The next days, they all accompanied her wherever she went, Patrick groomed Dennis to perfection and watched him to see when he needed his rest, while Agnes introduced him to all her readers and acquaintances. No-one seemed to notice he was not really of their own class, he was so elegant, well-spoken and gentle that Agnes caught more than one admiring look, and received countless compliments on her choice.
'We thought you were going to stay alone forever, Mrs Beauchamp,' one lady spoke all their thoughts, 'but now we see you were just waiting for the right man. Your late husband was such a superior man, it must have been difficult comparing every suitor with him.'
'It was, Mrs Lyttelton, you are so right.'
'You never had any children with Mr Beauchamp, did you? Well, you're still young, and Mr Parker as much so, I just hope you will not be distracted from your writing by all the little voices that may sound in your house when you get married, we all love your work so much!'
Well, that was rather nice, though not very likely. With all the men Agnes had had since her husband's decease, it was rather obvious to herself and those close to her that the inability to have children was hers, not Frederick's. It would take a miracle to get her with child, and though Agnes sometimes rued her infertility, after seven years of childlessness in marriage, and three years of fucking five different men and staying barren, she had gotten used to the idea that she would most likely grow old without seeing children and grandchildren grow up.
She cared, of course, but she had her little family and her work, and had rarely felt lonely even before Dennis came into her life.
Dennis was incredibly glad to be out and about. He had his spells of dizziness, but he generally took things easy, establishing a certain character straight away, inadvertently preventing any suspicion of his being a former army man from occurring to anyone except his doctor. He watched Agnes give little lectures about her books, socialized with her readers, discussed those books in decent terms, as if they were not stuffed from cover to cover with explicit sexual acts.
He even went to restaurants and plays with her, enjoying himself hugely, and snuggling against his beloved in the dark if he felt tired or overstimulated.
His past still visited regularly, but being active did help to relegate his memories to where they belonged, forgetfulness, and he found a boundless appetite for all expressions of culture in himself. Entertainment was great, but tragedies and operas were better, concerts, galleries with art, he devoured it as much as his physical strength would allow.
Slowly, he tried to become a bit more active in their love-life as well, the boundaries between the two relationships in their house had faded for a while, with Patrick joining Guy and Agnes in their escapades, and Dennis watching with heat, of course getting his own release from either one of the others.
Agnes learned a lot about men in those sessions, and Dennis learned exactly where his boundaries were when making love to a man, even before he was able to participate.
Bit by bit he managed to fuck Agnes for a few minutes, but only after one of the others had nearly sated her, for he didn't last very long, yet. It was not enough to satisfy his own need for activity, but the dizzy spells he had when he overstrained taught him quickly to restrain himself a little longer.
They spent two more weeks in London, surprisingly enjoyable considering the events, Agnes even managed to convince Dennis to order riding boots and have some really good suits made, though the poor tailor kept trying to sell him garments suitable for a dandy, not his usual style.
Dennis stuck to his own wishes, and got what he wanted, though standing still for measurements was more difficult than he had ever imagined.
'Did you know standing still is such hard work, Agnes?' he asked her when they drove home in a cab, 'I seriously dare state it was the hardest thing I did the last week.'
Agnes of course smiled at him, she always did, and replied sweetly, 'I am not surprised, Dennis. As a little girl I used to sing in a choir, and it was very difficult for me to stand still. And I could smuggle because I was in the second row, you had to stay completely still for the measurements. Which is why I always refused to model for Charles, though I admired his work.'
Against the doctor's advice, they left for London after their planned three weeks.
'It is too much strain for the gentleman after such a blow. I beseech you to think the better of it and stay for two more weeks at least, he should not have been up and about at all, I cannot guarantee his lasting recovery if he doesn't keep from straining himself.'
Though he didn't have the least inclination to actually do what the doctor advised, the man was probably right, and Dennis admitted as much.
'I'm sure you're right, doctor, but I've never been the type to sit still. The journey to come here wasn't particularly tiring, and once we're back in the country there will be much fewer temptations to be active, I'll just laze about in the haystack, enjoying the sunshine.
I've this fear of being left alone, and it will be much reduced at the manor.'
The doctor gave up, of course, he had done his job.
But Dennis was also right, the trip wasn't exciting, their train-carriage was quiet and he slept through most of the journey.
When they arrived, they hired a coach to take them back to the manor, and Dennis slept through most of that journey, too. Arriving late at night, they went to bed immediately, and the next morning dawned bright and sunny.
Lying in their own bed in each other's arms was such a blessing, Dennis couldn't wait for their quiet life to resume its course, it was as if he wasn't rather disabled here.
But his first attempt to make love to Agnes as if nothing had happened didn't work out as he had planned, it started all right, with his urging her to sit on his face to finally let him taste her pussy again, which worked rather well. There was no strain in merely licking her greedily, his head and neck were supported by a thick pillow, and he relished the feel of her intensely soft flesh and her most intimate taste.
One climax was not enough, he wanted more of her, and slowly his ardour rose beyond control. When she came the second time, and wanted to take his dick to give him a return of the bliss, he pushed her back to the bed gently, and spread her legs resolutely, almost overcome with heat. Agnes did not protest, but she was clearly in doubt whether he should do this already, still, he was showing such lust, it couldn't be healthy to keep that pent up either.
As he plunged in happily, all seemed well, Agnes groaned with satisfaction to have him back to himself, but it was too early. For his heat drove him to go too far, he pumped with such fervour after taking things very easy for three weeks, the first few minutes he seemed fine, but then he got nauseous and started seeing spots, and had to give up.
Soon he was lying in Agnes' arms, still dizzy and nauseous, with a blinding headache. He couldn't see her face, everything was spinning, and she asked with concern, 'Oh Dennis, my love, are you all right?'
'No I'm not,' he managed to croak, 'careful, I may be sick, need a painkiller.'
He hoped she'd get the message and keep him a little upright and very still, or he'd vomit all over the bed. The headache left him unable to think or do anything but moan softly.
Strong hands held him even straighter, very slowly, careful not to make him nauseous. Then a hand offered him a spoon to his lips, and Dennis slowly opened his mouth to take the powder. It was horribly sour, and a glass touched his lips to help him swallow it with a sip of water.
Still blinded by the headache, he gave himself up to Agnes' loving arms, and she gently and very unobtrusively stroked him until the headache receded a little and his vision cleared.
