They spent that day in their normal activities, highlighted by an evening at the opera with Georgiana. Again, Darcy was busy fending off many visitors to their box from gentlemen either asking to meet Georgiana or wanting 'just to say hello to Miss Darcy.'

That night, when Elizabeth was in her bed, she again heard tapping on the door to the master's suite. Darcy came in and said, "Elizabeth, may I join you again?" When she invited him into her bed, he again put his arms around her and whispered, "When I was with you last night, I felt some stirrings where I had not expected ever to feel them again."

Elizabeth thought about what he said and replied, "When Dr. Rushmore first told me about your illness and the possible after-effects, he mentioned that your ability to be with me might come back, even though he was sure that you could never father any more children. He said that your ability might be slow to return and that you may need some help from me at first before you are able to engage in physical relations. From what you just said, his words were accurate. Would you like to try?"

"Yes, I would, even though I cannot father any more children. Please do not be upset, but I have been reading about how to satisfy a woman. I found some books in my library that are quite explicit. I had no idea what I should have been doing to give you pleasure. I have come to realize how important you are to me and I want to make you happy. I now know how badly I treated you when we first married and I promise to be a better husband to you from now on. I am sorry for that and should not have let my anger be so strong and all-encompassing.

"I now understand that I should have been more tender and patient with you when I first came to you. If I may be able to have physical relations with you again, I want to please you. You will have to help me learn what is best for you." He thought that Richard may have taught her what he now wanted her to teach him, but he certainly could not mention this to her. He had noticed how they reacted to each other, even though they tried to hide it. He now realized that the physical act of love could be pleasurable to both the man and the woman.

In turn, Elizabeth involuntarily thought about how skilled Richard was at bringing her to such incredible heights of ecstasy. She hoped that her husband would learn how to do this, even if only half as well, but she worried how to teach him without giving him any indication that she was relaying information taught to her by Richard. She certainly did not want to lie to him, but she knew that she might have to skirt around the truth.

"I will try, but we will have to learn together. I also want to help you regain your physical abilities. You will have to help me in this." She did not give him any indication that she knew how to do this very well as she occasionally had had to help Richard when she wanted him for repeated episodes before he was physically ready. She smiled inwardly when she thought that this was needed only for second or third joinings when she was feeling particularly passionate.

"I also read that we should start by kissing. May I kiss you?"

"Please do." She moved up to him. It was obvious to her that her husband was completely inexperienced in the art of kissing, but again she did not dare show him how it should be done. She could only gently guide him as if she was learning as well. At the same time, she reached down to pull up his nightshirt and touched him. "Is this what I should do to help you?"

It took a bit of time, but her touching finally achieved the results they both wanted. She encouraged him in his efforts by saying, "Please be gentle and slow." He proved to be in no hurry to finish, so it was quite satisfying to her even though she did not experience the heights that she had felt with Richard. She tried not to pretend that it was not her husband who was with her but was her former lover. She knew that she had to get over this. She also knew that she had to build up William's ego. "Oh, my dear, that was wonderful."

"I could not have managed without your assistance, so I thank you for that. I am pleased that it was good for you as well." He had noticed that she had called him 'dear' as they had never used such tender terms for each other before. This made him feel quite proud of himself.

"I was not sure what to do, so I am glad that it worked. I do not mind doing this for you; it was worth it." She certainly knew what to do, but had tried to hide her knowledge. When she thought that she owed her loyalty to her husband, she worried about her feelings for Richard; she hoped they were purely physical. In her mind, she knew that it was critically important that she learn to appreciate her husband as their futures were inextricably tied together. She thought that her previous relationship with Richard was on one level, but that she had to forget about him and learn to value her husband on a much deeper level.

They slept together for the whole night and both woke up smiling. Somehow she knew that she was with her husband and not Richard. Before Darcy went back to his own room, she kissed him on his cheek and said, "Will you come back to me tonight?"

"Yes, I believe that I will, if you would like me to." He did come back to her that night and every night after. She was becoming more skilled at making him ready to join her. She was pleased that he was becoming more accomplished in pleasing her with repeated practice and gentle indications of what pleased her. Not every night ended up with their having physical relations, but they also found great pleasure in just sleeping together. It was not long before she stopped imagining that she was with Richard rather than her husband.

In the weeks that followed after that dinner at the Matlocks' house, Darcy and Elizabeth found that Mrs. Darlingford was often seen with Richard, as was Viscount Allenby with Georgiana. Elizabeth saw that Darcy was worried about Georgiana's suitor, so she asked, "William, I can see that you are concerned about Georgiana and Viscount Allenby as he is the first man that she seems to want to be with more than once. Would you like me to ask her about her feelings for him? She will likely be more open with me than with you. If she is developing feelings for him, I ask that you be gentle with her, and not too discouraging with him. If this becomes her first love, we have to be patient with her. He seems to be a very gentlemanlike and worthy person, so they might make a good couple. I can see that this could be difficult for you to see as you still view her as a little girl, but please remember that she is now a grown woman who is ready to make her own way in life. Also consider that she could do a lot worse than Viscount Allenby."

