Cora lifted her head from Elsie's chest and moved so that she was propped up on her elbow with one leg draped over Elsie's. Elsie looked into Cora's light blue eyes and fell in love all over again. She wanted to comment on her beauty but she couldn't find words that would quite capture it. She stroked the side of her face with her fingertips and traced her bottom lip with her thumb. Cora kissed her thumb first them grabbed her hand and brought each of her fingers to her lovely mouth for a kiss. Elsie rolled onto her side and pushed Cora onto her back so that she was nearer to the head of the bed. She grabbed the end of the blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it up over them, which made Cora laugh, Elsie felt a bit silly, she was in a playful mood. She supposed this was what being in love did to you. She kissed Cora's nose, then each of her cheeks, then her upper lip, then the lower, then her chin, then her cheek again. "I love you" she said in that wonderful smoky voice of hers. Cora stroked her hair and kissed her lips "And I love you".
They lay there under the blanket for a few more minutes, kissing and caressing. This time was so sweet, so precious, they both wanted it to last forever. They both knew it couldn't. "The servants will be heading back soon. I'd better go." Lamented Elsie.
"No" groaned Cora, wrapping a leg around Elsie's waist "Let's run away together." Elsie laughed and kissed her lover again.
"Do you think they'd notice we'd gone?"
"Not for days." Cora joked and kissed Elsie's lips. Cora watched Elsie climb out of bed and put her underthings back on. Her hair had fallen loose in the heat of passion and draped gracefully over her shoulders as she pulled up her corset and began to lace it behind her back. Cora was fascinated watching Elsie dress. She did everything herself; she neither needed nor wanted anyone's help. She was so strong and capable, she was everything anyone could want as far as Cora was concerned. Now her hands moved quickly and gracefully as she pinned her hair back into place. Soon she looked pristine and stern once again. Cora wrapped a sheet around herself and stood up to kiss her lover goodbye.
Elsie could think of nothing more beautiful than the sight of Cora wrapped in a bed sheet, hair a mess, smiling at her. She brushed a lock of hair out of Cora's face and kissed her one last time before she left the room and pretended to the world outside that none of it had happened. All the rest of the day Elsie was elated. She tried not to think of what she had in a traditional sense, what she had didn't feel like it could be defined by anything tradition dictated. Soon, as she had predicted, Mr. Carson knocked on the door of her sitting room and poked his head in. "Just thought I'd let you know we were back. How did everything go?"
"Everything was quiet really. And how was the flower show?"
"Beautiful as usual, Ill tell you about it later. I'd better get changed." Dear Mr. Carson, it was always business first with him.
That night after dinner she sat in Mr. Carson's pantry and listened to him talk about the flower show. She felt that today was a day that reminded her to truly appreciate the people in her life. She felt so very content, sitting here, listening to Mr. Carson talk about roses and the bias of the judges, knowing that she had real love and real friendship in her life. Sure, it wasn't exactly how she had imagined, but she thought perhaps it was a bit better than anything she actually could imagine.
Cora drifted away from the waking world and into a world of white sheets, blue eyes, and coral lips. She hadn't slept this well in months. She felt so peaceful in having the love of someone whose heart truly desired her and someone whom her heart truly desired.
Alone in her room, Elsie removed the last of her hairpins. She shivered and hugged her dressing gown closer to her body. She climbed under her blankets and called up warm memories from her afternoon to lull her to sleep, she, too, dreamed of white sheets, blue eyes, and soft lips.