After a long hiatus, I have a vignette for you for Thursday’s 300! Yay! <3
This post is brought to you by my newest book, Darcy’s Unwanted Bride. (The link is an affiliate link. It costs you nothing to click on, but I might get a small payment.)
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Elizabeth Darcy stood up from the box she was bent over and blew a lock of hair out of her eye.
“That is the last of it, Mrs. Darcy.” The housekeeper wiped her hands on the cloth she held as she stepped to Elizabeth’s side.
The mistress of the house nodded as she allowed her gaze to travel over the area before her. “It looks much nicer than it did.”
“I agree.” Mrs. Reynolds tilted her head as she looked at Elizabeth. “No one will ever see it but servants.”
“True.” Elizabeth acknowledged the housekeeper’s words with a shrug. “It is only that I cannot bear disorder. You cannot deny that finding things will be far more efficient with the boxes all organized and labeled.”
Mrs. Reynolds laughed. “I cannot, and the footmen will be grateful to you, I am sure.”
A deep voice interrupted the ladies’ conversation.
“What have we here?” Fitzwilliam Darcy strolled toward his wife and housekeeper.
Elizabeth blushed and fussed with her skirt. “Good afternoon, Husband.”
Darcy nodded to Mrs. Reynolds to simultaneously acknowledge her greeting and dismiss her. He waited until he heard her footsteps fade away before he spoke. “Doing the maids’ work for them again, are we?”
Her eyes narrowing to slits, Elizabeth fisted her hands and jammed them onto her hips. “I am not. This area required organization and no one else appeared interested in taking on the task. I did no lifting or carrying.”
Darcy’s left brow quirked up. He reached a finger toward his wife’s cheek, brushing at a streak of dust. “And yet, you are filthy.”
Elizabeth crossed her arms, clenching her jaw. “If it was the stables, and you saw something out of place, you would fix it.”
Darcy dropped his hand and his head. “I suppose I would.” He peeked up at his wife. “I am sorry for taking you to task.” When he saw her eyes roll, he lifted his head again. “I would still rather you allow the servants to attend to these tasks. All you have to do is inform Mrs. Reynolds of the need, and she will assign maids and footmen to them.” He held up his hand when Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak. “However, given my own propensity toward cleanliness and organization, I cannot fault you.”
Elizabeth glared at Darcy for a long moment, but then huffed and lowered her arms. “Good. You will not try to stop me, then?”
Darcy reached out and grasped her hand, pulling her close. He wrapped his arms around her. “No, my love. If you wish to supervise the cleaning of the basement so closely, I will not stand in your way.” He bent his head and kissed her softly. “Shall we repair to our chambers and get you bathed?”
Elizabeth smirked. “Perhaps we should, since we are to have company for dinner.”
With that, the couple walked hand in hand up the flights of stairs that led to their rooms, not to be seen again until just before their guests arrived.
The End
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