William was aching for her as he gently fondled her breasts, and then moved his hands down over her slim hips to where her legs joined. His fingers were gentle and deft, and she was moaning as he pulled the nightgown over her head finally and tossed it somewhere on the floor. He rolled gently over on her then, and entered her with all the restraint he could muster. But he didn’t have to restrain himself for long. He was surprised and pleased to find her an eager and energetic partner. And trying to fulfill the desire they had both felt for so long, they made love until the dawn, until they both lay back, entwined in each other’s limbs, sated to the soul, and totally exhausted.
“My God … if I’d had any idea that’s how it would have been, I’d have thrown you to the ground and attacked you right there, that first afternoon at George and Belinda’s.” Sarah smiled sleepily as she looked at him. She was happy that she had satisfied him, and he had done things to her that she had never even dreamed of.
“I didn’t know it could be like that,” she said softly.
“Neither did I.” He smiled and rolled over to look at her. She was even more beautiful to him now that he had possessed her. “You’re a remarkable woman.” She blushed faintly as he said the words, and a few minutes later, they drifted off to sleep, holding each other tightly, like two happy children.
They were both startled two hours later, when the phone rang at eight o’clock. It was the front desk, with their wake-up call. They had to be on board the ship at ten o’clock that morning.
“Oh, God …” He groaned, blinking as he groped for the light and the phone at the same time, and then he thanked them politely for calling. He wasn’t sure if he was feeling their love or the champagne, but he felt as though someone had drained him of every drop of life force he had ever had. “I suddenly know what Samson must have felt like after he met Delilah.” He tugged at a long wisp of dark hair curled loosely over one firm breast, and he bent to kiss her nipple and felt himself rise again, unable to believe it. “I think maybe I’ve died and gone to heaven.” They made love again before they got up, and then they had to hurry to dress for the sailing. They didn’t even have time to eat, just to swallow a quick cup of tea before they left, and they were laughing and teasing as they closed their bags and hurried to die waiting limousine, while Sarah tried to look dignified, and suitably like a duchess.
“I had no idea duchesses did things like that,” she whispered to him in the car after they had put up the window between themselves and the driver.
“They don’t. You’re quite remarkable, my darling, believe me.” But he looked as though he had found the Hope Diamond in his shoe as they boarded the Normandie at Pier 88 on West 50th Street. He felt faintly disloyal taking a French ship, but they were so much more fun, and he had heard that the Normandie offered a marvelous crossing.
They were greeted as royalty, and put in the Deauville suite, on the Sun Deck. Its twin suite, the Trouville, was occupied at the time by the maharaja of Karpurthala, who had occupied it several times since his trip on the maiden voyage.
William was very pleased as he looked around their stateroom. “I hate to say it, but the French Line has poor Cunard beaten sadly when it comes to creature comforts.” He had never seen such luxury on a ship, in all his travels around the world. It was a glorious ship, and what they had seen of her as they boarded promised a truly extraordinary crossing.
Their stateroom was filled with champagne and flowers and baskets of fruit, and Sarah noticed that one of the prettiest bouquets came from her parents, and there was another from Peter and Jane. A moment later they arrived, and as Jane whispered a question to her sister the two of them giggled like young girls. But before they sailed Sarah and William both thanked the Thompsons again for the lovely wedding.
“We had a marvelous time,” William assured Edward again. “It was perfect in every way.”
“The two of you must have been exhausted.”
“We were.” William tried to look vague, and hoped that he succeeded. “We had a little champagne when we got to the hotel, and then just collapsed.” But as he said it, Sarah caught his eye, and William hoped that he wasn’t blushing. He pinched her bottom discreetly as he went by, and Victoria was telling Sarah how well her new dress looked on her. They had bought it at Bonwit Teller for her trousseau. It was a white cashmere dress with a wonderful drape on one hip, and over it she had worn the new mink coat her parents had just given her as a present. They told her it would keep her warm during the long English winters. And it looked very stylish on her with a rakish hat trimmed with two enormous black feathers that were attached at the back.
“You look lovely, dear,” her mother said, and for the flash of a moment, Jane felt a pang of jealousy for her sister. She was going to have such a glamorous life, and William was such a dashing man. She loved her own husband dearly, but their life was certainly not exciting. But poor Sarah had had such a difficult time before. It was hard to believe that the sad tale had ended so happily for her. It really was a storybook ending. But the story wasn’t over yet either, and she hoped that Sarah would be happy in England with the duke. It was hard to think otherwise, he was so kind, and so handsome. Jane sighed as she looked at them, standing hand in hand, looking blissfully happy.
“Your Grace …” The chief ship’s officer came to the door of their stateroom and discreetly announced that all guests had to be ashore in the next few minutes. The announcement brought tears to Victoria and Jane’s eyes, and Sarah had to fight back tears as she kissed them, and her father, and Jane’s babies. She clung to all of them, and then hugged her father close for a last time.
“Write to me, please … don’t forget … we’ll be back in London just after Christmas.” They were going to spend the holiday on the Continent alone. William’s mother insisted that she had so many things to do at Whitfield that she would scarcely miss them. And William loved the idea of spending Christmas alone with Sarah in Paris.
She put her fur coat back on, and they all went out on the deck where they kissed her again, and shook hands with William, and then Edward shepherded his little tribe down the gangplank. There were tears in his eyes, too, and as his eyes met Sarah’s from the dock, the tears began to slide unrestrained down his cheeks and he didn’t even try to hide them.
“I love you,” she mouthed, waving frantically with one hand, and clinging to William with the other. She blew kisses to all of them as they left the dock in a hail of confetti and streamers, and somewhere on another deck a band played the “Marseillaise,” and as she watched them drift away from her, she knew she would never forget how much they all meant to her at that moment.
William held tightly to her hand until the huge ship began slowly to turn into the Hudson River, and then they could no longer see anyone on the dock. There were tears running down her cheeks, and a sob caught in her throat as he pulled her into his arms again. “It’s all right, darling, I’am here…. We’ll come back to see them soon. I promise.” And he meant it.
“I’m sorry … it seems so ungrateful of me…. It’s just … I love them all so much … and I love you …” So much had happened in the past few days, she was still a little overwhelmed by all her emotions. He led her back to their cabin again, and offered her some more champagne, but she admitted with a tired smile that what she really longed for was a cup of coffee.
He rang for the steward then and ordered coffee for her, and jasmine tea for himself, and a plate of cinnamon toast in lieu of breakfast. And they sat munching and drinking and chatting and soon her grief had ebbed, and she was feeling better. He liked that about her though, that she cared so much, and she was so open about her feelings.