AN: Some answers :) (but I have to stress: if you want some more interaction, AO3 is the solution...)
BK28: Thank you, dear! So glad you like the story. The next update will be hopefully rather quick, too, but the next chapter after that will be posted with a delay, as there is less than 10% if it written for now.
guest: 4AM, oups. I'm feeling both guilty and elated ;) Will got a kick in the seat when Lizzy left and he was exposed to some emotional maturing due to this. He wasn't writing these at the time, only started when Rose was 5 or so. And you are getting your wish, my dear - this chapter contains two excerpts :)
LoveMySofa: I hope you'll like this chapter, too!
Elizabeth had been lucky. The part that she had been randomly assigned was more soulful than anything else. It was, in fact, a bit of a tear-jerker. She managed to read it aloud with aplomb and without losing her absolutely serious countenance, despite the fact that she had to stop herself from smiling at the flowery language.
####
Her drowsy, half-closed eyes tracked his movements as he gathered the necessary items from the small table. His fingers deftly sorted through all the toiletry implements in the drawers, finally finding what he was seeking. As he approached the bed, she drew herself up, trying to cover her naked body with the loose sheet, but he was not having that. Depositing his supplies on the pillow next to her sweetly curving hip, he caught her wrist in an unmovable hold and moved the white fabric aside, baring her skin to his heated gaze.
'Let me, my love,' he murmured, drawing her arm up and away from where she held it against her side. With a featherlike touch he traced the angry prints of the brute's hands on her ivory pale skin. She turned her face away, covering her shame. 'Now, now. I will be gentle. But this must be done.'
Thick herbal cream covered the worst of the bruises and muslin squares were applied to hold the medicine in place. Her ribs were tightly bandaged with strips of linen and bound, her slip lowered over her head and her modesty restored, as much as it could be.
'Rest easy now, dear one' he kissed her hair, breathing in the sweet perfume of her soaps and lavender oil. 'I will avenge your injuries and come back to you. You will never have to worry for your safety again.'
Little did he know that in a month, he would be imprisoned in the dungeons of a far-away castle and his dearest girl would be lost to him forever.
####
"Dear me, that was intense," Kitty fanned herself. "Well, at least he knows how to write something rather... sweet. I must have underestimated him, I suppose."
"Well, this was written eight years ago," Jane drained her glass and reached for the bottle again. "I mean, he had already, you know, matured since the time you've met him at our wedding. Anyway. Not that I'm going to be nosy, but I am curious. Does he ever talk to you like that?" she turned her gaze to Elizabeth. "Because, you know. If he does... I mean, not my business, but, well-" Jane frowned and sighed. "I'm not sure what I wanted to say."
"Just put away that glass and nobody is going to get hurt," Mary plucked the stem of Jane's wineglass from her limp fingers. "There, water for you from now on."
"Water is boring," Jane sighed, but drank obediently.
Elizabeth passed the book on to Kitty, who squeezed her eyes shut, picked the place with her nail, flipped it open, poked the spot on the page and opened her eyes.
And gasped.
All of them, including Georgiana, turned to her with expectant smiles.
Kitty sat down, blindly patted the floor around her pillow for her glass and drank half of it in one swig.
"Kit?"
"Give me a second."
Kitty blinked, shook herself off and looked up at them.
"Top up your glasses, ladies. And mine, too."
####
'Now, you've been so patient and sweet, my dear, lovely girl, you deserve your promised treat. Just sit tight for a minute and let me... feed it... to you...' his voice dropped into a growl, sending ripples of excitement down her spine.
'Oooh, yes, James, please, let me have it!' she waited impatiently in his loving hold. 'Now, please...!'
His gaze on her was like a brand and she could feel the warmth of his searching eyes surveying all that belonged to him.
'Mine' he growled, slowly peeling off layers and layers that covered the very object of her overheated imagination.
'Jaa-mees' she wailed, her hands straining to escape as he applied his dexterous fingers to the task. 'I want it! I have to... James! I need you to...'
'Oh, do be quiet, Madelaine' he murmured against the slender column of her neck. 'You will get exactly what you deserve, nothing more, nothing less. And I will be the one to give. It. To. You.'
He punctuated his words by tightening his hold on her thin, corseted waist and bringing her well-developed derriere in close contact with his blazing hot staff of life.
