All Hallow's Eve (16 page)

Caroline raised her brows higher on her forehead than Bingley had ever seen.
“
Charles, how
could
you?
Do you not wish me to marry well?
”

Bingley sighed.
“
What
has
your
returning to London to do with
whether or not
you
shall
marry well, Caroline?
”

Shocked that her brother had
clearly
not paid any attention to
all
that
she had been saying
when
they were alone
for the past two days
, she
answered
,
“
There are currently
two
eligible
gentlemen of high rank
, status,
and wealth
staying
under this very roof!
I will never have a better opportunity to find an acceptable marriage partner than I will whil
st
they are here—but
you
would send me away
instead
!
”

“
You
will not be spending time with them, Caroline;
I
w
ill
, and I do not plan
t
o push any of my friends in your direction
.
I will speak to
Leonard
about taking you and Louisa to London before I leave today
, so I suggest you begin packing.
N
ow, I am famished.
Let us begin the meal.
”
Bingley left the room before his sister could
protest further.
William was just passing the door in the hall, effectively putting an end to the conversation—or so
Bingley
thought.

Caroline attached herself to William’s arm.
“
Mr. Darcy!
I am certain that you would agree that an estate cannot be
well-
managed without a feminine influence.
There are certai
n things that
men
simply
cannot accomplish
!
”

William straightened his shoulders.
“
Miss Bingley, I think you forget that Pe
mberley has survived
without a
feminine influence
these past eleven years
since my mother passed
on
. O
r would you say that
it ha
s
not
been
done well enough?
”

Caroline paled considerably
.
Insulting
him
was not what she had in mind!
“
I did not... I only meant... Mr. Darcy, you have done splendidly, of course
, as did your father before you
.
But Charles does not have your experience
.
”

“
Which, as you
well
know, is the
only
reason that I
came
t
o
Netherfield, Miss Bingley—so that
your brother
can learn from my experience.
”

She plastered a less than convincing smile upon her face.
“
Yes, of course.
And now he is running you all ragged with
t
his
mysterious
business venture instead
of
allowing you to
spend time comfortably at home
.
”

“
Actually, it is
my
business that Bingley and the others are assisting with,
not
the other way around.
I am grateful for their support.
”

“
Yes
—
yes, of course.
”
Even Caroline could recognize when she had gotten herself
this
deeply into trouble, and she decided the best course of action at this time would be to remain quiet.
H
er companions felt blessed by this development.

~%~

“
I apologize for the delay, Mr. Bennet.
My sister Caroline is missing our company and at
tempted to hinder our departure,
”
Bingley
explained
whilst
the gentlemen removed their coats and cravats.

“
And just
when
will your sisters and brother be leaving the area, Bingley?
”
Mr. Bennet responded without hiding his displeasure.

“
I spoke to Hurst.
Their journey to London will take place tomorrow morning, sir.
”

“
That is good news, Bingley.
Now, gentlemen, I am sorry that we must train on a Sunday, but I believe deeply that there is no time to lose.
”

The young men bowed to Mr. Bennet.
Richard stayed behind to speak to the elder gentleman alone as the others walked toward their teachers who were engaged in fencing matches.
Jane’s bout with Mary ended before the gentlemen crossed the entire meadow, but the other match—Elizabeth against Kitty
and
Lydia—continued for some minutes.
William watched as Elizabeth scored touch after touch upon her two
adversaries.
Lydia stepped aside first, and a short time later Elizabeth scored the final point on Kitty.
After bowing to her opponents, Elizabeth blushed in confusion upon looking up and seeing that William was beaming with pride at her accomplishment.

The party broke up into their usual groups
. A
s Elizabeth traded her sabre for a practice waster, William observed,
“
I did not realize that you could fence.
”

Her back straightened, eyes flashing with anger.
“
There are many things you do not know about me, Mr. Darcy.
”

Confused at her reaction, William replied,
“
Again, I do not doubt your abilities, Miss Elizabeth.
It was a beautifully executed match.
”

“
We had little else to do whilst
waiting
,
”
s
he answered.

