Mrs. Bennet was sitting up in bed, her cap securely in place. She had been just about to turn down the lamp when she heard a knock. A knock from the inner door that led to her husband’s room. Startled, she called for her visitor to enter, surprised, yet not, to see her husband coming into her room. For who else could it have been? But she had grown so used to his not coming, she was unprepared for his entrance.

“Mrs. Bennet, Agnes, may I come in?” he asked, feeling foolish over his own nervousness and oddly intimidated by the woman before him. She really was very beautiful. When had he stopped seeing her as such and begun viewing her as merely an amusement to be made sport of? His body deftly reminded him that there were much better things to do with such a woman than laugh at her.

She nodded silently, wondering what he was about and wishing she hadn’t put her cap on. She looked so much younger without it. She still had her glorious color, a bright honey shade that reflected light and had started more than one argument amongst her sister and friends on whether it was in fact blonde or a very light brown. Either way, it was much envied and she knew she looked most attractive with it tumbling about her shoulders, her large natural curls winding enticingly down her figure.

He approached the bed slowly, and when he looked down, she quickly snatched the cap off her head.

He smiled at the braid over her shoulder and took her hand in his. “Agnes, may I join you tonight?”

Her eyes widened and she nodded silently, her heart suddenly pounding and nervous flutterings swimming through her middle. She scooted over to make room for him and he climbed in next to her. He extinguished the light, but the curtains were not drawn—Mrs. Bennet liked the sea breeze and the sound of the sea; it soothed her nerves (and she had heard made one look younger), so she had slept with an open window throughout their visit.

Thomas Bennet was thoroughly entranced, and felt himself fully twenty-seven and in bed with his young new wife. The moonlight gave her skin a pleasant glow and the smell of her, so familiar and yet so long forgotten, was soothing and enticing all at once.

He loved her with a dedication to thoroughness she hadn’t felt since they were newly wed, and his own desire to not overtax his heart caused him to move slowly, much to his wife’s approval. Everything he did was deliberate. He would not waste time on fripperies. He was determined to make every moment count and Agnes Bennet was the lucky beneficiary of his efforts.

When he rose to leave some hours later, Agnes impulsively grabbed his arm and said one word.

“Stay.”