Darcy's Unwanted Bride by Zoe Burton

Author:Zoe Burton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JAFF
Publisher: Zoe Burton
Published: 2021-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The accommodations on the trip south were far better than the ones that had been provided between Scotland and Pemberley. That did not mean the trip was any easier.

The expected one night at an inn on Tuesday turned into two nights when the skies opened up and turned the roads into a sloppy, muddy mess. The rain had stopped by morning, but it took an entire day for the turnpike to become passable. Darcy and Elizabeth spent the entirety of Wednesday in their rooms, except for meals.

On Thursday, the group set out once more. The roads were boggy in parts, requiring the coach’s passengers to get out and walk for brief times. It was during one of these periods near the end of the day’s travels that a downpour suddenly overtook them. Darcy, Elizabeth, and their servants were soon soaked to the skin, their sodden clothing clinging to them. They re-entered the coach as soon as possible, dripping water all over the fine upholstery.

It was clear, by the time the group reached the inn, that Elizabeth had caught a chill. She burrowed into Darcy’s side under the blankets he had draped over them, but her shivering, once begun, did not cease.

Upon entering the inn, Darcy immediately ordered a hot bath for his wife, escorting her up the stairs to their rooms without waiting for acknowledgement. Once there, he began stripping her clothes off, ordering Jenny to prepare first for the bath and then a warm nightgown. When the tub arrived, he ordered it placed in front of the fire he had built up. Then, he arranged the room’s screen so it held the heat in closer to the tub. He sent Smith to borrow an additional screen from an empty room and arranged it to further enclose the area around the fireplace. Through it all, Elizabeth shivered under a blanket in a chair placed as close to the roaring blaze as it could safely get.

Once he had everything arranged to his liking, Darcy helped Elizabeth into the tub. He sent Jenny off to change her clothes. “I will assist my wife. You go change and warm up. Order a bath for your room, as well, if you need to.”

With a curtsey, Jenny left the room. Smith followed, after laying Darcy’s dressing gown over one of the screens.

Darcy stripped, eager to remove his wet clothing. He then applied himself to assisting Elizabeth with her bath, including washing her hair. When she was clean and as warm as the water could make her, he helped her stand, wrapping her in clean towels and her dressing gown and seating her in the chair. He quickly bathed himself, rinsed with the clean water left warming on the hearth, and dried off. When he had donned his dressing gown, he dried her hair and brushed it out.

Despite her husband’s ministrations and a night spent held closely in his arms under a pile of blankets, Elizabeth was unable to warm thoroughly. She slept restlessly.

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