'Now, be a good girl, open wide,' he ordered with a growl.
'Jame...'
Her protest was quieted by an object filling her mouth and as she shyly extended her tongue, tasting it, she experienced the most curious pleasure of both tartness and sweetness at the same time. She swallowed, licking her lips clean and turned her blindfolded face to him.
'What was that?'
His slick, hot tongue traced the small trail of juice that had escaped her greedily parted lips.
'That, my darling, was a piece of an orange.'
####
Giggles and - well - howls of laughter from the library were getting more and more unnerving. He was quite sure none of them would be doing anything excessively idiotic, but his sister was inside with them... He knocked on the heavy door and pushed it open just an inch.
"Lizzy...?"
"Go away!" a pillow smacked the wall just next to the door. "We are having a serious literary evening here, ladies only...!" Jane was obviously just a tiny bit drunk. Tiny wee bit.
"Well..." Mary snorted. "Ladies and one gentleman."
He froze.
"Jesus Christ."
"Ah, woe is betide me!" Elizabeth giggled. "My sisters have driven my betrothed to blasphemy! How shall I survive such a horror!"
"I will treat the wound on thy soul with the balm of sisterly consolation," assured her Mary, in a perfectly serious voice. "Thy injuries in the field of love will soon heal and the whiteness of thy scars will be the silent witness to thy dedication!"
Georgiana was chortling wordlessly in the background.
"Are you getting my little sister drunk?"
"Go. Away," Jane had a frighteningly good aim for someone who had already had enough wine to start slurring her words. "We are reading. Literature, you know. This thing. Books are full of it."
"And your sister is a grownup!" Georgiana managed to stop laughing like a hyena at last. "Scram! Master of the manor, leave us alone!"
He stifled another curse and pulled the door closed.
A choir of giggles chased him upstairs.
In his study, Charles and Ted were already squabbling over the characters they were going to pick for the game. He stole the controller from Ted and chose Sub-Zero.
He hadn't predicted what the ladies' evening in the library would devolve to, but the three of them had very simple plans - a relaxing evening in front of some very, very old games.
Another wave of female laughter reached him even in his own room.
"Charles, pick bloody Raiden, like always, and get ready to have your butt kicked."
"How did you even get this thing to run on your computer?" Ted poked a stack of CDs now resting on William's desk, labelled in Elizabeth's hand with a simple "OLD GAMES" caption.
"In case you haven't noticed, I've recently got engaged to a woman who can make computers stand on their heads and clap their feet like circus clowns. She was meddling with it for a whole day yesterday and set it up so we can safely play anything you could wish for. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or Prince of Persia, I've got it all."
"Budokan?"
"Gauntlet?"
"Even Golden Axe. Elizabeth apparently collects this kind of thing. The older the better. We could play Space Invaders, if you wish. But, for the time being, let me just recall how to do the Spine Rip..."
"Oh, yeah? Well, let me take care of your head..."
"You are so asking for it."
"Eat my electricity!"
"This is the way you want to play it? Very well!"
He barely noticed Ted joining them on the floor as he executed one of Sub-Zero's special moves. Ha. Just like riding a bike, only with one's fingers.
#
Ted nipped out to check on the children, but a quick verification confirmed expected numbers in all rooms, so they played on, switching from game to game, delving into Elizabeth's archive again and again.
"Grand Prix Circuit?"
"Oooh! I loved this!" Charles sat up suddenly. "Gimme!"
Ted flipped through the CDs curiously, reading the detailed indexes on each case.
"This is Elizabeth's collection, seriously?"
William pulled himself away from the spectacle of Charles trying to conquer the Japanese track and looked up at Ted.
"Well, yes. Not that I don't have a few things carefully stored on some old disk, but I was never a very dedicated gamer, and I had that mishap with my computer a few years back, so most of my archives and savegames evaporated at some point."
"She plays all of this? I mean, this is not a very... well. Girly collection."
Charles actually looked up from his keyboard and met William's gaze. They sighed in unison.
"What?"
"Ted, my boy," Charles said slowly and rather seriously. "Wherever did you get the idea that playing Mortal Kombat or Prince of Persia requires one to have a penis?"
#
They heard the ladies trying to be very, very quiet as they came back upstairs and all three smothered a very undignified giggle when Jane complained about the carpet trying to trip her.
