to begin.
‘You are from Hertfordshire, I think you said?’ prompted Mrs Cedarbrook.
‘Yes, that’s right, from a small town called Meryton,’ said Elizabeth.
‘I do not know the town, but I have passed through Hertfordshire often on various journeys. It is a very beautiful county, but very different to the Alps. You are a long way from home. Do you not find it lonely here, where there are so few people?’
‘I have my husband,’ said Elizabeth.
‘Of course. But sometimes a woman needs another woman to talk to.’
Elizabeth said nothing, but she had been thinking exactly the same thing. She had been troubled for some time, and she found it difficult to keep her feelings to herself, because at home she had always had someone to talk to.
‘You are a long way from your mother,’ said Mrs Cedarbrook.
‘Yes, I am,’ said Elizabeth.
She gave a rueful smile as she thought of her mother.
Mrs Cedarbrook said, ‘Ah,’ quietly, and added, ‘And your friends.’
‘Yes,’ said Elizabeth with a sigh.
‘You must miss them,’ said Mrs Cedarbrook kindly.
‘I do. But not as much as I miss my sister.’
‘If you need someone to talk to, my dear, I am here.’
Elizabeth looked at her uncertainly and then came to a decision. Mrs Cedarbrook was a stranger, but she was a sympathetic woman and Elizabeth needed to confide in someone. Her friends and family were a long way away and she had no one else to turn to in her need for a listening ear and, more importantly, some advice.
‘You are worried about something,’ said Mrs Cedarbrook gently.
‘It is only…’ said Elizabeth, not knowing how to begin. ‘It is just that…’
‘Yes, my dear?’
‘It is just that, sometimes, I don’t understand my husband.’
‘You have been married long?’
‘No, we are only just married. We are on our wedding tour.’
‘You seem very happy together. It is not difficult to see that your husband loves you very much.’
‘I wonder,’ said Elizabeth, looking down at her hands, which were pleating the fabric of her skirt in her lap.
‘What makes you say that?’ asked Mrs Cedarbrook.
‘It is just that he hasn’t so much as touched me in all this time. He’s attentive and friendly and considerate, we have a great deal to say to each other, and the way he looks at me— you have seen the way he looks at me.’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘But at night, when we could be alone, he avoids me.’
Mrs Cedarbrook looked at her thoughtfully.
‘You are very young. Perhaps he is just giving you time to adjust to your new life. Tempt him, my dear. You are very lovely, and there isn’t a man alive who could resist you if you put your mind to it.’
‘That’s just it,’ said Elizabeth. ‘I don’t know how.’
‘You are a woman in love, you will know how when the time comes. Go to his room if he will not come to yours. It will not be long before you are happy, I am sure.’
‘You have taken a load from my mind,’ said Elizabeth. ‘Just to be able to talk about it has been a help.’
There was a noise from below.
‘I think the gentlemen are coming to the end of their conversation. Go now, my dear, and I am sure your problems will soon be over.’
The two women rose and Elizabeth returned to her own room. Annie helped her to undress and then, saying, ‘Thank you, Annie,’ Elizabeth waited only for her maid to leave the room before she went through the interconnecting door into her husband’s room. She had hoped to find Darcy there, but the room was empty, save for a faint, lingering scent of him.
On the washstand, his valet had laid out his brushes and razor, and Elizabeth went over to them and ran her hands over them. These were the things he had touched, and she let her fingers linger there. Her eyes wandered round the small, rustic apartment until they came to rest on the window. It had been left open. The night air was fresh but cold, and it carried a hint of frost. She went over to the window and prepared to close it, but her hand rested on the catch for a moment and she looked out over the tranquil, moonlit landscape. The lake was shining placidly in the silver light and, far off, trees were silhouetted against the white backdrop of the mountain. Hanging above it was a gibbous moon, phosphorescent in the darkness.
Her attention was attracted by movement close at hand and she saw the dark shape of