“No,” he said forcefully. She looked at him in surprise. He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to find the right words to say. “Elizabeth, I know you believe certain things to be your duty and that lying with me is one of them. But I do not want to be a duty to you. I would like our coupling to be joyful and desired by both of us. If you do not want to be with me in this way, please do not pretend for my sake. I would ask you to promise me, for the rest of our lives, that you will never allow me to take you when you do not truly wish it. I could not bear to be resented for such a thing. Please, promise me.”

“Very well. I promise,” she said gently.

He sighed and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on hers.

“Fitzwilliam?”

“Yes?”

“Will you come to bed with me?”

He looked up and saw her eyes sparkling at him and her teasing smile about to break through. “Gladly.”

~

Elizabeth noted something different about their lovemaking that night. He was as tender and gentle as he had been every other time, but there was something else there. A closeness, a sense of togetherness that had not been there before.

It would be some time before she realized that the change was not with them, but within herself. Did Fitzwilliam even recognize it?

~

Darcy felt that he was going slightly mad. He had run the gamut of every possible emotion in the last week and he was looking forward to a month of relaxation now that they had finally arrived. His marriage was in many ways more than he had ever hoped for. Elizabeth was delightful. Her arch manner, the way her eyes twinkled just before she teased him, the way her lips parted just so when she was surprised. He could not get enough of looking at her, touching her, having her. He almost felt intoxicated, so enamored of her was he.

But there was something in the way of his complete happiness. He did not like to dwell on it, and he wasn’t completely sure, but he felt that Elizabeth herself was not as enamored as he. He especially noticed it in their most intimate moments. At first, this did not bother him. Indeed, he was so overwhelmed by his own feelings he barely registered hers. Everything was so new—especially to her—he knew there would be a period of adjustment, that she would take time to become accustomed to his physical presence. When he thought about her position, how she was the physically weaker of the two, younger than he, and completely inexperienced, he could understand how a woman might feel vulnerable in such an intimate situation—that she would need to trust her partner deeply.