And all that evil might, with God's blessing, be happily prevented by an early and diligent application to Female Accomplishments. - Sermons to Young Women, Dr. James Fordyce

Sunlight streamed through lace curtains to paint the flowers on the sitting room carpet in yellow and orange. The house felt much larger now that it was empty of guests. Not that there had been many guests, a wedding between two women is not the sort of social engagement you put in the newspaper. But there had been enough friends and family to fill the little sitting room with conversation and good cheer. Soon the servants would finish tidying up the food and it would be almost as if the wedding had never happened. But it had.

Mary sat, watching the bees buzz around the roses in the garden through the window, and played with her wedding ring. It felt smooth and strange against her fingers, like the familiar shape of her hand had changed ever so slightly.

"I am sorry I am so tired," said Anne. She had been visibly flagging as the breakfast went on, and now flopped half asleep next to Mary on the settee. The pretty curls her hair had been coaxed into this morning were beginning to unravel, and she had loosened the buttons on her fancy silver gown. She had looked so lovely during the ceremony, but she looked just as lovely now. My wife, thought Mary, happily.

"Since you are tired as a result of marrying me," said Mary. "It would be unfair to hold it against you." She brushed the limp curls off Anne's head and kissed her forehead.

"Hmm...yes, I married you," said Anne, smiling. She leaned up and gave Mary a kiss, then rested her head against Mary's shoulder.

"Shall I have Jackson come help you prepare for sleep?"

"Sleep?" said Anne, moving her head up again. "It is my wedding ni...afternoon. If I sleep now I may not wake until tomorrow, and thus miss my chance to ravish you." She gave Mary a half lidded look that aimed for seductive but mostly just made her look more drowsy.

Mary blushed, regardless. "I am not sure you have the energy to ravish me," she said, softly.

The maid cleaning the table pretended not to hear. The staff had been chosen in part for their discretion, and seemed happy to let their mistresses do as they wished as long as all the bills were paid on time. Mary found it strange to be anyone's mistress, to have a responsibility over the household instead of passively accepting whatever was chosen by the head of the house, but she found she liked it, liked sharing that role with Anne and deciding how their lives would progress together.

"That is..." Anne attempted to sit up and flopped back down. "That is possibly true. But I am determined regardless to make the attempt."

Mary helped her up, and gave her a kiss. The kiss deepened. Mary liked kissing. She suspected she would like other things too, but Anne had been quite insistent they not anticipate their wedding vows. I shall be your moral guide, she had said, solemnly. For I know it is important to you to remain chaste while an unmarried maiden. Which it was, but Mary might not have minded if Anne had let her betray her principles a little.

There were no principles stopping her now.

"I will help you to your room," said Mary. "Shall I...shall I visit you there anon?"

"Yes," said Anne.

Mary sent for Jackson and her own maid, Taylor, then sat by her mirror feeling very self conscious. She usually did not pay much attention to the ways servants knew all aspects of her life, but it felt strange to involve them in this.

"Shall I ready you for bed?" asked Taylor.

"Yes, please," said Mary, trying not to feel entirely transparent. People sometimes went to bed at three in in the afternoon, did they not?

Taylor smiled and helped Mary out of her wedding dress and into her nightgown. It was one she did not wear very often, for she found it impractically thin. Taylor brushed out Mary's hair and then twisted it around the end of the hairbrush to make it curl into loose waves. She had never done that before. "Let's have you looking nice," she said.

Mary was too embarrassed to reply. Was it to be like this every time? How did other women cope? She almost wished she were a commoner, and not expected to rely on maids to help her every time she wished to undress.

But then she was through the door to Anne's bedroom, and all thoughts of embarrassment vanished.

Anne was a formless lump at the head of her bed. Mary walked towards her, and saw Anne watching her from under the bedclothes. "I thought you might have fallen asleep," said Mary with relief.

"Of course not," said Anne, stifling a yawn. "It was only that I became little cold."

"Then I shall warm you up," said Mary, feeling daring.

Anne coloured and coughed out "Please do", before moving over to make room.

Mary joined her under the covers. Without thinking, she took Anne's hands as she had when they shared a bed at Rosings, and rubbed them to make them warm. Anne smiled. The curtains had not been fully closed, and Mary could see Anne clearly in the rich autumn sunlight. They lay there looking at each other.

"I am not sure how to begin," said Mary.

"As we have before," said Anne, moving closer, "but without the part where we stop."

That sounded logical. Yet Mary found herself paralysed with anxiety nonetheless. "I am sorry I am so inexperienced," she said.

Anne leaned forward and kissed her. "There is no solution for that but practice," she said, softly, and her breath on Mary's cheek made her shiver. "If you find yourself completely at sea there are books, but I am sure that..."

"There are books?" said Mary. "I could have studied?"

Anne widened her eyes. "Yes, but..." She frowned. "Mary are you saying you would rather read a book than simply kiss me?"

Mary gave a short laugh. "No," she said. "I like books. But I like kissing you rather more." So she did so.

