Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Sense and Sensibility! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates on the second and fourth Saturday of each month!
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After a socially acceptable amount of time had passed since Mr. Willoughby's fall from grace, it became a commonly known fact that Marianne Dashwood had at last welcomed Colonel Brandon's courtship.
The more Marianne had contemplated the situation, the more she had felt ashamed of her previous behavior.
It embarrassed her to consider the immaturity she had acted with, along with the foolish blindness which had obscured from her sight the true value of the man who had remained loyal and devoted to her.
Colonel Brandon was neither as dashing nor as outwardly charming as Mr. Willoughby, but Marianne had begun to notice the touching kindness in his mannerisms and the subtle romanticism expressed by his thoughtful gestures.
Christopher's love for Marianne was as true as the rising sun.
The piano he had purchased for her had been a display of his deep affection.
After that, it had been beautiful dresses, fine chocolates, and rare books, all of which he had bought in London and sent to Marianne for her enjoyment.
Marianne spent many days at the Brandon estate, along with her mother and sisters until Elinor left with her new groom.
Colonel Brandon was careful to keep Marianne on his arm throughout the entire event on the day that Elinor became Mrs. Edward Ferrars.
He tried not to stare at the radiance of Marianne's smile, which displayed the genuine happiness she felt for her sister and her new husband.
Once the ceremony had concluded, Marianne and Colonel Brandon drifted through the large reception room as they mingled with one guest after another.
Marianne found the bustling social affair of her sister's wedding to be exciting.
Colonel Brandon found Marianne to be exciting, but he thought the conversations they held with others were rather boring and dry.
Regardless, Marianne seemed amused and that knowledge alone was enough to delight Colonel Brandon.
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With the sublime memory of Elinor's recent wedding still fresh on Marianne's mind, Colonel Brandon sought to make his true desires formally known at last.
Elinor and Edward continued their honeymoon during the morning when Colonel Brandon found Marianne sitting on the fine sofa in his parlor as she read from one of the many volumes he owned.
"Good morning, Marianne." Colonel Brandon drawled as he entered the room.
"Good morning, Colonel." Marianne greeted him with a pleasant smile as she looked up from her page.
Colonel.
His heart sank as he heard her utter the word.
He desperately wished that his beloved would call him "Christopher" not "Colonel".
He wanted Marianne to speak his name with her ethereal smile on her lips, with a jovial laugh, and with a long, loud cry while he cradled her in his arms as they coupled in their marriage bed.
Colonel Brandon concealed his feelings as he nodded at the book in Marianne's hands and asked, "Is it to your liking?"
"Oh! Very much, yes!" Marianne replied with a nod and a smile after she briefly glanced back down at the book.
Both of them wrestled with the heavy tension that filled the air as they gazed at each other there, alone in the elegant parlor with the bright rays of a fresh new day painting its soft glow across the wainscotted walls.
Colonel Brandon nodded briefly and flashed a small, polite smile but Marianne frowned.
He wanted to frown along with her until she sighed and implored him, "Please, sir, after all of the kindness you've shown me and my family, won't you speak plainly to me? It's apparent that some great weight burdens you."
Colonel Brandon's face twisted into a mask of anguished hope as he stepped forward.
Marianne silently shut her book and straightened her spine into a proper posture as he approached.
The spring morning carried a pleasant chill.
She fought against the urge to shudder as the coolness touched her pale neck and delicate shoulders.
Marianne enjoyed wearing dresses of soft colour in Colonel Brandon's company.
As she sat there that morning, in a gossamer gown made of baby blue silk, she captivated his attention completely.
"Marianne?" Colonel Brandon asked as he knelt down in front of her and took her hand.
"Yes, Colonel?" She blinked.
"I never want to hear you call me that again." He replied with a bittersweet smile.
Regardless of the trials she had endured, Marianne remained almost pitifully naive in many aspects.
"I'm very sorry, sir." She replied quickly, "Please accept my apology! It was never my intention to offend you. May I humbly ask what it is you wish me to address you as instead?"
"I wish for you to address me as 'Christopher', Marianne." Colonel Brandon whispered as he gazed into her eyes, with her hand clutched in his and a soft look of eager yearning on his face, "I wish for you to address me as 'husband' and 'lover'...and one day, after our affections have become known and we have known each other, I wish for our children to address me as 'father'."
Marianne drew in a deep breath as Colonel Brandon finished with a formal proposal, "Marianne Dashwood, I love you with all of my heart and all of my soul. I love you with everything I have in this life and everything I will have in the next. It is my desire to keep you by my side for all of the remaining days that I shall live and when that time has come to an end, to cling to your memory as I enter into eternity. Will you allow me the privilege of having you as my own?...Oh, Marianne, will you marry me?"