"OK, that's my cue," Charles stretched and yawned. "Good thing all the kids were fine with sleeping in one room, we won't wake them up. But I think I'd better make sure Janey doesn't fall asleep like this, or she will be regretting this in the morning."
He picked up a bottle of water and handed another one to Ted.
"That would be advisable, yes" the youngest of the three shook himself awake. "Well, for the first time in my life I'm ending a stag night stone sober and strangely satisfied with the entertainment I've experienced. Thank you, gentlemen" he saluted them sloppily. "Let me attend to my wife and make sure she is up to the challenge of tomorrow morning, too."
"As long as they are up for lunch, it should be all fine" William reminded them. "The ceremony is at three, so we'll have plenty of time."
"Kids won't have mercy" Charles yawned. "Breakfast is sacred."
William picked up three bottles and turned off the computer.
"The upside of having teenagers - they are able to feed themselves, as long as basic supplies are available."
"And what's the downside?" Ted smiled at him from the door.
"Bloody everything else," William made sure the windows were shut and the monitor powered down. "Oh, didn't I tell you, guys? Your sweet niece got herself a boyfriend."
Charles and Ted exchanged glances.
"A what?"
"Which one?"
William just shook his head.
"Mina. Don't ask. I'm still in denial. We are not even married and our daughter has a boyfriend. I feel ancient."
Charles choked on the swig of water he took.
"You poor, decrepit old man. Go to your bed and cover warmly."
"Out. Go and help your very drunk wives not to fall down from their beds."
#
He knocked softly on Mary's door and, as she opened it quietly, he handed her one of the bottles.
"Thanks," she nodded with a small smile. "I just drank a glass in total, but... thanks."
"No problem. Sleep well."
She frowned and reached for his hand, but stopped herself.
"Will..."
He waited.
"Just, you know. Take care of her."
"Yes, I know. Or you will hurt me."
Mary snorted and shook her head.
"No, I mean, seriously. Take care of her. She is stronger than she thinks she is, but she is also very delicate. She will need you to be there for her when she won't be able to tell you she needs it."
William tried to say something, but found himself at a loss for words, quite literally.
"Yeah. Go and hug her now, or whatever. Give me another bottle, I'll make sure Georgiana drinks it. You go to Lizzy. Shoo."
#
Elizabeth was a small, curled-up ball under the covers and he slid next to her with a relieved sigh. She smelled of soap and apples and faintly of... oranges?
He turned to switch off his nightlight and there was a half-peeled orange sitting just under the lamp. With a groan he flipped the switch and burrowed deeper, closer to her warmth, grumbling under his breath.
She turned, her loose hair tickling his face and shoulder.
"Did you have fun?" he asked softly.
"Well..." she murmured. "Some more than others, I suppose. But I think, yes. Better than some hen nights I've heard about. You?"
"Ted was impressed with your archive. Charlie still sucks at Mortal Kombat."
She laughed, pressing her face into his biceps to muffle the sound.
"And you?"
"Well, I still can rip out someone's spine with four keypresses, if that's what you are asking..."
"Actually, no," she rolled over him and sprawled comfortably on his chest, propping her chin on her balled-up fists. "Well, that too, absolutely. Glad you had a good time with the boys, but..." she glanced to the side, where the half-peeled orange was resting in semi-darkness. "That was a stupid joke. Sorry."
He caught her before she rolled away, enveloping her in a tight hug.
"I am not very proud of what I wrote," he admitted. "The fact that someone wanted to print this was a surprise. But I already knew you had read it and I told you myself it was me. And, anyway... Did you have fun?" he asked again, punctuating it with a kiss to her shoulder.
"Yes," she giggled softly. "Only don't come near Kitty tomorrow, she had to read the scene with the orange..."
"Well, as long as you enjoyed it, who am I to protest?"
He felt her smile against his cheek.
"Now, did you drink some water?"
"Yes, William, I drank two glasses."
"Very well. Sleep now, or you will be sorry in the morning."
He heard her murmuring something in protest, but soon her movements stilled and their bedroom - their bedroom! - was filled with quiet breathing.
It was two o'clock in the morning and they were getting married in thirteen hours.
William shivered and, just for a moment, felt he would not be able to fall asleep. There was no way he'd be able to just sleep right now!
The next thing he knew his phone was playing a particular rendition of Reveille and it was ten minutes past seven.