Pulling Anne closer, Mary felt her hands become lost in a froth of lace and ruffles. And then she became distracted by the feeling Anne touching her, her cold fingers pressed up against Mary's side and running, tangling in Mary's hair.

Being in bed removed the usual difficulties associated with being different heights, but it introduced the complication of bedding. The sheets got tangled in Mary's feet and made it difficult to move. There was too much fabric in general. She wanted to touch all the parts of Anne she had only touched in passing, or imagined. She felt a flush of shame to think such lewd thoughts, but then reminded herself that she and Anne were married, and that such thoughts were now only right and natural.

That did not make them easy to express.

"Dearest," she said. "Would it be appropriate to remove, um..."

Anne blushed. Had Mary been too forward? But then she smiled, and sat up. "That would be entirely appropriate," she said. She was wearing a short, ruffled nightdress with sections of translucent lace. It was very pretty, but Mary still wished very much to see Anne without it.

Anne reached down to pull off her dress, and then stopped halfway through.

"Mary," she said, voice muffled, "Could you..."

"Gladly," said Mary, and dug her hands amongst the ruffles until she could find a handhold. She carefully pulled off the nightdress and placed it on the bed. Anne emerged from looking a little disheveled and entirely naked.

Was it rude to stare? Because Mary really, really wished to stare. She had seen Anne naked before, but only briefly, and never like this. She was pale and delicate, her small breasts tipped with pink. Anne blushed and self consciously covered herself. "You should remove your clothes as well," she said.

So Mary did so. They both stared at each other.

"You are so beautiful," said Anne. "May I..." She placed her hand on Mary's chest. Though her hands were cold, it made Mary feel very warm.

They embraced again, now with nothing between them. Mary could feel Anne's whole body pressed up against her, soft and sharp and moving in so many places she could not keep track. Kisses on her lips, her throat, her bosom, hands running across her hips and pulling at her back. It was intoxicating. Mary fell backwards onto the bed and pulled Anne on top of her. Anne let out a delighted laugh and gave her a short, sharp kiss, then rested her head on Mary's chest, lightly making circles on Mary's shoulder with the tips of her fingers. Mary ran her hands down Anne's back, fascinated by the bumps and moving muscles. Her skin was smooth and warm, not so different than Mary's own yet far more satisfying to touch.

After a while, Mary noticed that the sensation of Anne's fingers skimming against her skin had slowed and then stopped.

"Anne?" she said.

"Mmm?" said Anne, into Mary's chest.

"Are you falling asleep?"

"No," said Anne. She sighed, causing Mary's skin to tingle. "Which is to say, not any more." She pulled herself up onto her hands and looked down at Mary. She looked very tired, but also very happy.

"I am so glad I found you," she said.

"As am I," said Mary.

Anne leaned down and kissed Mary again. Then she moved her legs and shifted her weight backwards and suddenly Mary's awareness of Anne contracted to a single intense point of contact. Mary gasped.

"Hmm?" said Anne, with a knowing look. Mary was reminded that she had done all this before. She desperately wanted to ask Anne to do whatever she'd just done again, but it felt too nakedly wanton.

Mary settled for saying, "That was nice."

"That," said Anne leaning close, letting her hair brush against Mary's chest, "was only the beginning."

Goodness. Mary regretted again the lost opportunity to study.

Anne leaned closer, and then lay down on Mary entirely. She made a long, low, sound of frustration. "Except it is not," she said, in an irritated tone, "for I find myself entirely too fatigued to move a moment longer."

"Oh dear," said Mary.

"I am so sorry, Mary," said Anne. "This is not what a wedding night should be."

Mary could not pretend not to be a little disappointed, but mostly she felt a deep affection for Anne and gratitude for being able to lie with her at all, even in sleep. "I will still be married to you tomorrow night," she said. "And the night after that."

Anne sighed again. "That is true," she said. She kissed Mary one last time and then slowly rolled over onto her back. She smiled at Mary sleepily from her pillow. "I will see you tomorrow, then," she said, "wife."

"Until tomorrow," said Mary. She rescued her nightgown from the tangle of blankets and went to go warm herself by the fire that always burned in Anne's room.

The sun had set and Mary was having to read by candle light before she heard any movement from the bed again.

"You are still here," she heard Anne say in surprise. Mary looked towards the bed. Anne had pulled the blanket up to cover herself but the pale skin of her shoulders reflected the flickering firelight.

"I did not like to leave you," said Mary. "And I was not ready to sleep myself." Changing back into her day clothes had seemed too much trouble, and she had quite enjoyed watching Anne sleep while there was still light to do it.

"Are you tired now?" said Anne. "I am not sure what time it is. But I...I find I am much refreshed myself." She smiled self consciously and fiddled with the edge of her pillowslip.

"I am not tired," said Mary. She put down her book.

And in the end Mary turned out to be a very fast learner, even without the chance to study in advance.

AN: And here we are at the end! Except for a little fluffy deleted scene in "To Love and to Cherish". Thanks for reading!