Tears of joy and tender admiration had welled in Marianne's beautiful, blue eyes while she had listened to Colonel Brandon's surprisingly poetic declaration of love.
She had come to realize that he was a man who felt very deeply due to the many complex emotions hidden underneath his simple exterior, but the way he spoke that morning nearly made her swoon on the sofa.
To preserve her dignity, she sniffed back the evidence of her heart's response as she nodded and eagerly replied, "...Yes, Colo-, Christopher! I will marry you and stay by your side for all our living days!"
A happy smile broke out on Colonel Brandon's face unlike any Marianne had ever seen before as he gazed at her.
She struggled to breathe as a lump of excitement formed in her throat while she looked at her suitor and exclaimed, "Christopher!...Forgive me, I am so deeply overwhelmed!"
His smile faded as his brow furrowed in concern before he asked his darling worriedly, "Marriane, do you feel faint?...Lie back….I'll help you rest."
"No, I don't believe lying back will do me any good at this moment." Marianne disagreed as she hurriedly placed a hand on her chest.
Her blue eyes widened as she struggled to inhale.
Colonel Brandon forced himself to focus on the seriousness of what may ail his darling and not on the tempting, gorgeous hints of cleavage he could see underneath her palm.
"Shall I send for a doctor?" He frowned as he continued to kneel in front of her, "Please, my love, instruct me as to how I should best aid you and it will be done immediately."
"Christopher?" Marianne asked breathlessly, "Will you allow………Will you allow me to give you a gift?"
"...A gift, Marianne?" Colonel Brandon frowned.
"You have given me so many lovely tokens of your affection and I……I am consumed by sentiment from your kindness and your love! Please, Christopher?!" Marianne asked as she gazed at him, "I feel my passions may be settled if you'll let me present you with this small gesture."
Marianne's blue eyes flickered down to Colonel Brandon's lips as their faces drew closer and closer together.
Her heart raced in a frantic rhythm similar to his own as he mirrored her actions and glanced towards her sweet, plump lips while they came to a silent understanding.
"Very well…..my love……" Colonel Brandon whispered in a low purr, "If it will relieve you of your suffering, I suppose……It would be villainous of me not to accept such an offering."
The birds chirped outside the window as Marianne closed her eyes.
She trembled with anxiety as her heart pounded in her chest.
Colonel Brandon wondered if he would die in that instant and pass into paradise as he felt his beloved press her sweet lips against his.
Marianne's kiss carried a gentleness that spoke of her innocence.
Her suitor was a mercifully chivalrous and admirable gentleman.
Colonel Brandon's kindness was demonstrated by how he restrained his inner passions and allowed Marianne to lead.
……….And lead she did.
Unlike many other young women in her era, Marianne was not a meek or timid girl, she was a fiery, bright flower who seized what she wanted….. and she wanted Christopher Brandon.
Once she felt confident he would not be repulsed by her show of affection, she placed her hands on the sides of his face and pressed her lips to his more earnestly.
Colonel Brandon batted away the debaucherous fantasies that played through his mind as arousal shot through his groin while he enjoyed the delight of receiving Marianne's first kiss.
He tried not to ponder how easily he could have made her melt into his arms or how little effort it would have taken him to seduce her there on the sofa and let her sample a married woman's delights…….
Colonel Brandon's hands did come up to grasp Marianne's waist once she became brazen enough to flick her tongue curiously along his bottom lip.
He knew his own limits.
Before their tongues could partake in a battle of wills, Colonel Brandon tore himself free from Marriane and gazed into her face, with the taste of her virginal kiss still on his lips.
Her eyes were wide as he swallowed thickly and tried not to seem like a smitten schoolboy while he stared at her longingly.
"Have I offended you, Christopher?" Marianne asked in a worried gasp.
"On the contrary, my love." He answered with a genuine smile, "You've filled me with happiness."
Mrs. walked past the room as she tended to her morning duties.
Her presence spurred their feverish moment of passion to die away as Colonel Brandon and Marianne remembered the importance of decency.
"Thank you, Christopher." Marianne said as he kissed the back of her hand and slowly stood to his feet, "...For that precious treasure."
"More treasures will come soon, Marianne." Colonel Brandon whispered in his velvet voice as he gazed down at his darling, "I have no interest in a lengthy engagement. Our wedding night will not be far away."
As Marianne watched her new fiancé turn and walk out of the parlor with the proud stride of a man victorious, her eyes focused on his broad shoulders.
Marianne's cheeks flushed obscenely as she contemplated what it would be like to understand the true pleasures of love after she and Christopher had wedded and retreated to their marriage bed.