Less than eight hours to the appointment in the Town Hall.
####
Saturday morning was chilly and really unpleasant, but they gathered around the big table, everyone quietly excited for the afternoon. Magically, despite all the entertainment the grownups had partaken in the day before, Mom and Dad had made it downstairs earlier than anyone else. When Mina and Rose ventured outside of their room (leaving Jackie to sleep in for a few more minutes) aunt Mary and Jimmy were sitting at the top of the stairs, looking at the carvings on the banister and quietly talking about each weird creature depicted there and aunt Mary informed them that their parents were setting up the breakfast table.
When they finally wandered into the dining room, Mom was standing at the sideboard, where a large, flat crepe griddle had been plugged in and she was in the process of pouring a dose of batter when they entered.
"Where did this come from?" Mina was by her elbow in seconds, watching in awe. "I mean, we always made little crepes on the frying pan, and this is like huge!"
"It seems Pemberley has untold treasures in its kitchens. Mrs Reynolds was very sure this monster was somewhere in one of the cupboards, but she prefers to use the pan, so she never really looked for it once it had been stored 'in a safe place'. It seems someone had made a gift of it to her at some point - because, you know, if someone is a housekeeper they, of course, need to be given a house implement for their birthday. So when it was found this week by one of the Derek's girls, I asked to have it set aside, got it clean, checked if it's heating up - and it turned out to be working just fine. So we plugged it in here today to..."
"Because, of course, you'd wish to be the person to feed everyone on the morning of your wedding?" aunt Kitty's voice cut through the monologue, as Mom flipped the crepe with a long, thin spatula.
"Well, I wanted to," Mom shrugged and smiled at Mina. "This is exactly what we were thinking about buying, weren't we?"
"Well, we were more thinking about not having space for it in the kitchen," Mina corrected. "And now we have it and the space to keep it!"
Aunt Kitty made some kind of noise and pushed Natalie and Agatha towards the table.
"Mom, can I make one?" Rose pressed into Mom's other side, giving aunt Kitty an angry look.
"Sure, lovey. Just be careful, the plate is very hot. Now, let me show you..."
Mina tuned them out, focusing on the crepes already waiting on the warmed plate next to the griddle.
"Aunt Mary? One for Jimmy with the cottage cheese and blackberry jam?"
"Thank you, darling, absolutely. He had been nagging me about them for the last four weeks!"
"You could take a few jars with you," Mom suggested, pouring a blob of batter on the griddle. "Now, Rose, turn the spreader... just like this. Very nice! Make it as big as the griddle. Perfect. Now, the spatula, cut it off the griddle, perfect! And now turn. Twenty seconds on this side should be enough... Mary, we still have last year lot in the storage, so I think we can part with half a dozen or so jars from this year. Now, take it off and onto the plate, and I'll pour another one..."
Everything worked in that weird way in which things happened at the same time all around the room. Dad was making coffee for the grownups, aunt Kitty was pouring milk and tea for the kids, aunt Mary and uncle Ted were buttering toast slices for everyone who didn't want a crepe, aunt Jane was strapping Johnny in his high chair, Jackie, Yola and Bella were decorating their crepes with jam and Nutella, Evelyn was growling around a crispy bit of bacon...
Aunt Georgiana marched in with uncle Charles, both of them smiling widely.
Uhm?
####
Jimmy managed to inhale one and a half crepe before he declared himself quite full and left the other half for Mary to finish up after him, which she did, rolling her eyes a bit.
"I've heard of a theory," she said "that young mothers gain weight first and foremost because they finish whatever food their children leave uneaten. This apparently happens completely unnoticed as said mother eats her meal first and then whatever the kid had left. Once you see you've been waaay overeating, you have a chance to manage your weight."
"Good thing none of us is a new mother," Kitty was observing Nathalie and Agatha elbowing each other quietly under the huge table. "Or have I missed something?" she shot a glance at Elizabeth.
"No, unless I've missed it, too," Elizabeth shrugged. "Now, anyone wants another one?"
Groans of negation came from all over the room.
"Have you eaten?" William's hands found their way to her hips and he moulded himself to her back, nosing along her hairline. "We can't have you collapsing because of hunger in front of the registrar, that would be an inauspicious omen."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but fetched one of the crepes made earlier and carefully decorated it with white cheese, a handful of peach chunks and some artistically dribbled Nutella.
