“Brief, thank God,” Lizzie said.
“Let me show you to your room,” Amelia offered and linked hands with Lizzie. “Why, thank God? The Duke’s arm?”
“No, my courses,” Lizzie whispered.
Amelia nodded in commiseration. “I completely understand. Let’s hurry up, so you can take care of things and rest a bit.”
For the three nights that they spent at Wexcombe, Colin sneaked into Lizzie’s room every night to massage her lower back and hold her as they slept. Their days were spent walking Oliver’s estate with the couple, meeting their neighbours, and sitting in the parlour after dinner, simply enjoying their time together.
“I’ve never told you how much I loved the perfume that you got me,” she told him on the third morning, as he lounged in bed, watching her dress.
“I’ve noticed you’re wearing it, and I’m really glad. It suits you. They did a good job transforming my description into a fragrance.”
“Have you really talked to a stranger about me in that much detail?” She asked incredulously.
He looked at her as if she were being irrational. “We had just returned from Norwich; it was our first week back. I was beyond myself with joy because I was being asked to talk about you in as much detail as humanly possible! I sat atFlorisfor almost an hour. It was heavenly.”
Elizabeth was delighted by how smitten he appeared as he recounted the memory, and couldn’t believe that she was capable of provoking such emotions in someone, which made her think of Amelia and the Corporal.
“The Corporal seems like he would also enjoy being asked about his wife,” she said as she braided her hair, and Talbot nodded with a knowing smile. “My guilt is finally completely assuaged, because I never could have loved him like I do you.”
She heard the rustling of the sheets and then the sound of his bare feet on the wooden floor. Her husband knelt down next to her.
“You love me?” He asked in a hoarse voice as he looked into her eyes intently.
“I do,” she admitted shyly.
Colin closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened them again.
“And you are certain?”
“Yes, Colin,” she laughed. “And you love me too.”
“More accurately, I’m violently in love with you. Oh, Elizabeth!” He stood up and pulled her up from her chair so she would stand, too. He then hugged her waist and lifted her off the ground as she laughed.
“I cannot believe this, this has to be a dream,” he said over and over again.
“Should I be worried by the extent of your surprise?” She asked with a small frown.
“I don’t know,” he grinned. “Just let me be happy.”
Elizabeth was still smiling at his delirious happiness at her declaration as she entered Amelia’s morning room.
“What are you smiling about?” Amelia asked teasingly. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Lizzie replied. “I told Colin how I feel,” she admitted freely, knowing that Harding usually left the house at dawn and Colin was taking his bath.
The difference between the two men struck her as funny.
“And I suppose it went well?”
“Very,” Lizzie smiled at the memory of Colin’s kisses and his cursing of her monthlies. “You should try it,” she raised her eyebrows suggestively.
“Never. I spent all my bravery on the day when I proposed marriage to the Corporal, I have none left for grand declarations of love,” Amelia said good-naturedly. “Now it’s his turn to be brave, if there is anything to be brave about.”
Lizzie could see that her friend’s mood was veering towards sadness, so she quickly asked, “Have I interrupted your reading?”
Amelia glanced at the letter next to her hot chocolate. “As a matter of fact, yes, it’s from Elinor.”
