Where d'Arcy gets his answer!
Chapter 54: Pemberley Night Stalker
Derbyshire, Pemberley, Saturday the fifteenth August. Eleventh day.
"Is everything ready for tomorrow?"
"Yes," answered Kervadec. "I went myself to announce the changes..."
D'Arcy nodded and smiled at his sergeant.
"Tomorrow could be a great day... We'll know soon!"
"I'm sure it will, Sir, I'm sure it will..."
He went to the room Mrs. Reynolds had assigned him. Clearly she had a much better understanding of what was good for Pemberley than her Master. The room was spacious and had a bathroom where two menservants were waiting with hot water...
"Only these two," said d'Arcy pointing at their hot water containers. "Warm will be enough, I have no desire to let sleep catch me while bathing..."
He was tired. It had been years since he was as tired as today. But he would not sleep. Not yet.
He would bathe and then he would join her.
If she was not yet asleep they would speak. If she was sleeping, he would sleep at her side. Tomorrow morning would be soon enough.
Washed, shaved and perfumed he slipped into the corridor and found his way to her room.
As was the tradition for an innocent maiden in a safe house her door was not locked.
He opened it and sneaked in.
He immediately heard that she was sleeping.
He sighed.
But it was probably for the best. He needed sleep and he was reluctant to awake her. She had, like himself, a long journey behind her and she would be more amenable if rested.
And it gave him a little more time to cherish his dream.
It could very well be that tomorrow morning the answer he got would not be what he wished.
Jane purred her satisfaction.
She had just had the most satisfactory dream.
And even in that delicious moment between dream and awakening, that dream went on. She could still feel his fragrance, feel his skin under her cheek and the reassuring rumble of his heart.
She sighed and let her finger glide over the warm surface of her pillow.
In her dream it had the softness of a skin and smoothness of the softest of silk...
She smiled and pulled it against her.
Nothing happened.
She tried again...
There was a soft grumble coming from her pillow.
Her smile increased when she felt a finger crawl on her shoulder.
It journeyed to her breast and stole itself to her nipple that revealed itself as traitorous as always...
"I don't know if you do it on purpose but it seems to me that it has become your habit to invade my dreams..."
She felt him move and his lips joined hers.
"Your dreams, mon amour, are the most important thing in the universe. I'm afraid it's only there that you'll give me the place I covet..."
She moved and his arm was there to let her nestle her head.
"Why are you afraid? Do you really believe I'm not already yours?"
She felt his smile.
"I proposed and I insisted that you think about all the consequences of your acceptance. I'm only too aware that there are more reasons to run away from me than there are to join me..."
She looked at him.
"Do I discern doubt there?"
He sighed.
"Who would not doubt? But there's also hope, hope that you have decided to let my dream become true..."
There he paused.
"And that hope is a real marvel. It speaks of a common life, of shared pleasures and of duress better endured together... It speaks of love and trust and confidence..."
She looked at him and in the dawning of the rising sun she saw that his eyes were shut while he was speaking.
She raised herself to him and kissed him.
"Can I consider, Sir, that your offer still stands?"
He nodded but did not open his eyes.
"I'm here at your side, am I not? I've galloped from London to Pemberley in less than twenty hours only to be at your side this very morning! In that there can no more be a doubt that I was serious and that my proposal stands..."
She came again and kissed him.
He let her and at the exact moment she tried to distance herself he began to kiss her and his hands began to wander her body.
Her hands did the same to him and soon they were lost in a world where only love and pleasure have their place.
They spent an eternity in their little bubble when he realized that his hands were roaming under her nightgown and that they were reaching places where he had promised not to roam...
He stopped immediately.
He would not spoil that marvelous moment with lust and weak will...
Gently he pulled away...
"I beg you pardon, I let myself be overwhelmed..."
She looked at him with sparkling eyes and a mischievous smile.
"What have I to forgive what you did not already do in London? And if I remember well, I did not see fit to protest loudly..."
He pulled her to him and whispered in her ear.
"You are too good to me, mon amour, but we must be serious because I'm here for a very important reason..."
She laughed.
"Yes I agree. The wedding between Elizabeth and your cousin is probably the most important event in both our lives..."
He raised himself and embraced her fiercely.