"And I'd like a cup of very, very milky coffee, if you please," she smiled up at him.
"It's already waiting, milady."
Kitty coughed, choking on her tea, and turned to the window, trying to get it under control.
Smiling with faint satisfaction, Elizabeth drank her perfectly prepared coffee.
#
Mina and Rose roped Jackie into helping them with the dishes and William carried the griddle to the kitchen to store it safely - away from the grasp of the smallest children. The room felt cosy and warm and nobody wanted to be the first to stand up and break the gathering.
Nobody, that is, except for very unnaturally smiling Georgiana.
"Well, is everyone done eating?" she sounded excited, quite unlike her. "Because what I want you to do now is to come with me to the main hall."
Elizabeth frowned at William, but he only shrugged helplessly, so they followed the rest of the family curiously.
There were boxes. A lot of them.
"Now, because it's not only your wedding day, but, first and foremost, Elizabeth's birthday," Georgiana began triumphantly. "This is a present for Elizabeth, from all of us."
Lizzy felt a bit faint, approaching the set of packages.
"What...?"
She suddenly had a folder thrust into her hands.
"Because what can you give to a person who already has everything she had ever wanted?" Jane patted her shoulder.
"Wh..."
"Storage!" Kitty opened the booklet to the page that displayed an actual photo and the name of the piece.
Ultimate SewingBox
Elizabeth blinked and looked away from the instruction sheet, up at the excited grownups all around her.
"Oh!" she held her breath for a moment, trying to stop the tears. "I've always wanted...! B-but... Where will I put it?" she finally uttered. "There is no space..."
"Love," William's arms went around her waist and he hugged her quite closely, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "If there is anything in this house, it's space. The room with the leaky window?"
She frowned up at him, not understanding.
"Brian had brought in a specialist immediately after the girls' birthday weekend and it was fixed in the week following. Then he, his men and the cleaning crew removed the furniture when you weren't at home, and moved in the pieces that had been brought from your old flat. Mina helped us with the setup..."
She really couldn't find the words, so she cupped his cheek with her hand and pulled him down into a thorough, mind-cleansing kiss. Only when she felt herself going slightly weak in the knees from the lack of air and enforced position, she let him go, leaning with her whole weight on his chest, looking up at him with widened eyes.
"You've been working in the library or in my study for the past three weeks, and we've been both so busy you never even went downstairs to check on your furniture that was transported from London. Your desk and bookshelves and your own chair, it's all upstairs. This is my birthday present to you. And there is space left for this, whatever this actually is," he nodded to the heap of packages.
She found herself hyperventilating, just a bit, at the thought.
"But, William, this is all too much! And I mean it, all of you... I..."
Her hands were shaking and tears were threatening to fall, until she found herself surrounded by William's warmth - face pressed into the worn out cotton t-shirt.
"It is your study - your workroom, or whatever you choose to call it. You need one, now you have one. The room has been set up to let you work on your computer comfortably - but of course, you can correct the placement of everything, if we, simple barbarians, managed to set it up at a wrong angle to the window or something. There are some shelving units for your boxes, a work table, a window seat... You will see. And right now Brian is moving the last of the containers and bits and pieces from girls' workroom - you know, where you've put it all out of the reach of little hands - to the new one. I..." she saw him swallow and look away. "I hope you'll like it."
She couldn't do anything else but kiss him soundly.
And then everyone simply had to go upstairs and see the newly appointed room. Charles and Ted picked up some of the boxes of the new... however she would call it.
The room was glorious. It was much bigger than "her" room back in London - in fact, it was probably bigger than William's study. Removal of the old, heavy furniture made it look even more roomy.
"We can't do much about the wallpaper and the lamps, it would need proper redecorating with a specialist, but since the window was fixed, the room is warm and cosy. All your books and materials are here, your sewing machine and... basically, whatever was in the storage. And your lamps..."
"And I told them how your desk was set up at home and there is a place for the monitor to be attached, too," Mina piped up. "And, see, a proper working table, you won't have to work on the dining table anymore. And it's a big one!"
In fact a big, heavy-looking but very, very ordinary table had been placed in the corner of the room and although it looked a bit too big for easy manipulating, it was more than she had ever had before.
"And there is a window seat with storage space under it," Rose pointed out. "And Brian put in all these shelves so you don't have to store boxes stacked and you can now just pull one out, instead of a whole tower of them..."
