She hadn’t heard any sounds from the bedchamber and thought Darcy was likely still asleep. She scrubbed her skin, frowning at the small swirl of red drifting off her intimate places. She was also surprised to see small red marks on her décolletage and looking in the mirror, she saw two on her neck as well. She could not fathom what these marks were until a memory niggled its way to the front of her mind. She was fourteen and sneaking a biscuit from the kitchen. One scullery maid was assisting the other with tying a scarf around her neck so Cook wouldn’t see her “love bites.” She hadn’t known what they were talking about and dismissed it, but now she wondered. Love bites…

“Are you ready for me to wash your hair, Mrs. Darcy?” asked Sanders.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and leaned forward. “Yes, let’s.”

Sanders removed the braid and before she could say anything, Elizabeth sunk down into the water to soak her hair, blowing bubbles out of her nose.

Sanders had been bending to retrieve a bucket of water to tip over her head and the look of surprise on her face made Elizabeth burst into laughter.

“It’s quite all right, Sanders. I shan’t drown! Save the fresh water for the rinsing. It would take buckets of it to wet it to the scalp. This way is much more efficient.”

Her maid quickly removed the shocked expression from her face and began washing Elizabeth’s hair, scrubbing her head in the most delicious way. After she was rinsed, Elizabeth leaned forward to allow Sanders to scrub her back and Elizabeth rubbed her fingers along her neck and rotated her sore shoulders. She thought they were likely in such poor condition from the odd angle she slept at last night.

“Would you like me to rub your shoulders, madam?”

“Are you good at it?” Elizabeth asked. Mary had tried to rub her shoulders once and she winced through several minutes of torture before telling her sister she was better now and to please stop.

“My sister says no one’s better,” said Sanders proudly.

“Very well then.”

Elizabeth leaned forward and pulled her hair over one shoulder and Sanders proceeded to work out the knots and soreness from her neck and shoulders. Elizabeth nearly sank into the water from the sheer pleasure of it and sighed contentedly more than once. A maid of her own was a glorious thing indeed.

After she was dried and her hair combed out, Elizabeth wondered what she should do. Normally, she would sit by the fire to dry her hair, or in summer, as it was now, she would sit by an open window and read for a bit. Once or twice she’d even snuck outside to let it dry in the sun, a wonderful but improper way to dry thick hair such as hers.