of toy you could imagine, my love. Many familiar from my own youth. In fact, I am sure there are boxes in storage I have yet to uncover containing old toys of mine and Georgie's. However, there were many that were unusual to me. Of course, you will recognize these.” Inside was a collection of building blocks, at least fifty, of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Lizzy laughed. “I always wanted blocks, but it was not considered a girl's toy. These are wonderful, William.” With sudden stunned amazement she stared at her husband. “You carried these all the way from Oak Street?”
Darcy flushed slightly. “Well, no. They piled the parcels into a wheelbarrow and a clerk followed me with them. I only carried them from downstairs. I did carry the horse all the way, if that impresses you sufficiently.” He grinned and flexed his right arm, Lizzy laughing and leaning in for a kiss.
One by one, the packages and bags were opened, disclosing a vast array of child's playthings: three spinning tops, colorful and of varied sizes; a Chinese yo-yo; a spectacular army of minutely detailed tin soldiers, American Colonials and His Majesty's Regimentals; a Jack-in-the-Box; a replica of Admiral Nelson's flagship
“Dolls?” Lizzy asked with arched brows.
“I know you are certain the baby is a male, but just in case you are wrong, or for our daughter, whenever she is created.” He smiled and caressed Lizzy's face.
Lizzy turned and kissed his palm, chuckling as she said, “Very sweet, my love, but since I am the one blessed with all the aches associated, let us take this process one baby at a time.” Three of the dolls were fairly standard, with porcelain heads and beautifully painted faces, garbed in frilly dresses over softly stuffed bodies. The last was simply the strangest doll Lizzy had ever seen. “Is it a little Indian doll?” she asked.
Darcy explained, with the enthusiasm he customarily showed whenever confronted with something strange or unique, “Exactly! It is designed after the dolls the natives of the Americas play with. It makes sense, does it not? All girls play with dolls based on what they are familiar with. You have seen the drawings. They wear their hair long and braided, with beaded leather dresses and shoes. Is she not lovely?” In fact, she was exactly as he described and as Lizzy had seen in the papers. Browned cloth skin and black bead eyes, black yarn braided on each side of the head, the dress and moccasins sewn with tiny multihued beads, all constructed over a cushiony body.
A smaller bag contained two carefully wrapped baby rattles. One was of silver with many tiny silver bells attached to the outside and a knob of coral on the end for sucking on. The second was a gourd painted with a tropical scene of palm trees, foam cresting waves on the seashore, and brilliant blue sky, attached to a handle of burnished ivory.
The remaining packages contained a half a dozen odd puzzles. Puzzles of entangled wires looped about into shapes, others of wood carved into knots, one with string and metal balls threaded into an intricate shape, and the last two were wooden Burr interlocking puzzles shaped as a pyramid and a horse. All were brainteasers, the idea to figure out the mystery of how they were formed. “I had many of these when a boy,” Darcy proclaimed. “By far my favorite pastime. I love trying to figure out how they are constructed. I know for a fact I have several of these yet hidden in a storage box, but these are different.”
Lizzy was overwhelmed, Darcy grinning like a cat after swallowing a canary. He grasped her hands and pulled her onto his lap, cuddling her into his arms. “William, you are too wonderful. You do too much…”
He halted her with a kiss. “Hush, Elizabeth. I can never do enough to express my love and appreciation for what you have given me, my beloved wife.” He flattened a hand over the swell of their child, smoothing her gown taut to better visualize the bulge. “This,” he smiled, caressing tenderly, “and you are the greatest gifts I have ever received in all my life. I
Lizzy frowned nonetheless, “I understand this, dearest, but are you sure of the expense? You have been so extravagant.”
He nodded, kissing her forehead. “Elizabeth, you have seen my ledgers and know the financial burden is not a hardship. Besides, I have been saving and planning for my family for years. There is no concern. Now, let me hold you and feel our son for a spell before I freshen up for dinner.”
Dinner was delicious. Afterward, the Darcys tarried in the common room to listen to a traveling minstrel sing and play a lute. He was excellent, and the room filled to capacity with cheering listeners. It was entertainment of a sort Lizzy had never partaken of; she and Darcy sat snuggly together at a corner table sipping wine as the troubadour displayed his talent with an eclectic mix of mournful ballads, folk hymns, and lively dance tunes.
