Chapter Text
Something was slowly waking her. Kate had slept a good portion of the way the last three days from Falmouth. During their overnight stays in inns along the way she had been kept quite occupied by her husband, who would not allow her a second of rest (not that she had put up any objections precisely, and in fact had probably instigated their lovemaking on more occasions than Anthony). So, when it became apparent that the jostling of their coach along the rough roads to Aubrey Hall were not conducive to continuing their activities during the journey itself, Kate had decided to take her rest where she could. She found the movement of the coach, actually, quite comforting, especially nestled as she was within Anthony’s broad arms, her favourite place to be these past six months. And, as the last remnants of her sensual dream were slowly evaporating as she slowly stirred the haze of sleep surrounding her, she realised it was indeed her husband’s dulcet tones that were drawing her back to the waking world.
“Kate, darling, we’re almost home.” And at that, Kate finally jolted awake as adrenalin surged through her system. Anthony instantly felt her nervous energy and slowly helped her to straighten up and turned her around to face him. “Are you well?”
“Yes, I just… it feels as though I have been anticipating this for so long. The wait seemed to take an age and now, quite suddenly it feels, it is here. I had so little time before the wedding to spend with your family, and then, after that disaster of a season in which I tarnished your family reputation, I took you away from them for six months”. Kate looked away as her anxiety levels increased. Normally she would find comfort looking to Anthony, but, whilst she was more freely able to confide her troubles to him now, she knew that, if she looked at him, she might not be able to stop the tears from falling.
“Darling…” Anthony pleaded with her to turn back to him, but Kate held firm… they were moments away from Aubrey Hall. She recognised the gateposts up ahead, signalling the start of the very long driveway and boundary of the Bridgerton estate. She was most likely already looking quite bedraggled from the long journey and sleep against Anthony’s chest (in which he no doubt would have been curling his hands through her hair despite her entreaties to him before the final leg of their journey to leave her in a somewhat presentable state for their arrival home – infuriating, beautiful man). If she started crying on top, well, it would hardly be the most dignifying introduction to her new staff, who would no doubt be waiting to greet them, despite the late hour, and potentially members of her new family as well. Her new family who probably held her with some level of disdain.
After Anthony had proposed, it had been a whirlwind wedding at the close of the season. Luckily they had received Her Majesty’s blessing for a special license, and had been wed after only a fortnight. The wedding had been small, with only their immediate families in attendance at a small chapel in Mayfair. But still it had meant there was little time to truly celebrate. Anthony had spent most of the time planning for their extended honeymoon in Europe, and ensuring matters of the estate were passed to Benedict and Colin, and household matters to his mother. Kate had spent much of the week entertaining various members of the Ton. With Queen Charlotte’s blessing, whilst her betrothal to Anthony was still shrouded in scandal, instead of becoming a complete pariah, she had instead become somewhat of a spectacle for the Ton’s entertainment. The spinster sister of the season’s Diamond, known for her sharp edges, had somehow landed herself their best, and her sister’s intended at that! And, of course, as Edwina had received Her Majesty’s special attention as a potential match for her nephew the Prince, bachelors far and wide had, once again, descended on Danbury House.
So there had been no time to spend with his family. No time for them to get to know her. No time for her to express her deep regrets over the actions that had taken them down this path. She did not and could not regret the destination. Never that. In Anthony she had found the other half of her heart. The one person who she felt might understand her better than she understands herself. These last six months in their little bubble together had only deepened her understanding of her husband. Not only did she know him so completely, every inch of his body inside and out… soul to soul… but it was the knowledge that she knew him best. The faith that she had in their connection. That she was the only person to provide Anthony with the inner peace that had been missing since his father’s death. That she eased his burdens, and he hers. Their future together was altogether lighter and filled with hope, for having each other to lean on and hold.
But his family knew none of this. They had seen Anthony heartbroken before the Featherington ball, and although he had been elated by her returning his declaration of love that evening, his mood was still tinged with worry over first obtaining the special license, and then to planning the honeymoon and making sure everything would be looked after in his absence. What would, or indeed could, the Bridgerton clan possibly think about her suitability for Anthony. They certainly could not imagine she was suitable to be Viscountess.