Darcy did not respond right away as her words hit a sore spot for him. For years, he had been responsible for his little sister and it was difficult for him to admit that she was now a grown woman who no longer needed his care. However, he had begun to respect his wife's opinions, so he tried to be more tolerant of his sister and her suitor.

In the months that followed, Allenby did ask Darcy for a formal courtship with Georgiana. Elizabeth had all she could do to keep her husband from interfering with the couple's courtship. This courtship was followed by a betrothal, then a prominent society wedding.

A second wedding that took place was that of Richard and his widow. Both weddings took place in the early autumn, so Elizabeth was able to attend both safely after the delivery of her second son. It was fortunate that this son also had a generous head of dark hair, just like hers and her husband's. Darcy proved that he was a good father to all of their children and she did not detect any difference in the way he treated all of them in spite of their different beginnings.

By the time of Richard's wedding, she and Darcy had developed a very close relationship, based on their newfound physical contentment, so Elizabeth was generally over her previous lover, except for once in a while when she remembered the amazing heights of ecstasy that they had achieved together. She could not stop herself from smiling when she had these thoughts. She hoped that Richard would find his own happiness with this new wife and she did not have any regrets over what they had done and enjoyed so much. She tried not to think of what he would be doing with his new wife. She wondered if he was like her and sometimes imagined that he was with someone else.

It took a number of months before she and Darcy knew that they were in love with each other. They had slowly begun to call each other by terms of endearment, but finally they were comfortable enough to admit their feelings. They continued to enjoy each other many nights and Darcy slowly recovered his ability to perform his husbandly duties without his wife's special assistance.

THE END

EPILOGUE

In the months and years that followed, the Darcys and their three children became very close as a family. Elizabeth was pleased that her husband treated all three equally. As all five of their family had dark hair, they looked as if they all belonged together without question. Their sons were not as handsome, nor as tall as Darcy, but there was no reason for anyone to suspect that they were not his natural sons.

When their daughter, Anne, came out, Elizabeth had to restrain Darcy from once again stalking the edges of ballrooms, scowling at any man who even looked at his daughter. His actions must have discouraged many potential suitors as it was not until Anne's third season that she found a gentleman who passed her father's stringent expectations.

Richard and his wife had three children together, so they ended with six, including his own son and her two from her first marriage. When each family's children were young, they were not often together unless they happened to be in town at the same time. As the children grew older, travel became easier, so they began to see each other more frequently. Darcy had been worried that Richard might show a preference for his sons, but this did not happen. The reason for this might have been that Richard's family of six kept him quite busy so he did not have much time to think of Darcy's children or how they came to be.

A very difficult situation occurred when Darcy's oldest son, Bennet, showed an interest in Richard's youngest daughter. Richard's wife could not understand why her husband and the Darcys were so intent in their efforts to keep them from being together. Fortunately, they managed to keep them apart without having to explain the facts of Bennet's paternity to her.

Bingley and Jane, as expected, never had even one disagreement and looked only at the best of every person and situation. They consistently overspent their income and their servants cheated them repeatedly. They also had three children who became close to the Darcy children. Neither Bingley nor Jane ever suspected that there was anything unusual about the Darcy children.

Georgiana and her husband had four children, including a son who would follow his father and grandfather by becoming an earl. When the Viscount's father, the Earl, died, she found that she assumed the role of Countess with no difficulty. Her aunt, the Countess of Matlock, had been her role model, so she became a very well-respected leader of society.

So, in spite of Darcy and Elizabeth's very difficult beginning of their marriage, they eventually achieved a reasonable level of contentment, if not perfect happiness. Elizabeth found that the times that she wistfully thought of the pleasures she had experienced with her first real lover became fewer and fewer. Once in a while, when she was in Richard's company, they looked at each other and smiled, obviously both thinking the same thoughts. However, they never again acted on their shared memories.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this story, I wanted to make Darcy out to be an unlovable character. In the original P & P, he comes across as being haughty, aloof, cold, and unforgiving. I just pushed these traits to an extreme. I assumed that a compromise situation would bring out the worst in him. Did I push his traits too far? When I thought of his all-consuming desire to have a son and heir, I admit that I thought of Henry VIII, but did not go as far as he did in his efforts to sire a son.

As for his recovering his physical abilities, I first became aware of this possibility years ago when I read Anne Rice's novel, Cry to Heaven. It must have stayed in my mind, so I did some research and found that it was certainly a possibility for men who were no longer producing testosterone.

As for Elizabeth, I wrote her as being very accepting of her fate. I believe that women 200 years ago had no legal power; they were passed from their fathers to their husbands and had few, if any, rights. Did I make her too different from what she was in canon?

I have almost finished writing another story and will begin posting it here soon. I promise that I did not write their characters as being as extreme as in this story.

I thank everyone who commented on this story, good and bad. I read every review and try to learn from them. However, I do not promise that I will try to avoid upsetting any reader in future stories. I thank the reviewers who urged me not to take the many negative reviews to heart. Please do not worry, they do not bother me; in fact, I often chuckle at them. I write for my own pleasure and know that not everyone will enjoy what I have written.

Roni

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