past six months.”
“What did my uncle say?”
“That he and your father had already anticipated the question, and that he could have the Longbourn church ready at any time that pleased you. As you well know, your father takes much delight in being a student of human nature, and he told your uncle that I would most likely prove to be a very impatient man.”
For a moment, Elizabeth blushed and tried to retain her composure. Then she abandoned the effort, and the laughed out together regarding this remark of Mr. Bennet’s.
“Yes, we are both very impatient,” she conceded.
Darcy caressed Elizabeth’s body and rested his hand on her abdomen. “We may as well be, since we have just anticipated our public marriage vows. Even though, privately, I have always considered you my wife, we may already have conceived a child just now, so what say you, my love? We could announce our engagement tomorrow and travel back to Longbourn in the next few days. Would that meet with your approval?”
She smiled and nodded her head in agreement, then slowly closed her eyes. It had been an exhausting and yet an exhilarating day for them both. He could sense her weariness, so he positioned her to lie close against him, then whispered sweet, loving words to her ears alone. Finally, content with the world, they drifted off to a peaceful sleep together.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the house, Miss Caroline Bingley was busy preparing for a most specific ritual. The last few weeks had been extremely busy but fruitful. At the beginning of summer, she had been most unhappy when, due to health concerns, Mr. Darcy cancelled his invitation to her brother to spend time at Pemberley. She had gone to his townhouse in London, on the pretense of visiting Miss Darcy but hoping, in truth, to see the elusive man while she was there. Her attempt, however, had been unsuccessful. He did not receive any visitors. Then, not long ago, she had been alarmed to learn that her brother had decided to return to Netherfield. Although she tried earnestly to dissuade him, she had failed in that plan, as well. He had been uncharacteristically tight-lipped about the journey, saying only that he wanted to tidy up some loose ends concerning the estate and perhaps also do some hunting.
But she was an intelligent woman. She instructed one of the servants to inform her about the goings-on in Hertfordshire. She soon learned that her foolish brother had renewed his address to Miss Bennet, and that he had, in fact, been instrumental in sabotaging Caroline's grand plan to ensnare Mr. Darcy in marriage for herself. Charles even helped to pass on a letter from the Darcys to invite that country chit, Eliza, to visit Pemberley.
Miss Bingley had been so enraged by this news that she smashed a flower vase in the morning room, upon reading that particular piece of intelligence. She was furious with both her brother and Mr. Darcy.
Just when Caroline was practically tearing her hair out as to what to do, she had happened to overhear one of the maids talking about an all-powerful witch who could cure people of illness or capture any woman’s heart's desire. She became obsessed with finding that witch and, at whatever cost, obtaining her secret assistance.
So decided, she had traveled a great distance to consult the ugly old witch, in a rather disgusting village. But the secret information she obtained from this witch were well worth the journey and the price. With careful planning, she had finally succeeded in installing herself at Pemberley, at least for a few days, at the same time as Miss Eliza. Now that she was inside the grand estate, in possession of a double package of witchcrafts, she exulted in the knowledge that she was only moments away from permanently curing Mr. Darcy of his obsession with the worthless hussy.
When midnight arrived, she spread out her precious packages on the desk. The first package contained a cloth doll and several pins. Caroline next produced a fallen hair of Miss Eliza’s which she had prudently obtained during dinner, and wrapped it around the neck of the doll. Consulting the instructions on the paper given to her by the old witch, she began her chant.
She repeated it thrice: “Almighty Devil of Hell, bless me with the darkest power of evil!” Then she stuck pins into the breasts and the apex between the thighs of the doll and continued.
“Almighty Devil of Hell, bless me with the darkest power of evil! Turn this woman into a harlot! Make her wanton and compel her to pounce upon the first man she sees!”
After she completed the ritual, Caroline tidied away the evidence and reclined on her bed with a wicked smile on her face. She had not know what witchcraft she wished to obtain at first. She had simply told the witch that she wanted her rival to suffer the worst possible fate. The witch had suggested this particular evil spell, explaining that the wanton effect would only last for a few hours, or until her rival was satisfied by a man – or even more than one man.
Caroline’s eyes had sparkled upon hearing the nature of the curse. Miss Eliza would be forever ruined, not just in the eyes of Mr. Darcy but in all of society. She imagined Miss Eliza waking up, wanton, with desire coursing through her body, dashing out of her room and tearing her clothes off in front of the first footman, manservant or gardener she came across.
Vastly entertained by the image, Caroline closed her eyes and drifted into a more peaceful sleep than she had enjoyed for a long while.
In the master's bedchamber, Elizabeth awoke to a sudden warm sensation in her body. She did not know where she was at first. Then she saw Mr. Darcy’s head on her naked bosom. Again! At last, she remembered that they had finally become one flesh.
As she remembered their first coupling, just a few hours ago, her face turned crimson. The marriage bed was very different from anything she had ever imagined or heard. Darcy’s love was virile, potent and endearing. She smiled dreamily.
She saw that Mr. Darcy was still asleep, but she needed him again, needed him urgently, without delay. Lifting one of his hands, she rubbed it hesitantly over her nipple…
It felt wonderful. His long, lean fingers grazed her sensitive nipple, enticing it to life. But she wanted more. She wanted him inside her again.
With a whimper of need, she parted her legs and rubbed herself up and down against his thighs.
Darcy startled awake at the movements against his legs. “Elizabeth, my love, what are you doing?” He raised himself and leaned on an elbow to look at her.
“I feel hot… here!” She moved his hand down to cup her womanhood. Her voice trembled, and her heart felt as if it were racing. She thought she would burst if he did not take pity and fulfill her needs now. “I woke up with a sudden warm sensation in my body, and now I feel extremely wanton. Fitzwilliam, I want you!” With a flirtatious smile, she pushed him to lie on his back, then climbed on top of him. Bending, she kissed him frantically, on the mouth, the jaw, the pulse that beat at his throat, then downward to his shoulders and chest. Straddling him more broadly, she rubbed her secret lips against his firming manhood. She uttered soft moans, and whispered incoherently as she kissed him, telling him how she loved every part of his body and how he made her feel, so very wanton and lustful.
Mr. Darcy noticed that her eyes looked dazed and unfocused, as if she were caught up in some kind of a dream, her body felt feverish against his. “Did you catch a cold this morning, my love? You are burning up!” Concerned, he wanted to press her back down on the bed so that he could fetch a doctor, and yet, with each passing moment, he was more helplessly aroused. His manhood sprang up, tall and proud, and Mr. Darcy could not deny that he was vastly enjoying the unexpected attentions Elizabeth bestowed. She continued to kiss him wildly as she tried to position herself to take his massive shaft into her. But she was still very new to the art of lovemaking, and clearly did not know how to do so.
She cried out in frustration, “Fitzwilliam, help me! I need you. Please, come inside me! I feel as if I am on fire!”
At first, he was deeply worried, but her amorous ministrations were soon too much for him to resist; he could not resist giving in to her demand. He pressed her back on the bed and entered her with one almighty thrust. Her body shook with the force of his entry, but she never wavered. Rather, she wrapped her legs around his waist and