She gathered both of them close and hugged, unable to say anything more.
"We actually do have a separate gift for you," Mina mumbled into her shoulder. "But I suppose it may be kind of a letdown after Dad's present..."
"But, here it is," Rose handed her a tiny box wrapped in green paper and decorated with a slightly squashed bow.
She let go of them and carefully undid the ribbons, then took off the tape, then unwrapped it.
"A pair of... stockings?" she blinked at the tiny box. "But..."
Mina grinned at her.
"Check the picture," she advised.
"Oh," she laughed. "Where did you find these?"
"In the same place that sells these," Mina handed her the second package.
A pair of stockings decorated with musical notes.
And a pair of knee-high socks with piano keyboard print.
"These are lovely," she kissed each forehead with a resounding 'smack'. "Absolutely lovely, dears."
"One, two, three..." she heard Jane count and managed to turn to the others just in time.
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Lizzy...!
Happy Birthday to you!
She felt torn between trying to kiss and hug everyone and crying. So she did both. Finally, all the children were herded out of the room to be washed and changed into something they could wear outside and she was left with William and their girls.
"That was," she hiccoughed. "That was a perfect... surprise! How... how did you manage... this?"
"Dress fittings," he informed her with satisfaction. "And I have a tracker on Georgiana's phone - she has on mine, it's a mutually agreed sibling spying - so I've sent that text about peelers only when you two were already on your way back, to give us more time."
"You... what?" she frowned, trying to get angry, but couldn't stay so for long, as William was smiling at her like a madman.
"And I had them cleaning here every minute you were out of the house. Brian was sending them upstairs to remove all the packaging and so on whenever you went to town. It was a challenge, I have to say."
"I..." she turned around, taking in the whole room, the work that had been put into setting it all up. "William, I can't..."
"You need your own space. Everyone needs their own space. You can't work in the library forever and you will need your big computer from time to time, I suppose. I'm not throwing you out of my study, by no means! I love having you there, torturing your laptop and mumbling curses at it!" he drew her closer and tucked her head under his chin. "But I don't think it is a sustainable solution for you. Now, here, you will be able to work in comfort - I hope - and I will be just two rooms down the corridor, so..."
"We'll call you when it's time for lunch," Mina's soft words interrupted them, but the door was already closing behind the girls when they turned.
"So..." she sighed, relaxing against his warm bulk. "If I'm bored or can't work, I can just go to your study and bother you?"
"I suppose so," he purred into her ear. "Or I can come here and interrupt you when I am bored."
"Mhm. And how would you do that?" she stretched and looked up at him. Crystalline blue sparkled with amusement as his small laughing lines deepened.
"Oh, so this is the way thou wants te spend the mornin before thee weddin?" his voice dropped almost an octave, suddenly gaining something of a broader character as he sought her lips with his. "Righ'ere?"
"Will-iam...!"
Good thing they both had scorned the idea of "not seeing the bride before the wedding" idiocy (floated by Charles at about nine-ish the day before), because trying to avoid each other until three in the afternoon...
Oh.
Mmm.
Right here.
"Will...!" she gasped as he hoisted her higher, pulling her legs to surround his hips and turned towards the window seat.
"Now, where were we..." he slid his hands under her skirt and laced the fingers of his hands right under her seat, cupping it in his large palms. "Ah. Perfect."
Perfect, yes.
Mmm!
####
After a light lunch - to ensure everyone's cooperation and proper deportment during the ceremony - all present and under the age of ten had to be washed again. Only Mina, Rose and Jackie escaped with their dignity intact, despite the fact that Nathalie managed to drop her glass of juice (by complete accident) and drench almost everyone with its contents. Not even aunt Kitty had any idea how half a glass of juice managed to go so far. Nevertheless, all kids were splattered with carrot juice and needed to be re-dressed into something cleaner.
#
All three girls crowded into their bedroom (where Jackie had also left her bag and had hanged up her dress the evening before) and went quickly about their preparations. Rose was still vacillating between wearing the navy skirt and trousers of the same material. Mina was putting on and taking off her blazer, trying to work out which option looked better with her dress and Jackie couldn't make her mind if it was already cold enough to warrant wearing leggings or if her long socks would be enough.