"I'm here to ask you to share my life, Jane Bennet. And today I'm here to hear your answer. But as I already warned you, be very careful with said answer. Very careful..."
She sat astride him and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I am a careful girl monsieur d'Arcy. I have listened to your warnings and to your insistent affirmations that you are not the man who would be best for me..." She sighed. "I have listened and I have thought. And I have looked at your many defects, faults and disadvantages and keeping them in mind I have looked around me to see if there are men I consider better suited for me..."
She made a face.
"I must confess that my research has been fruitless. I saw many men but none was without faults and no one has been honest enough to warn me that a life with him could be, some days, difficult and strenuous."
She shook her head.
"I saw their defects but they never acknowledged them and never did they believe they could hinder my decision to be their wife." She shrugged her shoulders. "And so I came to the conclusion that all men have faults but that you are the only one who has been honest enough to warn me about them..."
Her smile came back.
"And that, monsieur d'Arcy is a quality I do appreciate and value... If you add to that quality a few others and let me consider that you're handsome, rich, famous and in love with me, the overall result is more than positive."
He smiled back.
"Is this a yes?"
She nodded and shook her head at the same time.
"It could be a yes but there are a few points I want to rule out of our life before." She patted him on the chest. "If you survive the next minutes..."
She bent down until she was only a few inches from his face.
"Let's speak about Miss O'Sullivan, monsieur d'Arcy... There are a few details of her relationship with us that need to be clarified. Urgently..."
Some time later he awoke.
He was sure the smile on his face had never disappeared even during that little bout of sleep he just had. She was there, her head on his shoulder and he could feel that she was smiling too.
He tried to massage his shoulder but he stopped since it would have disturbed her.
It did hurt! She had bitten him rather viciously everywhere she could reach with her teeth.
And since he was in no mood to strike back to calm her he just tried and wiggled to get out of her reach.
Mostly he succeeded but not every time...
But even his hurting shoulder could not smother his elation.
She was jealous! And really furious at his last attempt to disgust her.
She was jealous and she had shown that she would not accept being manipulated.
He had already known that she was a spirited little woman but the way she had shown him her displeasure had been the most pleasant thrashing of his life.
Because it showed that she cared, that she had been hurt by him.
He sighed and lightly kissed her hair.
She was jealous... What a marvelous feeling.
He loved it since he had become as jealous of her as she was of him...
He kissed her again and that time he had the desired result.
She moved and looked up at him.
"It will need more than a few kisses to be forgiven monsieur d'Arcy."
"Ask and I'll do each and every one of your biddings..."
She purred her approval.
"Now that's an adequate answer, monsieur d'Arcy! I'll think of some quests difficult enough to atone for your awful crime..."
"As long as it does not imply my leaving you alone, I'll do them all..."
She was stroking his chest and inhaling his manly scent.
"There is a quest..." whispered she. "But it is a difficult one. The most difficult of all for such as you!"
He let his fingers play with her luscious hair and smiled.
She could ask him for the moon. He knew he would get it for her.
"Tell me..."
"I want you to treat me as an equal, monsieur d'Arcy."
She looked him in the eyes and since he did not react she went on.
"I don't want to be treated as if I were an adornment to be shown at parties and ceremonies. I want to have a say on whatever you decide which is not political or military. And, finally I want you to never ever decide for me again..."
She stopped and her eyes were not pleading but defying him.
He inhaled deeply.
He had not seen that one coming.
Who would have believed that lovely beautiful shy Miss Bennet was a fighter for rights of women?
He should have! He had seen her stand her ground before those ruffians with only a stick and her courage.
He looked at her and she never glanced away.
He sighed.
"Will you bite me again if I say no?"
His attempt at humor fell flat. She said nothing and just waited.
After a few strained moments he spoke again.
"It was never my intention to tame you Miss Bennet! I fell in love with a beautiful warrior angel not an endearing dull doll. I knew I would not be able to control you or to command you the way other men do with their wives. I always knew that you would be a partner and not an obedient glorified slave. And so I will accept your Quest, Miss Bennet, with one exception!"
She said nothing and let him end his speech.
"When it comes to your security or to those of the children I hope we will produce together, I shall and will not hesitate to make decisions to protect you even if I know that you will not like them. And that means also that I will not always ask you if you agree with what I am going to impose on you regarding those matters... Prepare yourself to be often angry with me but then I hope that you will still be alive enough to be able to try and bite me into subservience!"
