Elizabeth nodded and closed her eyes, feigning rest as well.
*
Talbot got them the last available room at the inn for the night (duke or not, one could not summon more available rooms out of thin air,unfortunately), and a maid led him and his wife upstairs.
The room was large, with a clean and comfortable-looking bed in the middle, a fireplace and a dressing screen on the right side, and a wardrobe and washbasin on the left. By the window, which was also on the left side, there was a small table and two chairs. Before leaving, the maid matter-of-factly informed them that there was a chamberpot behind the screen, as well as a privy in the courtyard downstairs.
“I’m going to go tell them to bring up water for our bath,” Talbot informed her, and she was grateful for the opportunity to relieve herself in peace.
She then rang for the maid to take the pot away. With her characteristic brisk, efficient movements, she examined every corner of the room and then set about unpacking things from the small trunk that the driver had brought up.
Lizzie thanked God that at least Mary had thought to wonder how far away Norwich was, since Elizabeth’s common sense had been completely clouded by the sudden and confusing nature of the wedding.
Soon, Talbot came back, followed by two men who were carrying a large copper tub, which they put by the dressing screen so the maids could then fill it with the steaming hot water from their buckets.
When they all left, Elizabeth and Colin stood staring at it.
“You should go first,” he offered, ever the gentleman, “shall I call up a maid to assist you with your bath?”
Elizabeth frowned. “I don’t require any assistance. Can you manage without your valet?” she teased, but she also genuinely wondered.
He sighed dramatically, as if truly put upon.
“Luckily, I now have a wife to help me undress,” he teased back, and Elizabeth averted her gaze.
He must have sensed her discomfort because he added, “You needn’t worry. We shall only rest tonight. It was a long day for both of us.”
“That’s good,” Elizabeth said nervously, “besides, we don’t have any olive oil here. Perhaps we could ask them to bring some up, but I’d rather not. I do have my olive oil soap but I don’t think that would work as well,” she said nervously.
“Pardon me?” It was Talbot’s turn to frown. “What are you talking about? What do you need the oil for?”
Elizabeth felt like a street urchin caught picking pockets. She pressed her lips together, determined not to respond. Talbot stepped closer to her, and she stepped closer to the tub.
“Why the oil, wife?”
Elizabeth looked away from his amused face.
“My friend told me that sometimes… The oil helps,” she said vaguely, “the woman. The first night.”
There. That was as clear as she could make it.
Her husband grinned like a mischievous boy.
“I don’t think we shall have to worry about that.”
“Why do you say that?” She wondered.
“I was just in that carriage with you. And there I ascertained that you have no problem responding to my touch,” he said, and noticing that Lizzie was still not understanding, he explained, “when a woman likes what a man is doing to her, she becomes aroused between her legs and the arousal feels wet and sort of sticky, and helps better than any oil.”
Elizabeth remembered how he kept rubbing his fingers together and turned away from him, wishing to be done with this conversation. She took out the wrapped soap from her trunk and put it next to the tub.
“Don’t you think this is odd?” she finally asked.
“What exactly?”
“One day, you can’t touch someone without your gloves on or at all,” Elizabeth explained as she took out her nightgown from the trunk, “and the next day, it’s fine if you’re alone in a room with them and they watch you disrobe for your bath.”
Talbot nodded thoughtfully as he sat down on the bed and leaned back on his palms. He looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him.