Upon later reentering their temporary bedchamber, Lizzy spied her husband in his robe sitting on a chair and examining one of the string and metal puzzles with deep intensity. She observed him unawares for a few moments, desire allayed with wondering if he would solve the mystery. He was leaning with elbows on knees, brows knitted with those precious creases visible, fingers traveling purposefully over the pieces. He turned, wiggled, and pressed in concentration. Suddenly grasping two of the steel rings with an expression of abrupt perception, his hands blurred as he twisted a piece. The pieces separated and Darcy released a satisfied shout.
Lizzy smiled, applauding in pride. “Bravo! My brilliant spouse.”
Darcy glanced up with a smile of smugness, rapidly replaced with stunned awe and raging ardor as the pieces fell from slack hands. “My god, Elizabeth! You are… ravishing! Where did you buy that gown?”
Raising her arms, Lizzy performed a swaying dance as she twirled about. “Oh, this old thing? Do you like it, my lover?”
The gown in question was black satin and clinging to every curve. The bodice gathered under barely concealed breasts and split open between to reveal her cleavage; string thin straps crossing over creamy shoulders and down her back. The back of the gown was essentially nonexistent, the fabric covering her bottom just barely. The long skirt was slit in four places all the way to mid-thigh, flashes of leg tantalizing as she danced.
Darcy was instantly aroused, the vision of his wife in swaying satin nearly more than he could tolerate. It was not only the visual stimulation but also the joy in these constant gifts she sprung on him, all for the express purpose of pleasing him. Of course, she most assuredly reaped the benefit of his intense delight. With a sultry smile he rose, slowly traversing the space separating them, Lizzy watching with bright eyes.
Reaching tender fingertips to caress over her cheeks, jaw, neck, and then to her shoulders, he slipped a finger under each slim strap. He huskily spoke, holding her gaze, “The gown is stunning. However, the true magnificence is found sheathed inside the satin.” He traced over her collarbone, trailing fire downward to brush fleetingly over each hard nipple. “It is always you, best loved wife, who completes any outfit, rendering it supreme and me your slave.”
Continuing the fiery assault over her flesh, Darcy augmented the torrential sparks flowing through her by applying lips to the tender skin behind her ear. Lizzy shivered, moaning faintly as he maintained a steady, leisurely devotion to every inch of her. Murmuring love and adulation as he kissed her, his hands traveled from her hair to upper thighs as he moved over and around her body. Standing behind her now, pulling the lush mass of hair aside, he administered the same dedication to her back. Kissing and licking the nape of her neck, down the entirety of her spine to sumptuous buttocks, his hands stroked her lovingly.
Lizzy arched backward, sighing with pleasure. “I love you, Mrs. Darcy, immeasurably,” he whispered into her ear, nibbling the lobe. “So beautiful, desirable, and sensual. Mmmmm… you smell delicious enough to feast on and I believe I shall do just that.” He cupped her breasts, pulling her against his chest, sucking delectably over her neck and shoulders. “Thank you, my beloved luscious lover, for striving to thrill me further. Although you need nothing to heighten your beauty and power over me, I do appreciate your enthusiasm and effort.” He pressed into her body, groaning hoarsely. “Love, my precious love. You provoke me to astounding reaches of desire. Never have I imagined such raging passion as with you, my Lizzy. I so love you!”
“Fitzwilliam, take me to bed.”
Darcy smiled, lips tickling her shoulder blades. “I have a better plan.” He kissed her neck, grasping shoulders and turning her about. “Go stand by the window, sweet wife, whilst I douse the lights.”
She did as he asked, waiting and watching as he glided about the chamber extinguishing each lamp. He approached with sinewy grace, eyes indigo, and desire proudly evident. Darcy untied his robe, exposing his multitude of masculine attributes to his wife's thirsty stare. “So powerful and virile you are, my heart. All of you alluring and sublimely male.”
Darcy smiled. “It is you, Elizabeth. You move me and arouse my potency as never previously attained. I confess I am still frequently shocked at how I respond to your love. I never reacted so grandly until I began loving you.” He cupped both hands around her slender neck, his thumbs caressing over her jaw and his fingers laced into
