Chapter 34

The same evening and night at 74 Middleton Road - Monday/Tuesday, 14/15-June - [Sarah]

Robert turned off the engine and got out. I was going round to get my dress off the back seat when he grabbed my hand. He picked me up before I could say anything and carried me up the path to the front door. I hung on round his neck as he held me one handed and opened the door with the other. Then we were inside and I was sliding down through his arms to stand and be kissed. Being picked up so easily was remarkably erotic and he sensed my arousal.

"Not yet - you're starving - remember? Come on, I'll empty the car in a minute. Tell me about the origin of that as a folk custom - the carrying over the thresh-hold!"

He led me upstairs, to the guest-room.

"Here you are. You can camp here, have a bath and change. The rest of the house is off limits - not to spoil Martha's surprise. I'll bring your things - and a drink? There's champagne or wine or whatever."

"Champagne in the bath sounds really decadent - just the thing."

Soaking in the hot water was perfect - just what I needed. I was wallowing in luxury when Robert came back with a tray.

"Shampoo, champagne and nibbly things." He poured champagne, while I sampled Martha's nibbles. Delicious. He passed me a glass and raised his.

"Us?"

"Agreed - us! And Martha for the fizz and nibbles. Hey this is really good. I could get used to champagne."

"I've been brooding about carrying over the threshold. Bit hard on big girls and little men though. I can only think of the obvious - demonstration of virility - I find it very, very erotic - being picked up - in case you hadn't noticed. Do you know anything about thresholds?"

He shook his head. "No, it never occurred to me before. I've never been much interested in folk customs. Rather dismissed them. There's a lot of stuff on it at Leicester. They're always keen to point out that the quaint bits are often relics of much more serious traditions."

"Now, I've left your dress and things that go with it next door. I'm going for a shower and change. I'll come back for you in fifteen minutes."

Just time to finish my champagne and canapés and have a good wash. I began to worry about the state of my best bits. My whole vulva was swollen and very tender. Not in prime condition for my wedding night. I'd have to be a bit circumspect.

I got out of the bath and rinsed my hair. I was starting to dry it when Robert came in wearing a pair of trousers cut high to emphasise the hard flatness of his stomach, the trimness of buttocks and a loose silk shirt that enhanced the breadth of chest and shoulders, plain cream, but with a bright scarf at the neck, tied loosely. His hair and beard were soft from the shower. He looked quite alien - a figure from a wilder past time. I looked at him, frozen with an aching desire for him - not just sexually - just knowing that I couldn't live without him. We looked at one another, tense and then my tummy rumbled again.

"Food first - shall I dry your hair?" He held the drier and we worked on my hair. He kissed my neck and shoulders.

"I'll get things ready downstairs - we're in the little dining room - where we ate that first night?"

I finished my hair, brushed it up and pinned it with the combs. On with the silk knickers, then the dress. Wriggling to zip up. Shoes on. A quick look in the mirror. Gosh! Manage without any make up. Whee! Feet light on the stairs in these shoes. Into the little room at a gallop! Robert caught me and held me gently as he shut the door. We kissed - all so surprising, here alone with Robert - already lovers.

Soup and hot rolls to start with and an enormous napkin to protect my dress from harm. I pigged a second helping. Delicious.

"It seems unfair not to let Martha see you," Robert teased.

I got up and cleared the soup plates to the sideboard. I peeped under the covers and brought our fish course back to the table. We were sitting side-by-side - close enough to touch if we wanted.

"How long have you been planning this?"

"Three weeks. Well, thinking about it. I decided then that I had to trust Elizabeth. It wasn't quite that simple, though. I seem to have made things hard for both of us. But this meal - I rang Martha on Saturday."

I finished my second course and poured the remainder of the champagne. Robert was nearly finished. I wondered what was next. Robert was fussing with the candlestick and I realised that there was a small parcel on the table.

"For me - a present - hey!" I got the paper off and hesitated - a leather ring box?

Whoa girl!

I was suddenly fumble-fingered. The diamond glinted like ice in the candlelight, turning the soft light of the flame to a fierce blue spark. The other stones were softer, gentler, muting the light to a glow like the core of a fire. The dark gold setting was a slender band, but finely carved - chased, with a paler gold thread worked into the pattern.

I hesitated - unsure and Robert gently took the ring from the box. He reached across for my left hand and slipped the ring onto my third finger. There was a pressure across my knuckle and then it was securely sitting on my finger. He kissed the back of my hand and let it down onto the table.

"Will you wear it for me? Not to say I own you - just so you'll always know I love you. If I'm not there and you want to know, then that ring will be there."

I could feel tears in my eyes, I could barely speak.

"Robert! Yes. Of course. And I've nothing for you. Only me. Robert - love me now!" We were both standing, one of the chairs tipped back. Robert bent and picked me up - his arms against the back of my thighs and shoulders. I was lost again - that awful, wonderful surrender. He kissed me, quite gently. Then nudged open the door and carried me across the hall.

As he pushed open the sitting room door and carried me through, he said quietly "With this ring I thee wed. With my body I thee worship."

