All Hallow's Eve (14 page)

Elizabeth
laughed,
recovering
some
of her usual
colo
u
r.
“
I doubt that it will be that simple.
She seems the suspicious type
and not one to willingly follow another’s directi
on without knowing the reason
behind it
.
”

“
Do not worry yourself about these details—allow Bingley to take care of his sister.
”

“
I predict we will be renewing this conversation in several days, and I shall attempt to refrain from saying that I told you so.
”
She could not completely
hold back
her smile.
“
I will allow you to come for me in the morning, Mr. Darcy.
Meet me at the gate behind the house.
I know of a path that we can use where there is little chance of
our
being observed.
”

He closed his eyes momentarily as
his
relief
was displayed
on
his features.
“
Thank you, Miss Elizabeth.
”

C
hapter 4

Nov
ember
3
, 1811

Elizabeth
met
William
at the gate as planned.
As she approached
, she gesture
d
for him to be
silent while
gla
ncing behind her at the kitchen
wh
ere
the
soft glow of candlelight could be seen
through
the window
. She
smiled a little
as she
unwrapped
the
muffins
that
had
been
pilfered from the
cooling table
on her way out th
e kitchen
door
,
offering
him one
that was
still warm from the oven,
thereby
informing
William
that the servants at Longbourn had
long since begu
n their day
.
They walked to the meadow
in comfortable silence
, the moon still
close
enough to
being full to
light their way
,
the only sound
being
the
crunch
of
fallen
leaves underfoot
accompanied by
the occasional hoot from an owl that seemed always close by, perhaps even following them
.

As they moved through the trees that surrounded he
r
meadow, Elizabeth’s skirt caught on a sticker bush.
A
fter requesting permission,
William
assist
ed her
in freeing
the cloth
from the
thorns that were
trap
ping her there
,
and
it occurred to
William
that she would most likely wish to remove her dress
and don trousers
on
ce they arrived in the clearing.
Distracted by the thought of how
thankful
he was
for the
trees blocking the
majority of the
light of the
rising sun
,
in turn
hiding his reaction to th
e
thought
of Elizabeth undressing
,
a
moment
later
he realized that
whil
st
her
skirt was
still
caught on
the bush, Elizabeth
was no longer
in it
.
He
straightened
and looked around
quickly
in confusion as he heard
a stifled giggle
behind him.
Turning
quickly
toward
t
he
sound
, he saw that she was already wearing trousers.

At his shocked mien—for he knew it would have been impossible for
him
to dress
himself as
quickly
as she had seemed to
have
accomplish
ed
—
Elizabeth
broke into
laughter
.
“
I
was wearing
the trousers
under
my
skirt, Mr. Darcy!
The ladies in my family
have found it necessary to fashion a few skirts that fasten at the waist and can be worn with a blouse
over
trousers.
”

He nodded and
turned his back to her,
instantly tr
ying his best
to concentrate on
the task of freeing the material from the branches
to hide his mos
t recent reaction to the knowledge
that
Elizabeth
had literally
undress
ed whil
st
he
had
held her skirt in his hands!
William
sighed—having so little control over his physical response to Elizabeth
w
ould become
mortifying
if he was not
able to discipline himself
!

The skirt
at last
came free and the two moved
to where the
training
weapons were stored.
William
lifted a few logs off the pile that hid them. Elizabeth
removed two wasters, and
he
followed her
int
o the clearing.
After they both had discarded their coats, Elizabeth said,
“
Since the way that you learn best
seems to be
by imitation, I will take you through a number of
offensive
moves one after the other.
I would
then
like you to try to imitate what I have done.
”
Elizabeth
further
directed
him
as he readied his
stance
.
S
he did not
immediately
begin
, i
nstead
she lowered
her waster
and
,
sheathing it,
she
moved toward
s
him.

“
Since y
ou did not
behave this way
yesterday,
sir,
I must assume that y
ou
are
overly
tired this morning
.
”
Elizabeth pressed her lips together to hold back a smile.
“
Please remember, t
his is not fencing, Mr. Darcy
;
w
h
en
you hold this type of sword, y
our arms must be held in a different po
sition in relation to your body.
”

Elizabeth took hold of his upper arm with both hands, intending to move it into the correct position, but as she touched the powerful muscles though the thin cloth of his lawn shirt, a sudden thrill coursed through her, and she shivered.
As their eyes locked, she could not stop
a deep
blush
from spreading over every inch of her skin.
Alt
hough her first though
t was to move away from the man
and
escape
the unexpected and confusing sensations that
physical
contact
with William
had
created
within her, she found that she could not.

H
ad
there
ever been any
question
in William’s mind that those from the Otherworld had been correct
in saying that Elizabeth was his
Soul Mate
, he
would
doubt
no longer
.
N
ever
before had he
felt
s
o
complete
as he did when he was with
her, even more so at having her so close to him
.
Since the first moment he had laid eyes upon her, she had been his constant companion
—
in
his thoughts whenever she was not actually present
. Even
before he
had come
upon her on All Hallow
’
s Eve, he
now
recognized that he had
had
every intention of
arranging
it so that
he would
always
have her by his
side
.
H
e wanted so very much
from her
,
almost as much as he wanted to give
to
her.

William knew that i
f she continued to look at him in th
e
way
she did at this moment
, he might not be able to stop himself from the giving and the
taking, even though h
e
well
knew that she had no idea what her look
or
her touch did to him.

C
los
ing
his eyes
, William made
an effort to break the trance
that
he seemed to slip into whenever she was near him.
Her touch had caused his heart to race as it had never done before
,
and
the way she held herself
made him
feel
as if
she would welcome any advances that he might make.

After what he
had
heard her say the other night, he was certain that he must be see
ing only what he wished to see
!
K
nowing that he
had misread her looks many times in the past
,
h
e
absolutely
refused to do so again. It was imperative that he keep himself from acting on the almost overwhelming desire to take Elizabeth
into his arms
—
f
or
if he did,
he might lose her forever.
But he found that by closing his eyes, he
only
became more aware of her
heavenly scent and
the
gentle pressure
of her hands
on
his arm.
It must be his imagination that
s
he seemed to be caressing him.
H
e opened
his eyes
and looked away from her,
lest he become lost to these sensations
.

Think, man!
Think of something to say!
William
cleared his throat before asking,
“
Are these methods of fighting a
T
ribal tradition or specifically your father’s?
”

When he received no answer, he looked at Elizabeth
.
H
er eyes were directed towards his neck
, and she was breathing more quickly than usual
.

As a result
of a discussion with Mr. Bennet
when
the gentlemen were departing the previous evening
,
this
had been the first time
that
he had appeared before her without a
cravat
.
William
now wondered if listening to her father had been a mistake
—
perhaps
he was
offending
her
?

William
said,
“
I apologize, Miss Elizabeth.
Would you feel more comfortable if I wore a neck cloth?
I have it with me
, but
your father suggested we not wear them during training…
”
he broke off and
moaned internally as
Elizabeth
’s
heightened
colo
u
r caused his heart rate to increase further
.