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She startled at the appellation, but then she nodded.

She rounded the foot of the bed, hurriedly slipped her robe off and laid it on the chair before climbing in on her side.

She pulled the covers up to her chin and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what he would do next.

Her mother and Maddie had both suggested that he would want to… well, more often than not.

He looked at her expression, glanced at her hands gripping the covers. Something like regret crossed his face, but then he casually turned back to his newspaper.

“Roosevelt’s inauguration is next week,” he said, turning the page. “What do you suppose he will say in his inaugural address?”

Elizabeth rolled to her side and propped her head on her hand. “Do you think he can help? End the Depression, that is?”

He smiled. “Oh, I don’t know, perhaps. The situation will most likely right itself at some point anyway.”

She stayed facing him, an earnest expression on her face.

“Are you genuinely interested in this, Elizabeth?”

“Why would I not be? It affects all of us. I’m interested in your opinions on the matter.”

He looked pleased and put the paper down. “Well, the markets run in cycles, see? It’s typical for them to go up and down.”

“And men who invest try to buy stocks when the prices are low and sell them when the prices are high,” she said.

He gave her a puzzled glance and nodded his head in admiration.

“That’s right. But in this case, a sort of fever took over—a malady based on greed and fear.

Some men even borrowed money and started buying stocks that were, it turned out, priced too high.

When the prices started falling so rapidly—the Crash—many people panicked and tried to sell all their stocks at once and then there was no one to buy.

The prices kept going lower, to the point where they couldn’t sell their stocks for what they had borrowed. ”

“And so, they couldn’t pay the loans back,” she mused, nodding her head.

“Basically. I mean, that was one reason for the Depression.”

She looked at him and blurted out. “That’s what happened to my father.

He also borrowed money to buy our house, and then when he lost his job, he couldn’t pay the mortgage because his savings—what little there was—was gone.

The bank took the house, and we came here.

” Tears filled her eyes, her throat closing with emotion.

William slid down, facing her, and mirrored her position, his head propped up like hers. He reached for her free hand and intertwined their fingers.

“There were other factors too. One, the bad droughts made growing food almost impossible in some areas. So, people who were poor had no money, and then they had no food either. Also, there was a decrease in crop prices. In some areas, the markets were flooded with extra goods like corn and grain, so the prices went down. Many farmers depleted their soil because they planted the same things year after year with less and less success. That’s one of the reasons I’m so careful about rotating crops. You know what that means, right?”

“Oh yes, my uncle and my father discussed crop rotation when we moved here.”

“Ah.”

“How did you escape?”

“Escape?”

“How did you escape the Depression?”

“I didn’t escape the Depression—very few people did—maybe some of the very rich.

I lost money in the stock market, like most everyone else.

But I didn’t have all my money in stocks, or in one bank, and that helped.

I was diligent about checking on my investments, so when things started to turn, I did pull part of my money out of the market. ”

“You were smarter than everyone else?”

He smiled wryly. “No, you won’t trap me into an arrogant statement like that, my wife.

” He rolled to his back and pulled her with him, resting her hand over his heart.

“I was diligent, but luck also played a role. If you could call it luck.” He sighed.

“A lot of the bank trouble occurred about the time Georgiana came home. I needed more cash at the ready because my expenses went up suddenly, having a family in the house. I sold some investments in what turned out to be a timely manner.”

He twisted his head around to look at her. “Also, you were right when you said Pemberley was left to me—it was, but most of my money was inherited from my mother’s family.”

“Really?”

“She was the only heiress to a small railroad fortune. Her family was from upstate New York.”

“She was a Northern girl? Like me?”

“Yes.” He smiled, settling his cheek against her hair and breathing in deep.

“My grandfather was not pleased when she decided to marry a farmer, even a well-to-do one. He never forgave my mother for that, never spoke to her again. She was their only surviving child though, and both of my grandparents were only children too. So, in the end, there was no other heir to their fortune, except her.”

Elizabeth rose up on her elbow, her face animated with indignation. “That is…terrible! How could someone disown a child, simply for following her heart?”

“It was a different world then, a different generation. I think she made her peace with it, although it did always grieve her a little.”

Elizabeth remained silent for a minute before she realized he was running his fingers up and down her arm. She was less nervous now and didn’t stiffen when he put his arms around her and drew her close. The warm contentment between them was quickly being replaced with an even warmer urgency.

He leaned close to her ear and murmured in a husky voice, “You looked very beautiful tonight.” He kissed her behind the ear, and she shivered.“I should have told you before now. I—I’m not used to saying what’s on my mind. You’ll be patient with me, yes?”

She nodded, and he turned her face to kiss her.

Still pressing his lips to hers, he reached a long arm behind him and turned out the bedside lamp, bringing a comforting dark.

The moonlight shone through the curtain, illuminating her gown as he eased it off her shoulders.

He said not another word as he moved over her in gentle, rhythmic strokes, touching her hair, her face, her shoulders and breasts and sides, in a tender assault on her senses.

She gasped when he pushed inside her, his breath warm and harsh in her ear.

She felt an odd sense of power when he finally shuddered and surrendered to her.

A strange warmth flickered inside her like the glow of a tiny candle flame when she came back to bed after visiting the bathroom.

He was already asleep, a peaceful smile on his lips and that lock of dark wavy hair over his forehead.

She brushed it back tenderly, and he rolled toward her, drawing her close and mumbling “Lizzy” before he settled into a deep, restful slumber.