Page 87 of To Love And To Cherish
Her voice was soft. “And I was entirely besotted. You were so elegant, so far removed from anything I’d ever known. I never dreamed you’d notice me. I only wished to occupy the same room without embarrassing myself.”
Darcy’s eyes twinkled. “And yet you attacked me with surprising frequency. Your hand and your reticule were both employed without mercy.”
“Sir, you deserved every swat. And I sincerely hope you’ve abandoned your youthful misogyny.”
He gave a thoughtful nod. “The military proved a useful corrective. I met women who ran businesses, served as spies, many far more competent than their male counterparts.” Hepaused. “Though I must confess, I am not yet reformed in all things. When it comes to you, I’m a jealous man. I can’t bear the sight of some interloper trying his luck with you, Elizabeth.”
She halted. “Mr. Darcy, I do not flirt.”
“No,” he said calmly. “You don’t. But men flirt with you. Adam Frazier was a prime example. I imagine even Marcus would have, had his brother not gotten there first.”
She frowned. “Adam was kind. He never flirted.”
Darcy tucked her arm back into his. “Let us agree to disagree, my dear. A woman of your beauty will always draw attention. I shall do my best to bear it with grace, but I warn you, I may fail. I’ve never been in love before. I suspect you will cause me untold suffering.”
Elizabeth raised a brow. “You astonish me. You are the most proper man I’ve ever met. If I had known you were capable of such possessive fits, I’d have made you work harder for my hand.”
“You are still young,” he said, “and blissfully ignorant of men and their wiles. So long as you don’t flirt outrageously, I shall endeavor to remain civil.”
“I fear my lively spirits may be misinterpreted,” she said slowly. “Perhaps I ought to temper them now that I am a wife.”
They entered the inn. Darcy bespoke a bedchamber, a private parlor, and rooms for his valet and coachman. Afterwards, they stepped out again, Darcy proposing a search for bookshops.
“I do love you when you speak my language, books, books, and more books,” she said.
He grinned wickedly. “I’m going to make you love me even more when I’m silent, alone with you in bed.”
Elizabeth flamed to her hairline.
They discovered three shops. She purchased two music scores, and Darcy, catching her admiring a travel chessboard, bought it at once.
“It will distract us on rainy days when we can’t ride,” he said.
“You imagine I will let you win?”
“I imagine I will earn my victories.”
He also purchased three books she selected:A Sicilian Romance, The Romance of the Forest, and a collection of Keats.
“I’ve not read either of Radcliff’s novels,” he mused.
“I have not either. My mother disapproved of novels. I contented myself with my father’s classics, Hobbes and Locke, but I always wished to read Radcliff and Edgeworth.”
“It’s a pity you were so restricted.”
“Oh, I’ve spent many pleasant hours reading novels in French, Spanish, and Italian. Papa was my language tutor, and he approved.”
“I also spent time reading books on botany and medicine,” Elizabeth said as they lingered near the bookseller’s counter. “Aunt Gardiner lent me several volumes on botanical classification, and Dr. Edgerton allowed me access to all of his medical texts. I used to read in the front room of his house between patients, when I wasn’t helping him change bandages or working in the stillroom.”
Darcy paused mid-step. “You worked with Dr. Edgerton?”
There was something in his voice that made her glance up. He had turned fully toward her now, the books forgotten in his hands.
“Yes,” she replied cautiously. “From the age of fifteen, until I left for Scotland two months ago.”
He set the books down. “What precisely did you do for Dr. Edgerton?”
Her cheeks colored. “Fitzwilliam, you are alarming me. Have I done something wrong?”