“Kathani, if you will not look at me, at least speak to me.” She realised she had been quiet for several minutes, and her ever attentive husband had given her time to collect her thoughts. Kate took a few deep breaths and slowly turned back to face him.
“I am sorry my love. I worry what your family may think of me and that six months without you will not have engendered any particular feelings of amiability towards me. Not that I would begrudge them such feelings. Lack of amiability is a good sight better than I would be feeling in the opposite circumstance. In fact you may recall being on the end of such stronger feelings during your courtship of Edwina(!)”
Anthony sighed. He could see Aubrey Hall in the distance and so he did not have long to ease the tension radiating from his Viscountess, and to, once again, correct her recollection of the events since their meeting.
“Darling, our family adores you. They fell in love with you during Pall Mall. I am almost certain that, if they are waiting up, it is because they are anticipating your arrival, not mine.” Kate scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I have told you repeatedly how Daphne, my mother and Benedict all encouraged me to go after my heart. To go after you. How Eloise sang your praises and is, I have no doubt, waiting to gain your opinion on whatever text she is currently reading. How Gregory and Hyacinth fell in love with Newton, and therefore their owner. Colin adores anyone who could go toe-to-toe with me. And Francesca will love you because I love you.” The tears were threatening Kate’s eyes once again. Nothing Anthony was saying was new. He had reassured her of all of this during their honeymoon, particularly when he was corresponding with his family and they asked after her. They were always very polite but Kate wondered what they must really think.
Anthony could see Kate ruminating over his words. As she took another deep breath and he watched her chest rise, another tactic suddenly sprang to his mind. He licked his lips and looked deeply into her eyes, lifting his hand slowly to graze the backs of his knuckles from her neck, past her jawline to her cheek, pressing the pad of his thumb ever so softly across the corner of her lips, dragging them up slightly. Kate saw the look her husband was giving her. Really. Was there no-end to this man’s libido. Here she was, apprehensive about their imminent arrival home, and he was undressing her with his eyes, which at this moment were slowly drifting down her body. And God help her if she did not view this as a challenge from her husband. Kate could not countenance any look from a man with eyes such as his, a chocolate core sitting in a pool of caramel, as anything but a challenge. And with Kate’s competitiveness, it meant not much rest for either of them.
She did the mental arithmetic in her head. They were only minutes away from the house. She could just make out people congregating at the doors. She was already a mess and, if she did rise to her menace of a husband’s challenge, any chance of making a good impression as the new Viscountess would be out the window and almost certainly be trampled by the carriage wheels! But just as she came to the conclusion that she really ought to use these last few moments to address her appearance and try to at appear at least somewhat respectable, Anthony’s eyes had just finished their journey down her body and had made their way back up, finally reaching her eyes. At that moment she would happily trample those good impressions herself. She would joyfully lead every horse from Royal Ascot over those good impressions if it meant another private moment ensconced with her husband.
Anthony had intended to distract her for just a moment with his usual charm and lasciviousness, knowing full well she would not allow it only moments from the house. But, as his eyes reached hers, he saw her pupils blown wide open and had no chance to brace himself before his wife threw herself at him. Their lips crashed together and Anthony quite forgot where they were. All his thoughts were consumed by his wife. His Kate. His Kathani. Their tongues danced together, tasting each other, trying to get as close as possible. But by God how he could never seem to quite get close enough to his wife. Anthony was able to find purchase against the side of the carriage and finally managed to wrap one arm around Kate’s waist, whilst his other hand caressed her thigh through her dress and slowly started to make its way up, stroking until it settled around her derriere, cupping ever so softly, then increasing in pressure as the heat built up between them.
Kate dragged both her hands and all ten fingers through Anthony’s hair and scratched at his scalp. Kate adored every inch of this man’s body but his hair held a special place in her heart. It was the part of his body she was able to most often caress when they had only seconds alone. The part that was just for her. The part she could thoroughly muss through and it was as if she was claiming her husband as her own for the world to see. They were a love match and she wanted the world to know, within the bounds of propriety of course, that her husband belonged to her, body and soul.
She felt the silk strands flow like water through her fingers. His hair had grown long, and had been more than fashionable on the continent. She lamented that he would most likely need to cut it back short now that they were back home. She wondered what his family would make of him. At that thought of his family, a small acorn dropped into her head… she remembered they weren’t far from the house. How long had they been kissing. They probably only had moments before the carriage stopped.
