"Love is a Choice" by Gratiana Lovelace, 3/15/13 (Completed)

Ch. 5-6: Pudding; Husbands & Wives, Sons & Daughters, Part 1

“Love is a Choice”, Ch. 5-6:  Pudding; Husbands & Wives, Sons & Daughters, Part 1, March 22, 2013 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #383 & Wattpad)

(An original story by Gratiana Lovelace; All Rights Reserved)

[From time to time, I will illustrate my story with my dream cast of:  Richard Armitage as Lord Rafe Wingate, Carla Gugino as Lady Katharine Wingate, Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Plunkett, Emilie Francois as Anna, and others, etc.]

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Author’s Mature Content Note:  “Love is a Choice” is a story of love and romance set in the early to mid 1800’s.  I like Regency sensibilities with regard to comedy of manners, but Romantic period modes of dress.   Ha!  As such there will be some passages in this story involving heartfelt love scenes (perhaps some R rated) and some passages involving highly dramatic moments.  I will label the maturity rating of those chapters accordingly.  Otherwise, the general rating for this story is PG or PG-13 due to some mature situations and topics.  If you are unable or unwilling to attend a movie with the ratings that I provide, then please do not read the chapters with those labels.  This is my disclaimer.

Author’s Recap from the previous installment:   Lord Rafe and Lady Katharine spent a chaste wedding night just sleeping together--not making love.   Although, the do awaken from their slumber with their bodies intertwined and they make out a little.  But the servants interrupt them.  Also in the morning they shared some personal histories and opinions with each other--particularly Lord Rafe’s first time making love with a comely widow named Fanny Miller when he was just sixteen years old.  Lady Katharine is finding out more about her husband--which makes her feel more pleasantly disposed toward him.

“Love is a Choice”, Ch. 5:  Promised Pudding

After separately getting dressed this morning after their non wedding night--with dressing help from their attendants in their respective dressing rooms--Lord Rafe and Lady Katharine take the open gig for a ride over to Mrs. Plunkett’s cottage around mid day for Lord Rafe’s promised wedding pudding.  It is a gloriously sunny and mild day for their outdoor jaunt and Lady Katharine holds only her husband’s arm as he drives. Upon arriving at Mrs. Plunkett’s, the aroma of food--including the aforementioned promised wedding pudding--assaults their senses and makes them quite hungry, since breakfast was rather sparing and much earlier this morning.

Lord Rafe:  Calling out as he helps Lady Katharine down from the gig.  “Mrs. P!?!  Kate and I are here for our pudding.”   He kisses Lady Katharine on her cheek as she alights from the gig.

Lady Katharine:  “Rafe stop!   Someone will see us.” She gently swats her husband’s arm playfully as she smiles shyly at him. 

Lord Rafe:  “Kate, they will only see a husband and wife being tender with each other.  There is no harm in that, my dear.”  He smiles broadly.  “Besides, we are in the middle of a forest.”  He gestures to the wide expanse of trees and shrubs around them.  She sheepishly shrugs her concession on that point.

Then Lord Rafe reaches into the gig wagon bed behind the seat and pulls out a large basket that is so overfilled with food supplies it requires both of his hands to carry it--and it strains even his considerable muscles.  So Lady Katharine lightly holds one of his arms as they walk to the front door.  Even walking in a forest it would not do for Lady Katharine to be seen to be walking unattended were she not to have a hold of his arm.  Mrs. Plunkett [(2) right] opens up the front door wiping her hands of flour on her apron, with a business like look on her face in the middle of her baking session.