He nodded.
When he had first heard that they were
Soul Mate
s, William had wondered if, being two halves of the same soul, their characters might actually contradict each other in some ways, but it seemed the reverse was true.
More often than not
,
he found that their dispositions complemented each other perfectly, but at times their preferences seemed exactly the same.
He could predict that it would be a constant point of contention between them if Elizabeth found it necessary to be always
running late
, as many of the women of the
ton
seemed to do.
Every time he recognized how
alike they were
, it would bring to mind just how well they would do together.
Without thinking, William smiled broadly.

The spark of anger in Elizabeth’s eyes flared considerably.
“
You find amusement in inconveniencing others, Mr. Darcy?
”

Knowing how angry
he
would feel if he thought Elizabeth was laughing at his obvious discomfort, William explained,
“
Not at all, Miss Elizabeth; I only smiled at finding yet another similarity in our characters.
Not only do I detest being late, but having to wait for others grates upon my nerves as it seems to do yours.
I must apologize for the delay this afternoon.
We felt it to be in everyone’s best interest to share at least a portion of a meal with Bingley’s sisters and Hurst to avoid additional suspicion about our activities.
The ladies are unhappy with our spending so little time at Netherfield
,
and Hurst is rather surprised that we have not offered to include him
in our business
, nor are we even willing to
discuss
it
with him, as we normally would.
”
William added,
“
Please believe me when I say that I will endeavor not to repeat this
action
if at all possible.
”

Mr. Bennet and Richard approached the group.
Mr. Bennet suggested that the girls take a walk to the stream to refresh themselves since they had already discussed the subject
about which
he would speak to the gentlemen.

As the ladies walked away, their father began to speak.
“
It seems that we have a mind-reader amongst us.
Colonel Fitzwilliam has just introduced a subject which I was about to
bring up
.

“
Whilst
in British society and in uniform,
the Colonel
can carry a sword at all times without raising suspicion, but the remainder of us cannot.
Alt
hough I am aware that all of you gentlemen have lately been carrying daggers on your person
s
, I think we should make some time every day to train in the
proper
use of them.
As you all know, daggers are easily concealed within your clothing, readily accessible, and if the need arises, can be used more discreetly in public.
The disadvantage of this type of weapon is that close quarters are necessary to implement them properly, giving your enemy better access to your person.
Much of what we will focus on will be avoidance of possible deceptions that your opponent may use to make you feel safe when
in reality
you are not.

“
We will also eventually work on combat
without
weapons.
I assume you all have had experience with pugilistic arts at Cambridge?
”

The gentlemen nodded, and Mr. Bennet continued,
“
What you learn here will be very unlike what you were taught at university, of course.
”
With a glance in the direction that his daughters had taken, he raised one eyebrow and added,
“
I will most likely
excuse the ladies from
bare-handed combat
and
have you boys
practice
with each other
for those sessions
.
After the fuss
that
you
raised
about sword fighting
with
ladies, I cannot imagine that you would throw one of my daughters several feet onto a bed of leaves, nor would you be
anything less than mortified when
they did the same to you!

“
There is also the matter of my girls tending to use every means available to them to defend themselves
.
Yes, there is no sense in taking chances in this matter.
”
He nodded, a thoughtful expression upon his face.

“
For example, I am almost certain that t
he
young
man who,
only a few months ago
, attempted to make advances upon my Lizzy will
never
be able to father a child
. S
o you can see that I am e
specially
worried about
you,
Darcy
.
The experience of fighting a man in this manner might trigger some unwanted memories
,
causing her to lose sight of just who it is she is fighting.
I would not wish to put her through that, nor you.
I also must take into account that n
ot only will you be required to
provide
a male heir to comply with British society’s inheritance rules, but you
will
be expected to provide at least one female heir to comply with the
T
ribal
inheritance
s
as well!
The High
Priestess
before Lizzy, my mother, was the sixth child born to
her
parents
. My parents continued their efforts until Lizzy was born
.
I
f the Destined One is not born first,
Elizabeth will
have to make several attempts
,
”
Mr. Bennet stated matter-of-factly.