When aunt Mary came to fetch them, they were in a sorry state, all three on a verge of collapse due to simple inability to decide.
"You," their aunt pointed to Jackie "put on these tights, right now. It's not as warm outside as you think it is. You, the same, put on the trousers," she ordered Rose. "Mina, you put on thick cream tights, just the same as Jackie. You'd rather not come back home and have to stay in bed because you've caught a cold at your own parents' wedding!"
#
The Lambton Town Hall was a modest, brown and grey building that looked like nothing specific at all. There were other pairs moving through the parking lot, obvious with their families and friends, someone with a huge camera trailing after a rather senior couple and one group comprised entirely of women.
They had arrived with enough safety margin that everyone's nerves were soothed, and even Elizabeth, prone to 'can't be late' anxiety, could say they were comfortably on time. Although she still tended to look around herself in surprise - only from time to time - he felt her relax against his shoulder gradually as their sisters surrounded them, all presenting a united front of elegance in strong colours. Elizabeth had her wine-coloured set of dress and long coat, while the others were dressed in different shades of red, each matching the colouring of their eyes and hair. Even their twins, whose clothes had not been specifically bought for the occasion, looked quite smartly coordinated, with their neckerchiefs in the exact red of the dress marking them as members of Elizabeth's party.
Georgiana had provided him with a matching bowtie and pocket square on Tuesday, when the dress was brought in, so he knew the colour. He hadn't been even able to theorise as to the cut of it, until he saw Elizabeth coming down the stairs a mere hour before.
#
Georgiana, Kitty, Charles and Ted were already in the main hall, children finally more or less clean and somewhat organised (although Evelyn had to be bribed not to roar at her cousins at the least expected moments). He joined them and, in an attempt not to look too nervous, almost spilt a glass of water all over himself.
Georgie extricated the glass from his grasp and handed him a bottle, saying something about jitters under her breath.
A door opened upstairs and they all froze, but it was only Mary - well, Mary, Rose, Mina and Jackie, and Jimmy of course, who quickly descended the stairs and joined them in their nervous wait.
"How long can this take?" Jackie asked what everyone was thinking.
"I hope not too long, but Mommy is helping aunt Elizabeth with her hair, so, who knows" Charles patted his eldest daughter's shoulder. "We have time, don't worry. Anyway the ceremony will not start without aunt Lizzy."
Jackie sighed theatrically.
William wanted to do the same, but then, again, a door opened.
The first to show on the stairs was Jane, in a long dress that made her look even taller than she was and...
His brain stopped. He remembered that sensation perfectly later on.
He couldn't say what it was about that dress, exactly. It was simple. There was no lace, no frills, no contrasting pattern, nothing specific that could have hit him so. And yet.
A deep-cut wrap-around top that was modelled to perfection, exposing absolutely everything that Elizabeth's deeper necklines tended to expose, a cinched waist marked with a slightly lighter belt and soft drape of the skirt, showing her shapely ankles and feet encased in mid-height heels. Everything, from the shoes, to the dress, to a glittering pendant, to the ribbon artistically weaved into the crown of auburn braids, was in deep, wine red.
Nobody else in the family could have carried that colour off successfully.
The other Bennet sisters were too light - too blonde, too bland. Georgiana's eyes and skin and nearly-black hair would have clashed in an unfortunate manner with that specific shade.
Elizabeth looked as if she was born to dress only in burgundy. She was all warmth, determined dark reds, browns and golds.
He reached out and she stepped carefully down the stairs to meet him.
He wasn't sure what to say - he didn't even know if there was anything he should say, but he drew her closer to him and pressed a kiss to her palm.
"Ready?" she smiled at him.
Oh, he was.
#
As soon as they parked all the cars and unloaded all the children, dividing the smaller ones between adults and the oldest kids, a pair standing next to a car a few places over drew their attention. William smiled at the thinly-veiled appreciation of almost every passer-by - even one pair of newlyweds seemed to be admiring the general aesthetics of the scene. Finally, noticing their preoccupation, Charles raised his head from where he had been adjusting the strap on Johnny's pushchair. He rolled his eyes and whistled shrilly.
"Oi! Rick! Stop snogging him and come say hello to the family!"
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AN: Explanation: Ultimate SewingBox and the family of storage solutions is like the Holy Grail of craft storage. Google for it. You will see.
So, how did you like that? ;) What do you think about William's books?
