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Lady Amy realised that she had not heard what he said next while she was lost in her thoughts, “I am sorry, my Lord, I did not hear what you said. Do you mind repeating it?” she asked, embarrassed but wanted to talk to him.

“I thought that mayhap my conversational skills were not up to the standard that you are used to, my Lady,” he teased with a smile.

“Not at all, my Lord,” she blushed with embarrassment after being caught wool-gathering on the dance floor again.

“The question, my lady, is whether you would permit me to call on you in London?” Lord Tom repeated, pleased she was smiling at him with her eyes wide and locked on him and nowhere else.

“I would be both happy and honoured to receive your calls, my Lord.” They enjoyed the remainder of their dance then Lady Amy was returned to her brother and future sister after the set was complete.

Georgiana Darcy had enjoyed dancing very much, especially the first set.

She felt feelings that she had never felt before and as yet could not understand what they portended.

Before the supper set was called, Lord James Bennet approached her and asked if she had a name pencilled in for the supper set.

She shyly informed him that she did not, so James wisely applied to his new brother Richard for permission to dance a second set with Miss Darcy.

After reminding him that his young cousin was still two years away from her come out, Richard granted James’s request.

Lady Anne Darcy was ambivalent about what she was seeing.

After hers and her sister’s observations as her daughter danced the first, here was the Marquess leading her onto the dance floor again.

On the one hand she was very happy that her Georgie was maturing before her eyes, but it also made her sad.

Georgiana was her baby after all; and though she knew that one day she would marry and leave home, it had always been theoretical and many years in the future.

It would still be three to four years before anyone would be allowed to declare for Georgiana if she had a say in the matter, but it was no longer many years in the future.

If it were eventually to come to pass that Lord James and Georgie decided that they fit one with the other, Lady Anne knew that there could be no objection to James Bennet, not because of his title, wealth, and connections, but from all she had seen these last weeks, she knew he was a good and honourable young man.

For supper James and Georgie joined a table where the younger Bennet twins, Mariah Lucas, Lady Loretta, and their respective partners for the supper set sat under the watchful eyes of a bevy of companions.

Lady Elizabeth, who had partnered with Humphry Goulding, sat with Reverend and Mrs. Pierce, Lord Tom and Lady Amy who had danced a second set, Caroline Bingley and Graham, and Bingley and Franny Phillips.

As would be expected, the conversation was lively, and Ladies Elizabeth and Amy found that they had much in common and ended up talking to each other more than their escorts.

Lord Tom did not feel left out as he loved to watch his younger sister’s mind work and was very much impressed that Lady Amelia could match her wit and was close to Lizzy in intelligence.

At the end of the meal the five girls who were not out yet were shepherded out of the ball room by the companions.

Maria Lucas would spend the night with Ladies Mary, Kitty, Loretta, and Miss Darcy.

As much as he would have wanted to, Tom Bennet did not request a third set from Amy Ashby which was a regret to both, but both understood that it already said much that he had danced the opening and supper set with her.

It was close to five in the morning when the last head found the pillow and entered dreamland.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Fitzwilliam Darcy had arrived in Town that morning, deciding to leave his solitude at Pemberley a few days earlier than he originally planned.

He was questioning his decision to not attend his cousins’ weddings, but he would follow through with what he had stated he would do.

His word was his bond, and the last thing he wanted was to appear like a man without resolution to the Bennets, especially not to Lady Elizabeth.

His mother had written to him to inform him that the lady had told her aunts he was forgiven and that there should be no further negative social impact.

The Countess of Jersey had informed her fellow patronesses of Almack’s, and soon it was common knowledge that Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley was no longer persona non grata .

Darcy had taken a walk in Hyde Park before the fashionable hour, but even with the small number of persons he encountered he could see that it was true as he was greeted cheerfully by one and all.

His reinstated status had been further evidenced when he went to Whites that afternoon.

Among all but those whose daughters would have to find another way to gain a husband due to ‘the settlement’, he was welcomed like a returning hero.

He humbly accepted the accolades, not revealing the true source of the terms set out in the document as he did not have his Grace’s permission to inform anyone that it was his and not Darcy’s idea.

The night before the double wedding found him sitting in the Darcy House library reading Tom Jones by Henry Fielding for the fifth time.

The book was very special to him as he had read it the first time with his father when he was ten years old.

Whenever he read the tome it made him feel close to his honoured departed father and he felt the comfort that came with the feeling of his presence associated with the book.

He had ordered a tray for his dinner which Mrs. Killion had delivered to him in the library, and now he was sitting comfortably sipping a snifter of brandy.

He had decided that becoming maudlin about missing the wedding on the morrow achieved nothing other than making him feel sorry for himself, so he concentrated on the book and let the pleasant memories of his interactions with his late father wash over him.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

That night before they went to bed, Lady Sarah joined her eldest daughters for the talk .

Although the Duchess was not their mother by blood, she was their mother in deed.

In their hearts they both knew that there was no better mama in the whole of the known world.

“Before I begin, do you prefer that I speak to each of you separately or together?”

“You know us Mama,” Jane spoke for the two after a silent communication with her sister only a twin would understand, “we have no secrets one from the other and choose to listen to you together.”

With her daughter’s decision made, the duchess proceeded with her mission to elucidate her daughters.

“This is your last night we have sole claim of you as daughters living under our roof. Tomorrow your husbands will have the honour, and I dare say pleasure, of your protection, though you must know that all of us will protect and love you all of your days,” the Duchess said wistfully.

She wanted them to be as happy as humanly possible but would miss her oldest children more than she cared to admit to anyone.

“Both Andrew and Richard truly understand and love you my dear daughters. If they did not, there are many men in this family who would take them to task,” the last was said with a smile as Lady Sarah teased her girls.

“Your father and I are equally happy and relieved that your marriages will be true partnerships with men who not only love and cherish you but respect you. Tomorrow night will be your wedding night, and I need to talk to you about what to expect in the marriage bed,” their Mama offered softly.

With a blush rising in their cheeks, Jane and Marie nodded for their mother to proceed.

“The intimacies of the marriage bed are not something to be feared, especially not with someone who loves you the way that your betrotheds clearly love you. This implies that the marriage bed will be a wonderful, even pleasurable experience for both of you. Anyone that advises their daughter to ‘lie back and tolerate’ the relations between man and woman has no idea of what they speak. Do not be afraid to tell Richard,” the Duchess looked at Jane, “and Andrew,” she looked at Marie, “what you like and do not like, and let them know that you want to know the same from them.

Just like you want your marriage to be true partnerships, the same is true of the marriage bed.

My wish for both of you is that you will discover that it is as pleasurable to give as to receive, and that you are never ashamed of the relations that you will have in private with your husband.

A good relationship in the marriage bed enhances your marriage as a whole and gives a depth of joy that cannot be harmed by anyone.

“I will not lie to you; there will be some pain and blood the first coupling, but thankfully it is only the first time that this should happen.

The pain will be but a moment and marks your becoming a woman in every sense of the word.

Richard and Andrew care very much about your wellbeing, so if you need to stop for a moment then or at any point, I am sure that they would understand.

Neither man would ever force either of you to do that which is unacceptable to you.

That is why telling each other what you enjoy, and do not enjoy, is so very important.