Still watching him in the mirror, Elizabeth counted to ten before she spoke.
“Fitzwilliam, we fought every apparition within a five-mile radius of Stanwick in order for us to have a normal life, but nothing has changed!” She laid the brush on the dresser and moved to the window.
Darcy wanted Elizabeth to be reasonable, but he did not know how to make her see his point of view. “Defeating Wickham did not change what I am.”
“I do not care! Do you hear me, Fitzwilliam? I…do…not… care! I love you, and I want my husband to make love with me.”
“We do not know whether we broke the curse.”
Elizabeth began to pace in agitation.“How will we ever know? It is not as if the curse came with instructions! We can continue to deny ourselves, and
“Think of our children,” he pleaded.
“I am thinking of our children. Between your family and mine, girls outnumber boys six to one. We have better odds at having a daughter, and I want her, Fitzwilliam. I want to clothe her in ruffled dresses and see whether she has blue eyes like you or green ones as I do. I want to visit her in the nursery and read her stories.”
“And what if the child is a boy?”
She came to stand in front of him.“We teach him to deal with what Fate gives him the same way we would teach him how to function in his world if he was born blind or with a deformed hand. In every generation the tendency would become weaker,
Darcy moved a loose curl to behind her ear. “And what if I infect you?”
“I am not sure that I would mind. It is quite daunting to consider how I will grow older, and you will essentially stay the same. Every one of those we fought fundamentally never aged a day from the time he was infected. Did you never consider that?”
“Truthfully, I did not.” Darcy tried to make sense of what she said. “Obviously, I aged,” he thought aloud.
“Because you never used your abilities,” she asserted. “What about now? Am I to watch you remain a virile man when I am turning grey?”
Again, she asked questions to which Darcy had no answers. “This is all new to me. I have no idea what the curse means to my private life. Now I regret not speaking to my father about his struggles. Although I respected him as the Master of Pemberley and as my father, I pretended, along with him, that I did not resent the infamy he practiced on my mother.”
“But she loved him, Fitzwilliam.Think about it. Lady Anne bore him a second child—Georgiana. Do we have any way of knowing whether Lady Anne’s demise was a result of your father infecting her? Could he not have just succumbed to the need to love his wife as a man, rather than as a dhampir? Can you honestly say your mother’s passing came as a result of your father’s lust for blood, or did she simply die from complications of childbirth as so many women do? It is not as if either subject would be discussed with a young boy of twelve, as you were when Georgiana was born, nor a young man of sixteen, as you were when Lady Anne passed.”
Again, Darcy seemed surprised by her viewpoint. He knew of his parents’ affection prior to their marriage; he heard it spoken of by all who knew them in those days, but after experiencing his own moments of lust as a young man, he imagined how his father had seduced the innocent Lady Anne, and he felt a certain repugnance for the man.“Do you believe it possible, Elizabeth?”
“I know nothing of the man other than his reputation as a kind
A bit discomfited by how her analysis contradicted everything he had believed about his parents’ relationship, Darcy interrupted with his own angle.“With such logic, am I to believe that your mother’s renowned silliness speaks of the type of person you will become?”
“You are to believe that my mother’s hysterics are those of a woman doing all she can to ensure that her five daughters are well situated because society denies them what should be theirs.Will I move heaven and earth to protect my children in any way possible? I warrant it, Mr. Darcy.The basic premise is that Lady Anne could have left your father—and under the circumstance, he would have allowed it—but she chose to keep his secret and nurture the relationship. Can I envision a woman giving her body and soul to the man she loves? The answer is a resounding yes.”
Darcy’s gaze now rested purely on his wife. “Then you want this?” His voice told of shame and desire and hope.
“Yes, Fitzwilliam. With all my heart, I want whatever Fate brings us. I cannot imagine anything worse than what we have already faced.” Elizabeth’s chin rose in defiance. “I never agreed to be a part of your life because I desired your position in society or your wealth. I would love Fitzwilliam Darcy even if he were a simple cottager.”
A curious spasm of guilt flexed his jaw line, and Elizabeth watched silently as he clenched and unclenched his right fist. “What if I do not agree, Elizabeth? What then? Will you leave me? You must know by now, I am not of the nature to be coerced into doing something I choose not to do.”
“Neither am I, Fitzwilliam,” she warned, “so please make no ultimatums we will both regret later.”
“Then tell me what are my options, Elizabeth. I do not see where being married to one of the richest men in England can be such a deterrent; obviously, Pemberley is superior to your situation at Longbourn.” Darcy offered more than any woman with similar connections could hope to achieve; he thought that should be worth something.
“Do—do not,” she stammered, “do
Again a long silence wafted over them. “I will give up my powers and not practice them ever again.”
