbins children were older than I was and certainly dispersed, but there was no doubt that the Robbins had enjoyed producing them. Cathy went upstairs to clean up and I headed out to the yard.
It was apparent that Thomas had no trouble keeping busy on the estate, and I had an enormous amount of plumbing to do. I called my Dad and he joined me to do the work. "So, did you have a good night, little girl?" he asked with no guile or hesitation. "Oh, Dad," I said, "I had a tremendously beautiful night. Please don't be afraid that Thomas is so ….different….he is a beautiful person in a not so beautiful container. I'm not scared of it anymore." Dad replied "I've never been scared of it, luv, I've seen what he thought of you the whole time. I'm really so glad you can get over his physical drawbacks….he loves you better than anybody else I've ever seen. And it can't hurt that he's an earl". I cringed at the thought of that last statement, but he was right, resources were never a bad thing.
It hadn't taken but the one appearance in the pub for the local charities to show up. They had been afraid to come before, fearing a ferocious and unkind master, but this morning they showed up with gusto. "We were wondering if you had any clothing or other goods to donate?" they had said. I was flummoxed. As the earl, I had an incredibly large amount of clothing that was not being used. Much of it was left over from posh people who visited my parents and left their discards at the house. I asked Mr. Robbins to help me sort out this issue. We went into the musty room that was the wardrobe. It was there that I had picked out Cathy's gown only days before. We pulled out numerous suits and dresses and shoes that weren't being used but I reserved judgement on a number of gowns that I knew Cathy would be gorgeous in, because I still wanted a formal dinner now and then. The charity brought their van and carted most of the rest away. "Well, less of a fire hazard," I said. Mr. Robbins said that with all the quality wool in much of that clothing a great number of people will be staying warmer this winter. I thought that was a good thing.
Mrs. Robbins had managed to provide a delicious dinner that evening including chicken and roasted vegetables. Cathy had sorbet and strawberries for dessert. I watched her as she ate and she fed me a strawberry here and there. Eating the strawberries gave me the most brilliant excuse to kiss her fingers and her lips. To say it was stimulating would have been an understatement. I almost didn't want to get up from the table. We had so many things to plan. We still planned on traveling the world…something that was going to be daunting for me and so beneficial for her…but first things first. "There's a dance in town this weekend." Cathy said, "And you are going to take me and show the village that we are real. I can't help but think that some of them thought they were seeing things when you brought me home last night." I groaned and became frightened at the very prospect of dancing. She told me not to worry, it would be fun. We went into the parlor. All we had by way of music was an old fashioned stereo and an extensive collection of records of all kinds. My father had been a big man, as was I, but he had a grace and bearing that I failed to inherit, which was unfortunate because I inherited every bad feature the family had. Cathy put on a lovely waltz and came over to me. The thing was, I had gone to public school and during the cotillion we had all learned the basics of dance. I had hated every minute of it but they told us, "You never know when you might meet your lady fair. You must be prepared." I knew I had met mine and let all that old rusty knowledge come to the fore. We waltzed, we foxtrot and we just plain slow danced which is what I liked best. It went from the ridiculous to the sublime and we laughed and laughed.
My Dad and I had been plumbing all day and had torn the wall out of one of the upstairs bathrooms. I was so tired. Thomas and I said goodnight to Mr. and Mrs. Robbins and headed upstairs. They had chosen another room for us that turned out to be gorgeous. There were sheets as soft as silk and a four poster bed. The room itself was not huge, but that lent an air of coziness to it. There was a well tended fire in the fireplace. Our dressing gowns and night clothes were hanging on the door. Our toothbrushes and toiletries were in their perfect place. I never wanted anyone to mess with my stuff, but Mr. and Mrs. Robbins did these things with such skill and lack of intrusion it seemed as natural as putting on your shoes.
I told Thomas that he was not allowed into our bed with his yellow pajamas on. I told him that as long as I was his girlfriend that I did not want to see those pajamas. He did not argue. He was pudgy, but I didn't really mind. He was very cuddly and warm and substantial. He slipped into bed with me and we laid together and whispered and laughed, making all our plans. We kissed softly and I could tell he was ready. I climbed up on him and eased him inside me as far as he could go. I stopped and kissed him some more. He did have the softest lips and an unbelievable tongue. Kissing him was like being nourished. I sat up and he reached out and touched my breasts. How did he know how to do that so well? I started to move and he moaned with enjoyment. He answered my moves with some of his own and I got to a position where my spots were being caressed. He lasted until at last I came. He thrust hard 2 or 3 more times and came himself, in a most emphatic way. We lay there in our drowsiness and just enjoyed each others warmth. Again I marveled at his generosity, his humility and lack of conceit. I had never been with a sweeter man. We had a busy day tomorrow, so we went to sleep, knowing that we were both loved.