At first when her expression softened, he thought Daffy was relieved he had spoken, was going to agree with him – but between the no and her wide-eyed look and the earnestness of her tone, he felt her certainty. Elias smiled back broadly, honestly; a smile that kept spreading until it was a grin crinkling the corners of his eyes.

It was what he had wanted to hear, and he felt any last tension ease from his shoulders. Monumental as the night might feel, there was a certain lightness too – and as she looked over her shoulder, her eyes were sparkling with an echo of that teasing earlier from the wedding, when his own impatience had been all too clear to him.

“Well then,” he murmured fondly, thankful that her buttons seemed straightforwardly arranged; he eased them undone without trouble, still doing his best to be unhurried about it as he shrugged the dress off her. But he was close enough to smell the sweet lingering echo of the flowers that had been in her hair underneath the salt air on their clothes from the journey, and the room seemed warmer (or was that just the country?) with each layer they removed. Nevertheless, Elias took off his own waistcoat and put his hands to Daff’s waist to start doing away with her underskirts.

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