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Capturing her mouth in a torrid kiss, they were lost in their desires when a noise drew their attention. Quitting the kiss, they stepped apart, each glancing down the hall in an opposite direction, only to smile as they looked back at each other.

“We are safe!” Evan teased. “No servants witnessed the Master ravishing the Mistress!”

Georgiana’s eye twinkled in the dim light of the candles lighting the hallway. “That, my dear husband, was notravishing.”

“Suppose we step in here,” Evan pulled her a few feet further to the door of their bedchamber, turning the knob and pushing it open, “and I shall show you what constitutes ravishing!”

~~~*~~~

Later, satiated and content, Georgiana lay next to Evan, her head resting on his shoulder, one arm across his chest. He kissed her forehead. “I love you, Ana. You are the best wife and mother in the world.”

She chuckled quietly. “Well, maybe not the world.”

She could feel his suppressed laughter as his body shook. “Yes, even the world! And you are compassionate. When I see you with Miss Elizabeth—”

“I am only doing what William asked of me,” she interjected.

“No. You would have taken care of her without being asked, I have no doubt as you are a kind person. But to see you ministering to the one woman who destroyed the dreams you had for your brother ... I know that must be difficult.”

Georgiana sighed, confirming his belief that she might need to talk. After all, she was a Darcy, and they were experts at keeping wounds covered until they festered.

“I cannot hate her, though I confess to wanting to in the beginning. She is a good person at heart who had some awful things happen to her.” Georgiana shuddered. “But for the grace of God, I could have been born into such a family. I cannot imagine a mother caring so little for her own daughter.”

“I could tell from your dealings with Miss Elizabeth that you no longer resent her, but what of your desire to see Darcy marry, to have children? That is unlikely to happen if he is in love with her.”

“A wise man once told me that I cannot live my brother’s life for him.”

“That was easy for me to say!” He chuckled, then sobered. “But even I worry that he may slip into another bout of melancholy.”

Georgiana pulled herself up, rested on one elbow, then leaned over to plant a kiss on his lips. “I love the fact that you care so deeply for William, too.”

“Darcy is truly my brother, and I do not wish him to be hurt. You were so distraught at his exile that I never mentioned my own sadness. I missed him terribly, oft times heading to the stables to ride over to Pemberley and getting half-way to the corral before I remembered he was gone. He was my advisor as well as my friend.”

“I could tell you missed him, but I was so miserable that I could not help you.” They were quiet for some time, each lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Evan ventured, “Do you think Miss Elizabeth has improved noticeably since Darcy has been gone?”

“I do. Each time I visit she is better, and she has resolved her concerns about my brother, at least in her mind. I believe she will talk to him when he returns, if only to thank him. She did admit, when I asked, that she loves him.”

“I imagine he thinks she must hate him—since she would not speak to him.”

“Knowing my brother, he has thought of the worst possible explanation for her refusal.”

Evan ran the back of his hand over her cheek. “Will you tell him that she loves him?”

“No, I gave her my word, and I know that, as my confidant, you will not.”

“It seems a shame that he should be ignorant of the fact. He was quite distraught when he left for London.”

“If my brother really loves her, he will find out for himself. That is something I will not have to tell him.”

“I suppose you are right.”

She snickered. “The best wife and mother in the world is always right.”

He grabbed her, rolling her over until she lay beneath him. “And she is always desired.”

The rest of the night was not devoted to thinking of Ana’s brother or Elizabeth’s problems but to the furtherance of the Ingram’s happiness ... which was significant!