His eyes were as fierce as it was possible to be while looking lovingly at her.
She thought about it for a few minutes and then nodded.
She knew he would extend the range of her security to a level she would not like but then it would always be better than what every other woman in that Kingdom would get.
Her daughters or granddaughters would, perhaps, one day, have what she dreamed of. But he had granted her more than she would have dreamed of a few weeks earlier...
"We have a deal, Geoffrey," whispered she. "Are you still interested in my hand?"
"More than ever..."
They stretched and kissed and kissed and kissed...
They would probably have trespassed a few social boundaries had not someone violently opened her door to enter her bedroom!
Never ever had Elizabeth been so furious.
She had just barged into d'Arcy's bedchamber and finding him not there and the bed unused had rushed to her sister's bedroom where, she was sure she would find that traitorous and slimy rascal.
She burst into Jane's bedchamber and before anyone could react she was astride both and trying to pummel d'Arcy while not hurting her sister.
"You abject piece of slimy garbage," she puntuated each hit to d'Arcy's person. "You won't succeed in your little revenge! I'm going to kill you right now..."
Jane, as soon as she recovered from the shock of Elizabeth's outburst, took hold of her sister and tried to push her away from her future husband...
She succeeded in bringing her out of range of d'Arcy.
"Lizzie!" shouted she. "What happened? Why are you so upset?"
Lizzie stopped wriggling and looked at her sister.
"I'm not upset, I'm mad!" She pointed toward d'Arcy.
"And it's all his fault!"
"What happened," shouted Jane while holding her sister. "What did he do?"
Elizabeth looked at her sister with tears in her eyes.
"He postponed my marriage and had the reverend arrested! Darcy's sure he did it just to upset him because they fought last night!"
Both sisters turned to look at d'Arcy who made no effort to flee one's wrath and the other's pained surprise.
"Did you postpone her wedding?" asked Jane in a hollow voice.
D'arcy put his hand under his pillow and took out a letter.
"Indeed, I did, but before flogging me, please take a look at this little document..."
Jane, pale and discomfited took the letter and opened it.
He saw her eyes follow the lines and he was quite satisfied to see the whiteness disappear to be replaced by a blush and a smile.
She handed the letter to Elizabeth who read it hastily.
"I knew I would be too tired to be an acceptable bridegroom at ten o'clock in the morning. So I decided that I would marry Jane at 2 o'clock in the afternoon."
He looked at the sisters.
"'And since at her fourteenth birthday my Jane had to swear to her little sister that they would marry together at the same time, I did what I had to do to give her the opportunity to be true to her word."
He smiled.
"From now on, it's a family tradition, we always do what we promise..."
Jane was on him kissing him the next second.
"I love you," whispered she. "I believe I have a dress which could be adapted..."
He shook his head.
"No need! There's a second wedding dress downstairs in the fitting room. It's yours..."
Elizabeth had just finish her second reread.
She was a little nonplussed and was gnawing her lips.
As soon as Jane jumped up from him to grab her hand and pull her toward the door, she looked at d'Arcy.
"I must apologize, monsieur d'Arcy. I suspected you of..."
"Don't fret about it, you couldn't know and I must confess that had I not had a better reason to postpone the wedding, upsetting your bridegroom would have been quite a satisfying prospect..."
He smiled at her.
"And really, I cannot understand what a spirited beautiful young lady like you can find in such a boring stiff prick as him..."
Jane looked at him wide eyed and shocked.
"Geoffrey!"
"But," continued he with a mirthful smile, "luckily there's another solution! You still have the chance to trade him for a handsome French aristocrat who would happily marry you at the same time as your sister..."
He was stopped by his own boot crashing just over his head on the bed.
He jumped to the side to avoid the next one and when he emerged again he saw them exiting Jane's bedroom.
He looked after the giggling sisters escaping from his lustful gaze.
God, the brunette Bennet sisters were indeed as lively and spirited as the blond ones. And little Lizzie would be a beautiful bride...
"Think of it, ladies," said he to the empty room. "It would be an excellent solution. You would be together..."
Next chapter: Pemberley Fittings