“My Lord, your family, they will see.” Anthony growled at her “How many times must I tell you… OUR family… OUR home…” Then Anthony raised his eyebrow as he whispered in her ear “Our bedroom”. Kate felt heat rise inside her belly as his words brought back the memory of their last night on the road. As they had made love, Anthony had been gentle, but then as he talked of finally taking her home, of each and every surface he had imagined making love to Kate, his movement became more urgent, rougher.
“I cannot wait to take you back to our home Kate, my Viscountess. We will christen every single surface in every single room. We will make it ours and only ours. Your dominion over every corner will be claimed by the sweet noises you will make for me Kate. But before we christen the house, the very first thing when we walk in the door, I will take you to our room and you will not sleep one wink. The Viscount’s rooms will be OUR rooms my darling, but you will not be sleeping in them. I will not allow it. So, you had better get your rest on the road, as you will not be resting once we are home sweetling.”
Kate had rolled her eyes at the ridiculous man. But equally his baritone voice, along with the veracity with which he had given himself, and all his worldly possessions so completely unto her, had turned her heart to liquid lava as she burned inside out for him. Of course, it may have been helped along by the fact that, at that same precise moment, he was hitting her sweet spot with his urgent thrusts, each one it felt was deeper than the last, reaching through to her very soul.
The memory was etched into Kate’s mind and she was as powerless as Anthony to attempt to break apart. Or at least she was until, as Anthony was slowly licking down towards her bosom, she opened her eyes and looked straight into the horrified eyes of her new brother-in-law, who had been first to the carriage doors. Benedict cleared his throat loudly whilst doing his best to surreptitiously make himself bigger so as to shield the couple from the rest of the family who were fast approaching.
It felt like it took an age for Kate’s mind to eventually send instructions to get her hands to push Anthony off her and then, when he would not easily move (because he thought she was taking things up a notch) instructing her feet to kick him away. That was enough to get Anthony to stumble back onto the floor of the carriage in shock, as Kate quickly tried to straighten her hair and dress. It was a lost cause, she knew, but she could only hope that she could blame it on the journey.
She smiled brightly as the family came into view behind Benedict who was frantically shooting his eyes down from Kate to the floor of the carriage. It took several looks for Kate to see what he was pointing her attention to. Anthony was still on the floor, not yet having understood their predicament and still looking at Kate like she was a meal to be devoured, and the bulge in his breeches could clearly not be blamed on the journey. Kate quickly grabbed the blanket and threw it down to him as she hissed at him “OUR family approach!” At that Anthony finally looked up and realised that, not only had the coach stopped outside Aubrey Hall, but his brother was looking in on them trying to hide his hysterics.
“Benedict, what are you doing. Open the door and let them out. They must be exhausted from the journey” Violet admonished Benedict.
“Ah yes, Mother, it appears there is something stuck with the door latch."
Kate breathed a sigh of relief as Benedict bought them a few more moments.
“Well, then let John try to open it. I would wager the footmen will be more capable of fixing a door latch than you dearest.”
John, the footman, made to move towards the door before Benedict held his hand up to stop his advance. “Oh, that is not necessary. You have so little faith Mother. I am sure it will just take me but a moment(!)” Benedict shot another urgent look at Anthony who was desperately trying to heft himself up to the bench opposite Kate, the blanket still providing some much needed cover.
“Errrm, brother, here, let me assist.” Anthony scooted forward a little, hoping he might be able to buy himself some extra time to calm down. “Here, you are doing it wrong, it twists the other way.” He shot a look to Benedict, hoping he would grasp his meaning. Benedict sighed and rolled his eyes, indicating that he indeed had understood his part.
“What are you talking about. You are looking at it from the inside, you must twist it the other way. What are you doing Anthony?!” Kate buried her head in her hands at the little scene now being played out between the brothers, acting out the bickering siblings, pulling and twisting at the perfectly serviceable latch to the door. Until, lo and behold, the latch snapped off completely. Now it really was broken. Kate shook her head at the pair, with Benedict smirking and Anthony sighing in relief at the precious minutes he had bought himself.