I couldn't speak, only tug at his hair with urgent fingers. He put me down, standing beside the fire. He closed the door, took a patterned cotton blanket from the back of the settee, spread it over the hearth-rug and threw some logs onto the fire. Then his hands were on my shoulders, turning me round, unzipping the dress. I shrugged and the silk lining slid down my body, making me shiver. I stepped out of the dress and turned, kicking off my shoes.

Robert was staring at me and I suddenly felt control return. I wanted to please Robert - to use my body as a gift, in exchange for the ring. I slid my fingers into the waistband of my knickers and slowly pushed them down, my hands raising goose bumps as they slid down my thighs. I watched his face and saw his eyes widen and the convulsion in his throat as he swallowed. I stepped out of my knickers, leg at a time and dropped them on the dress. Stepping forward, I stopped in front of him. Keeping my body a few inches away, I reached out and untied the scarf, pulling it slowly from around his neck and dropping it behind me on the pile of clothes. Slowly and carefully, I undid his shirt buttons. I had to concentrate hard to avoid touching him. He was tense and his breathing was uneven. My hands were a little unsteady and the heat in my loins was building. As I reached to undo his cuff buttons, I realised that I was blushing across my chest and arms. I felt his stomach muscles tighten as I reached down to undo the waist of his trousers. With a shock, I realised that the waist and fly were fastened with buttons, about a dozen of them. I began to doubt whether I could keep this up. After the topmost buttons, it was impossible not to feel his erect penis hard beneath the cloth. I had to look down to find the buttons. The tip of his penis was poking out above the waistband of his pants.

Don't spoil it and giggle, girl!

I managed to ignore it, even when, with an audible intake of breath, his buttocks clenched and a trickle of clear mucus flowed from the slit in his penis.

Fascinating! So much to discover!

At last, the final button was loosed. I carefully pulled his shirt loose from the top of his trousers, still avoiding touching him. I had to reach up to push it off his shoulders and start it sliding down his back. My nipples brushed his chest and he flinched as though burned.

Whee! This is fun!

I pulled the shirt sleeves down his arms and caught it as it came free, pulling it round his body and dropping it behind me. I stepped closer to him, staring up into his face, keeping mine as expressionless as I could manage. I could see the tension in his jaw and a spasm in the skin of his chest.

Now for the difficult bit!

I glanced down, to get my bearings and then looked back into his face. No hope of doing the next bit without touching him - the trousers were just too tight for that. I had to stand against him to slide my hands inside the waistband of his trousers. I pushed my hands down over his hips, feeling the trousers slide with them.

More silk linings! These clothes are all made to be taken off!

Slowly, slowly I slid my hands down his thighs, in control now, concentrating so hard that my own desire was forgotten. I felt the muscles of his thighs tauten and tremble as my fingers slid over them. His penis was free of his pants now and it touched my tummy as it fell forward. Robert closed his eyes and sobbed.

Can I really be doing this? With Robert?

I had to kneel to remove his clothes and shoes as he lifted each foot in turn. I dragged them out of the way.

Forgive me, Tony!

I stood up as slowly as I could, calf muscles creaking with the strain, remembering ballet classes as a little girl. I let my lips and nipples brush his thighs, his penis, stomach and chest.

With my body I thee worship.

I put my hands up and laid them lightly on his shoulders. As slowly as my muscles could manage, I slid them down his chest. There was hair and then smooth skin beneath my palms. Down, slowly over his waist and hips, down the outside of thighs. Then back up the front of his thighs until I reached his penis.

Quick glance down. Has that really been inside me? No wonder things are tender!

I locked my fingers together on top of his penis, thumbs beneath, my palms squeezing the shaft. So hard and heavy it was difficult to believe that it wasn't filled with something more substantial than flesh and blood. Hot with his heart's blood, pumping. I looked at his face again as I moved my locked hands slowly back and forth on his penis, feeling the stiff hair at its base and the swollen tip. His eyes were wide, staring into mine, his lips parted and his breathing became excited. His hips were moving, trying to increase the pace, but I resisted. He was trembling by this time and then his eyes closed, opened, closed again. He gave a great groan, expelling all the breath from his lungs. Amazingly, I felt his penis swell even more and there was a spurt of hot semen across my body. I pushed myself hard against him, moving my hands faster now. He groaned again and again, the wetness between our bodies spreading, his penis pressing hard against my tummy. I took my hands away when his spasms ceased. He was looking at me, his face serious, breathing deeply. I stepped away from him to look at his body and suddenly my desire overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes and felt myself swaying before he stepped forward to put an arm round me, the hand cupping my breast. I was turned a little away from him, leaning against him. He laid his free hand on my tummy, smearing the semen over my pubic hair as he slid his hand downward. I moved my feet enough so my thighs parted to greet his fingers. Then they were on my clitoris, rubbing round and round. I couldn't keep quiet now - I was gasping as each ripple of stimulation spread beneath his fingers. The sensation heightened rapidly, half pain, half ecstasy. And then that powerful contraction deep within, dimming my consciousness. My voice seemed to be crying from a distance, echoing. I fell slowly, Robert's arm lowering me onto the rug in front of the fire, his hand still between my legs.

