He shuddered. “Please, love, let us not discuss this now. Hold me tight and kiss me instead.”

She smiled. “With pleasure, Fitzwilliam, with pleasure.”

“I love you so completely, Elizabeth,” Darcy groaned, crushing her against him and kissing her ardently for a good long while.

“Ice skating, Elizabeth? You cannot be serious. Did you not satisfy your itch for outdoor activities earlier today? It is snowing outside!”

“Lightly snowing, William; the small pond is frozen solid, and I never tire of outdoor activities. Besides, I am not an accomplished ice skater, as I am informed you are, so the opportunities are ripe for you to clutch me tightly or perhaps even fall on top of me into a soft snowbank.” She said the last with a mischievous twinkle and he could not stop himself from laughing.

“You are incorrigible, Mrs. Darcy.” They stood in the hallway outside the parlor where their guests were lounging after lunch, except for Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Lathrop. The anglers had apparently lost all sense of time in their pursuit of the elusive fish, so a basket of food had been delivered to them.

She stepped closer to him, fingering the buttons of his coat. “You will arrange this for us, my love, will you not? And join us in our frivolous pastime as my savior if nothing else.” She looked up at him through her lashes.

He smiled, tenderly fingering her chin and cheeks. “My love, I shall likely chastise myself later for confessing this; however, I would doubtless grant you anything within my capacity to give, such is your power over me.”

In short order they were bundled snugly and laced into their skates. Mrs. Gardiner had opted to rest in her chambers, and Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Lathrop were still captivated by the trout pond, leaving Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam to escort the ladies. Once Darcy relinquished his initial pique, the idea of ice skating actually sounded pleasant. He had not skated in several years and had almost forgotten how enjoyable the experience was. Georgiana had truthfully enlightened Lizzy on her brother’s abilities, which he displayed in a rare example of exhibitionism by effortless gliding onto the ice and rendering a dazzling figure eight with a spin on one foot before grinningly approaching his stunned wife.

“Braggart!” she declared, to which he bowed grandly before taking her hand. He tucked her in close to his side and set a measured pace. Lizzy was not truly as inept as she hinted but had decided to enjoy the deception for now, to the point of already eyeing the snowdrifts along the edge, thus saving the joy of seeing her husband’s surprise later when she smugly revealed her competence.

The small pond, as it was called, was indeed smaller than the other water bodies of Pemberley; it was roughly forty feet in diameter and shallow, allowing it to freeze quickly and easily. The purpose of the pond, Lizzy had been told by Darcy from the upper windows of the manor when he gave her the “tour” of the grounds, was primarily for winter skating and as a summer home for minnows, frogs, toads, and several species of ducks.

They passed a lovely two hours, twirling and floating, as the snow steadily fell in gentle flakes. Lizzy accidentally fell only once, picking a particularly cushy heap; however, her ploy failed. Darcy merely laughed and offered his hand. Once she was safely on her feet, he bussed her rosy pouting lips and slithered away, leaving her standing there with her mouth open.

“Mr. Darcy!”

“Come along, Mrs. Darcy; catch me up! I am wise to your charade.”

Col. Fitzwilliam had surreptitiously observed this little interplay, cataloguing it with all the other amazing actions, words, and expressions he had noted from his cousin, and marveling at the phenomenon. It was as if the Fitzwilliam Darcy he had known all his life no longer existed. No, he reconsidered, that was not accurate. Darcy had always had the propensity to laugh and joke, and was renowned in fact for his clever wit, but always with reserve and caution attached. Very few people, a mere handful in truth, could say they knew the relaxed side of his personality. Richard doubted whether Georgiana could claim to have witnessed her brother in a completely undone state and, with one glance at her shocked yet radiant face as she, too, observed Darcy’s antics, he knew he was correct. A Darcy who laughed boisterously, kissed and touched in public, smiled foolishly, blatantly ignored rules of propriety by whisking his wife off to their bedroom, and who teased and conversed affably was a new creature entirely. Richard could not be happier.

The final crescendo to the afternoon was a snowball fight started by Lizzy with a well-aimed lob at the back of her husband’s head. The game was on with all of them breathless, cold, wet, and smiling brightly by the time the snow began falling in earnest with a rising wind, prompting them to quit the pond. They met up with Mr. Lathrop and Mr. Gardiner, blue lipped and shivering, but also grinning broadly and proudly sharing their day’s results with the group, who displayed the appropriate amount of enthusiasm.

The staff scrambled to draw hot baths for all. Lizzy sank into her bathing tub with a grateful sigh, reclining and closing her eyes as the warm water seeped into her frozen, aching muscles. As she began to drift off into a doze, she was jolted awake by a soft whisper and the sensation of hands grazing over her shoulders and then down her arms. She yelped and thrashed wildly, sending a spray of water flying through the air, soaking her husband whom it was, naturally, standing behind her.

Her panic and anger was rapidly replaced by amusement at the sight of Darcy in his robe, droplets hanging from his nose and chin and an expression of incredulity and mortification flowing over his handsome face.

“Fitzwilliam Darcy!” she declared crisply, “How dare you frighten me this way?” Any attempt on her part to be stern was nullified in part by her nakedness and location, but mostly by the comical and heavenly vision of her spouse.

Lizzy had long marveled at the varying miens of the man before her. Darcy’s aspect could be haughty, domineering, blasé, grave, and forbidding; in all ways a face not to be trifled with. Then there was his tender, passionate, joyful, and smiling countenance, approachable and youthfully innocent. His most adorable face was the one he now wore: his “puppy face,” as Lizzy dubbed it. With his blue eyes slightly drooping, brows knitted, pallor marked, and full lips parted in confusion, he looked more an errant little boy than the Master of Pemberley.

“Elizabeth, forgive me! I did not intend to frighten you. I should have spoken louder. How thoughtless of me! I shall leave you.”

“William, wait!” she yelled with a laugh halting him at the door, although he kept his eyes averted. “You did startle me, which would have been avoided if you had only announced your presence in a less shocking manner. Nevertheless, I am not averse to your being here, depending on what your intentions are,” she finished playfully.

He glanced at her, pallor replaced by a blush, and her smile deepened. How can a man of nine-and-twenty suddenly look about twelve and be absolutely delectable!

“Your bathing tub is quite large… ”

“You purchased it, my love,” she interrupted.

“Yes, well…” he cleared his throat, “I thought at the time that you would appreciate it and that it could easily accommodate two, if such a situation arose,” he concluded lamely, waving his hand vaguely.

“You imagine now to be one of those situations?”

He flashed a grin, meeting her eyes hesitantly. “The maids have to carry dozens of pails, so I merely thought to spare them filling another tub.”

“How considerate of you.”

“Yes. I also recognized how cold you were and thought perhaps the added body heat would be welcome. I would not wish you to fall ill.”

“Mr. Darcy, you are the epitome of English chivalry.”

He was smiling brightly now, “puppy face” replaced by the more familiar one of passionate promise.

Lizzy laughed. “William, you are shivering and the water is growing cold. Hurry up, but lock the door first.”

He needed no further encouragement, and his robe was discarded hastily. He positioned his body behind Lizzy, wincing at the hot water on cool skin. She reclined gratefully against his chest, sighing and closing her eyes.

“Hmmm… This is better. Why have we not previously considered this?”

“We may not have; however, I unquestionably have.”