“Benedict, you have broken it completely with your ham-fistedness” Anthony exclaimed as loud as he could for all to hear. Benedict’s smirk turned into a look of violence aimed at his older brother as Violet pushed the rest of the children to one side to look at the damage for herself. Anthony was, by now, firmly pressed against the side of the carriage so his mother could not see down to the, now diminishing, bulge in his groin. She did, however, get an eyeful of the dishevelled Kate. Anthony saw his mother look around the three of their faces and more closely at the mortification written over Kate and Anthony’s faces. Violet gave an exasperated sigh and turned away from the three to face the rest of her children all looking on in confusion.
“Children, your brothers have managed to break the door. Come inside, let us leave the footmen to help Anthony and Kate out of the carriage and allow them to refresh themselves after their journey. We shall all ready ourselves for supper and for the children, it is well past your bedtime anyway” she said, looking at the youngest two with that final sentence. Gregory and Hyacinth made to raise their objections, it would surely only take a few moments to free their brother and his wife, why could they not wait up. They had stayed up late thus far, a few more minutes surely could not hurt. At the same time Eloise began to point out that there was a door on the other side. Violet stopped their protestations in their tracks with a sharp rebuke. “I said, it is time to ready yourselves for bed, and the rest of us should allow your brother and the Viscountess some privacy to disembark the carriage and refresh themselves after their travels.” Looking to Gregory and Hyacinth, who had yet to make a move back inside with Francesca who, of course, had immediately followed her mama’s command, Violet then said “You can spend all day with them tomorrow, Anthony does not yet need to take over matters of the estate from Benedict, and the household can wait another day before Kate needs to start taking on her duties. So, they can focus all their undivided attention on you all. Perhaps even a game of Pall Mall if the weather is agreeable. Daphne shall be here in the morning with Augie and Lady Danbury.” With that Violet, gave a very pointed look back to Anthony and Kate, who fully understood her meaning. They were being punished, and Kate thought they had got off lightly.
As Violet and the children made their way inside, followed closely by all the staff bar the two footmen still unloading the cases from the carriage, Anthony and Benedict burst out laughing.
“There is nothing amusing about this, my Lord! You know how concerned I was to make a good first impression with your fam…”… mid-way through her sentence, as though anticipating what she was going to say, Anthony shot Kate a look. The same look that had started their predicament. Kate picked up a cushion and threw it at him. “Never mind.” She shook her head in exasperation and tried to fix her dress.
“Do I want to know?” Benedict queried, looking between his brother and sister-in-law. Anthony and Kate said no in unison, though Kate’s was more of an annoyed huff, whilst Anthony’s ‘no’ was definitely more amused. He was now fully calm and disembarked the carriage first so he could assist his wife out by the other door, to the far side of the house, before he proceeded to gather the belongings they had kept inside the carriage with them.
Kate stretched her legs as her feet landed on the gravel. It was dark out but she could see a little of the garden that was bathed in the light emanating from the house. The colours of the flowers were tinged with an odd mixture of the darkness of the night in the shadows, and the yellow light of the flames from the various candles playing over the curved surfaces, bringing the night garden to life. As Kate became entranced by the dancing colours and wondered at the animals and insects making the flowerbed their home, she felt a familiar pair of arms snake around her waist from behind.
“What are you thinking about, my love?”
“I’m thinking how happy I am to be home, back to our home.” At that directed remark from his wife, Anthony nipped at her earlobe.
“Vexing man.”
Anthony nuzzled her neck as he responded “Well you did promise.”
“And what of your promises. I believe you said you would humble yourself before me every day… well I spent most of the day sleeping. I have yet to see you fulfil today’s promise.”
“Ah, my darling, I was in the very midst of doing as such before we were rudely interrupted. I do believe we will still have ample time after dinner for me to finish the task, and for the Viscountess to carry out her own duties.”
Kate turned her head to raise her eyebrow at him. “Oh, I do believe your mother just said I would not need to commence my duties for another day.”
Anthony looked at her as though she had lost her mind. “Kate, the duties I have in mind are not the kind that my mother can or will ever dictate between us.”
Kate laughed, feeling a warmth grow inside her again, but this time it was the flame that burned in her heart. The flame for him, for their home and the future life they had spoken of during their honeymoon. The dreams each of them had shared with the other. The family they hoped to raise here together. Kate turned to face him and entwined their hands together and gestured him forward. She wanted to walk into their home side-by-side.