"Stop! Stop! Oh! Please. No more!" The ecstatic agony ceased and laughter was bubbling up.

We lay with our arms round each other laughing and kissing. Taking it in turns to roast in the heat from the fire. At last we lay quietly and I felt my eyelids flicker shut. With an enormous effort, I sat up and leaned cross-legged against the settee. Robert lay on his front, propped up on his elbows looking up at me as I examined the ring. I'd never seen anything like it. The design engraved on the narrow gold band was an intricate chase of animals - stylised deer and dogs - impossible to etch in such a small compass without magnifying glass and modern tools, but apparently much older.

"This must pre-date lenses - fifteenth century? But not English - French perhaps. And the original stones would have been less beautiful than these - simple, domestic stones. But this diamond must be modern - well last century - Indian? It's not a very modern way of cutting, is it? It's very extravagant. But these other stones are old, aren't they? What are they, rubies? No. Don't know. They must nearly match my eyes?"

He nodded, encouraging. "Which means you got this specially for me?"

Another nod. "But that means you must have known for ages - and it fits my finger, perfectly. How did you know?"

He seemed distracted and I followed the direction of his stare - straight between my legs!

"Robert! I refuse to change my sitting habits - you'll just have to look the other way if it distracts you. Now about the ring?"

"I was just worrying about you. You look swollen. Sore?"

"Rather. I was only thinking that it's surprising its not worse, considering the size of you. That really does come as a shock."

"That's the only size it comes in, I'm afraid. Smaller than a baby."

"Robert! I've no intention of having a baby..." Count on my fingers. "... four times in about as many hours."

"Well, we can make love without making things worse - in fact, that was wonderful, memorable - and that was just getting undressed! Is your twiddly bit still OK?"

"My what!"

"Your clitoris."

"Twiddly bit indeed! Yes it is. You've got very gentle fingers, considering. Now about the ring!"

"Not much more to say - you know almost as much as me. I'll tell you about it over the next course - good job Martha left us a cold one! How did she know! Do you want to get dressed?"

"No. I shall need a bath before I go anywhere near that dress. Go and find some dressing gowns while I rescue our clothes - its warm enough down here."

We were settled to a cold cheese and asparagus soufflé, starting on a bottle of wine when Robert continued.

"I think it may not be as old as fifteenth century - maybe early to mid sixteenth? But I really don't know. And it was almost certainly done by naked eye with a simple hand held engraving tool. If you look at the pale gold decoration under a microscope, you can see that it's gold wire that's been hammered with a tiny punch to flatten it and cold weld to the underlying gold. Thousands of tiny punch marks. Exquisite. There's no provenance for it. I found it in an antique shop, filthy and in a box of oddments for a pound each. I gave the dealer more for it in the hope he might be encouraged to remember where he got it. But he'd bought it at a sale and the trail went cold. I suspect that some Victorian squire dug it up or found it in an attic. I should think that the stones had gone long ago. I've seen a couple of other rings like it and reasonably reliably attributed to the early sixteenth century - you were right about France. Spot on about the stones too. I can't find out much about the tawny stones - I bought them in Portugal, years ago because I liked them - possibly rubies - possibly from Brazil - possibly seventeenth century - but pretty enough to match your pretty eyes. I'm proud of you - that was a bravura performance - you must tell me how you did it. And as to the mechanics - simple really. I had the ring and the red stones - I've got a box of treasures - oddments like that. The jeweller had the diamond - Pat Emmott out at West Park - I've known him a long time - he's an antiquarian - lots of interesting stuff. The diamond is Indian - brought back by an East India Company general around the time of the mutiny and been in family hands for years - cut in India but apparently never mounted, Pat's writing it down for you. And he set the stones on Saturday and resized the ring. Alice told me your finger size - that was the only bit of luck - that I guessed she'd done your hair and your nails. She reckons she can judge to half a size. So, well done Sarah."

"Robert. What can I say? Thank you. It's the best present you could have given me. Can I wear it? In public?"

"Of course - I feel I want the world to know - I love Sarah and she loves me. I just hope you don't get any bad feeling. We must organise that party. Buy off any opposition, so to speak."

I was foraging on the hot plate. "Apricot and marzipan tart, or cheese."

"Not for me. I'll make tea, or are you happy on wine."

"Seems a pity to leave half a bottle. Tea later. Can I have my pudding by the fire?"

We turned the hot plate off, blew out the candles and decamped to the settee by the fire.

Full of food, warm and content, I curled up against Robert, sharing his glass.

"Can this be real? I've never been so happy."

"I hope so - how did you know so much about the ring?"

"Good memory - I've seen that design before in a book of photographs - French author - in the library - I could lay my hand on it?"

"Please - I'd like to see it."

"We learned a lot about gems on the antiquities summer school last year. I'm a fraud really - good memory and ability to concentrate." Robert's hand tightened in my hair, pulling my face against him.

"That goes a long, long way. But you're not afraid to think - to think the unthinkable if you need. You can go places that other people can't - like me, but you've got an academic discipline that I'll never have. I hope I can keep up with you!"