All Hallow's Eve (31 page)

“
Our
mother and Mary believe that after the
occurrence
that we expect to take place in the near future, th
e
s
e
behaviour
s
will no longer be necessary
,
and
our family
will be able to return their comportment to their true natures. Naturally, this alteration will have to take place
over a period of time
as well.

“
Gentlemen
, d
uring th
e
interval
leading up to this anticipated event, my sisters may
act in a manner which may shock you
.
P
lease keep in mind everything I have
just
told you
before
judging them for their actions.
They
behave this
way
only
because they know how
important their contributions
may
be to
ward
protecting Lizzy.
It may not seem obvious, but they are very much aware of the
potential
consequences
of what they do
.
Kitty and Lydia
depend on
us
all to stop
matters
from
progressing
too far
.
You will often see Elizabeth and
me
s
colding them for their
behaviour
. I
f
you
gentlemen
intervene
in the same way that you would if a sister or
a
cousin were acting in such a manner
—
without
challenging
anyone
to a du
e
l, of course—
all will be well
.
”

“
It is a very dangerous game those young ladies are playing!
I do not like it.
”
Richard exclaimed angrily.
“
Why do you not leave the business of gathering information to me?
”

“
Alt
hough
I do not like it either
, we are all quite aware that it is
not
a game
,
”
Elizabeth spoke up.
“
M
y mother
has
recently
reminded
me
that
if they stop before they gather
all
the information they s
eek, it will be as if the entire family has made these sacrifices for nothing
;
the past two years would have been wasted
.
I will
not
allow
that
to
happen
, g
entlemen
!
”

~%~

As the
distance between
houses
along the road
became shorter
, signaling that they would soon
enter the village, the youngest Bennets could be heard speaking
loudly
of their
intention to seek out certain
members of
the militia
.
A
pparently,
they were very impressed with the way
a
red coat
enhanced
a man
’s appearance
.

Immediately after hearing the statement,
Elizabeth noticed that
Richard turned an inquiring eye on Mary
, as if to
discern
Mary’s
opinion of
what the younger
girls
had
declared
.
Had
Elizabeth’s
mind been so occupied with her
own
concerns that she did not notice
a
blossoming
romance
between
Mary and Richard
?
She decided to keep a closer watch on the couple.

Lord Reginald
could not let
an
opportunity
t
o teas
e
his brother
pass by
without comment.
He
chuckled and slapped Richard
’s red-clad
shoulder.
“
Hear that, Brother?
I
t is only the
colour
of your coat that
attracts
all th
e
ladies in Town,
not
your
magnificent
charm
or
sparkling
wit!
”

“
Reginald,
please believe me
when I say that
I
have no illusions about
exactly
what the ladies of the
ton
are after when they flirt with me
,
”
Richard responded, his voice
tinged
with
a
bitter
edge
.
“
T
hey wish to become friends with me so that they can get one step closer to
you
and Darcy
.
T
hough it does them no harm to be seen with the son of an earl, t
hey have no true
use for
a
second
son when they are surrounded by much more eligible gentlemen.
Mark my works,
once your engagement
s are
announced—or perhaps not until
after y
our wedding
s
have taken place and
you both are
proven
to be
‘off the market’
—I will
cease to b
e
an
object of
interest
to any of them.
”
After the words rolled off his tongue,
Richard was surprised by
the
candor
of his own speech, and he could see his brother and cousin were thinking
the same
.
Alt
hough it had been refreshing to
be expected to
express his true
opinions
openly
among trusted
T
ribe members
, he would have to take care
to be more careful of what he said
in public.

Mary’s
concerned
voice broke through his thoughts.
“
You have much more to offer than being the son
of a
member of the
peer
age
or
appear
ing to be handsome
in
uniform
, Richard.
The ladies of your acquaintance must be fools not to recognize
your true worth
!
”

Richard turned toward her
,
and their eyes locked for a moment before he
murmured
,
“
Thank you.
”

Mary returned her
eyes
to her book and dropped back a few paces once again, but from Elizabeth’s point of view she could see that her sister’s
colour
had risen
significantly.
P
ress
ing
her lip
s together
to prevent herself from smiling
, Elizabeth thought,
Yes,
most definitely
!
T
here is something
developing
between them!

“
You see it, too?
”
William asked
in a tone meant only for her ears
.

Elizabeth looked up quickly, about to deny knowledge of what he meant
by his question
, but she stopped herself.
There was no sense in hiding
her thoughts
from
him
.
“
I
was not aware of
it before now.
”

William smiled and p
laced his hand upon
hers, which was
rest
ing
on his arm.
“
I think we can credit that to our being distracted.
”
He looked
ahead
at his friend
and her elder sister.
As was usual when the group took a walk, the
couple was
oblivious to all that was going on around them
.
“
I
t would not surprise me to learn that Bingley and Jane have not perceived it at all.
”

She
tittered.
“
They
have been
rather absorbed by
another
subject.
”

He grinned
widely
and
seemed about
to respond
,
but
his attention was drawn to
Kitty and Lydia
as they
call
ed
out to an officer and
dashed
across the road
to catch up to the man and his companion
.

~%~

Since
he had
been in hiding
during his previous visit to
Meryton,
immediately
after complet
ing
the necessary paperwork to purchase his lieutenancy in the militia,
Wickham
demanded that Denny give him a thorough tour of the village
s
o that he would have
no need
to feign ignorance of where everything was.

As they strolled down the main street of the village, Denny’s blood ran cold when he
spied
a certain smile on his companion’s face. He recognized that smirk all too well—the one that Wickham displayed only
when
he
had
selected
the
next victim
to
satisfy his lust
.

Following Wickham’s gaze, Denny felt genuinely ill when he saw
it was
the Bennet ladies
that had caught Wickham’s eye.
The sisters were on
the opposite side of the street
, the elder three trailing behind as the youngest two waved and called his name.

Every time he
stood by and watched
Wickham deceive another young lady, Denny could not help but feel as guilty as
if he had done it himself.
Kitty and Lydia Bennet might be unabashed flirts, but they were obviously innocents and did not deserve the consequences of being taken in by Wickham’s charms.
In regards to
the eldest
sister
—the lovely, graceful, and angelic Jane Bennet—though he could never hope to be worthy of her notice
and did not think her naive enough to fall under Wickham’s spell
, he knew he would not be able to live with himself if Wickham should smear
her
reputation by ruining her sisters!

He sighed in relief when he realized
that
since
today the Bennets were escorted by several gentlemen, Wickham would
more than likely
behave himself.

Denny was weary of being exploited by this wicked man! But until he saw one of the girls
to be
in real danger,
he decided to
play along in his usual manner.
Doing so
would give him time to think of how to warn the ladies about his
associate
without destroying his own future in the process!

~%~

Elizabeth
watched
as
her
youngest
sisters rush
ed
across the road
and t
he men
they had
been pursuing
stop
ped
to wait for
them.
She
recognized
one
as Lieutenant Denny
—
a man
who
, through her sisters’ previous intelligence,
she considered
“
safe.
”