All Hallow's Eve (59 page)

Seeing
Lydia was about to insist
that he
did
,
Elizabeth stepped forward and wrapped her arm around
her youngest sister’s
waist, easing her toward the door. “We shall send word
whether
or not
we will
join you
. Do not let us keep you from
your repose and preparations
.”

Elizabeth hid a smile
when
she noticed
George watch
ing
Lydia
leave the room
.

George
held his hand out in a gesture that invited his guests to take a seat
.
Aft
er they did so, he joined them.
The
tea
cup
in his lap
absorb
ed
his full attention.

The three sat in silence for a few moments before George said, “I – I apologize, Mrs. Darcy, for all the trouble I have caused you.”

“Mr. Wickham, I do understand that it was not you who
arranged to have me kidnapped
, nor were you responsible for any
thing
th
at the
Olc
has done these past years
.”

“As do I, George
,
” William added.

H
e glanced at them both and
looked away
again
.
“I
thank you for your kindness
, but I
was not only referring to
what
that
T
hing
did
.
Your sister
mentioned
that you
, Mrs. Darcy,
have
been imposed upon by
my
memories.
”
George closed his eyes.
“I
regret
w
hat you must endure.
I heard the
M
onster’s
thoughts, and sometimes
it
spoke
—
or
I should say
it
thought
directly to me.
I do not believe I will ever forget all
that
it
said.”
He looked at William. “I know
of
what
Cher-nog
did to you
both
.
I – I am sorry.”

Elizabeth
responded
,
“From what I can tell,
you
did
not
a
c
quire the memories of
it
s past possessions.”

George shook his head.
“It
would
think
about
what others
had suffer
ed
as
a
sort of punishment
to me
.
Actually,
I have met
a few
of them.
Cher-nog
used what
it
knew about them to garner services
from them
—to gain
favour
s so that
it
could
achi
e
ve
it
s goals more easily
.
” George’s gaze snapped up
.
H
is eyes, wide with sudden understanding,
locked
with Elizabeth
’s
.
“
P
lease
,
tell me that
that
C
reature’s
memories
have not been forced upon you
!
”

Elizabeth
nodded
.
“I can only assume that I
now
have the
memories of
all
those ever possessed by the
Olc
.”
William took his wife’s hand
and held it firmly
.

“I would not wish such a thing on my worst enemy
;
especially not
upon
a
lady
!”
Revulsion overtook
his
features. “I can only hope that there are none worse than
those
it
showed me!”

Elizabeth
stared at the flooring for some time before her
gaze returned to
meet
George
’s
.
“Possessing
you
,
becoming
a young boy who had access to the main house at Pemberley guaranteed that
it
would not be forced to change bodies often in order to
remain near the S
word
of the
Soul Mate
.
Your
personality is very different
from
those
it
usually chose, which
I believe
accounts for
your
memories
being
so
clear.
”

“His are
also the most recent
,
”
William stated. “
Elizabeth,
could it be th
at the memories will fade with time?”

“I cannot be certain—but I am attempting to be optimistic
. I do
hope
that they will.”

Chapter
21

“
The men
told us that you left the cottage with Wickham in tow.
May I ask where he is
at present
?”

Failing to recall
that the magistrate would expect to obtain statements from those present
during the events that
had
t
aken
place
at the cottage
the
previous evening
,
none in the Netherfield party
had yet developed a
n “official”
account.
Mr. Harper wished to
hear
Elizabeth’s
testimony
first, and she had requested her husband and father
be
presen
t
during
the
interview
.

Unable to tell him that the
Olc
had been forced
to return
to the Otherworld, Mr. Bennet
directed a pointed look at
William and Elizabeth, and then
quickly voiced a half-truth, “The mastermind of the plot to kidnap my daughter ha
s
fled, Harper.
We are hoping never to
meet
the F
iend again.
”

Elizabeth interjected,
“
Mr. Harper
, m
ust we
speak of it
?
I would rather not
discuss
the experience.
”

“
As magistrate, I must advise
that you must
, Miss
Eliz
—
excuse
me, Mrs. Darcy
.
” Mr. Harper hesitated
.
N
oting the lady’s drawn appearance
, he did not wish to push her too hard, but he would need this information
. “A
s
a
friend
of the family
, I will
tell you
that m
ost of the men
had
arrest
orders
pending
for
previous
crimes
.
I am certain that
t
hey will
s
pend
many
years in jail on those
charges
, and so there would not be as
great
a need for your statement
.
However,
one man
has no previous record...
a Julian Clement.
Therefore, you can plainly see that
I
do
require
your statement in order to press charges
, especially
against
him
.
I
do apologize, Mrs. Darcy.
”

“
In that case,
Mr. Harper, I can see
only
that
there is
no
need to take statements from any of
our party
.
I have no intention
of
pressing charges
against Mr. Clement
,
” Elizabeth declared.

Stupefied, Mr. Harper stuttered out, “But
,
Mrs. Darcy
!
H
e has
confessed
!
”

William interrupted.
“Mr. Harper, I am certain that my wife has her reasons.
”

“
Thank you for your time
, Harper
.”
Obviously dismissing the man, Mr. Bennet placed his hand on Mr. Harper’s shoulder and began to
usher
him into the hall. “I have been wondering
—
did
you ever
solve the problem of irrigati
o
n
on
the west field of your
estate
...”

The door closed behind them, leaving Elizabeth and William alone in the drawing room.

William turned to his
wife. “Elizabeth
?
”

“
While at the cottage,
Julian did his best to make me comfortable and even risked his own safety to protect me from one of the other men.
I
know why
he
was there, William.” Elizabeth tapped her temple. “
The
Olc
was in need of
a decent, but desperate, man that
it
could trust not to harm me
in any way
.
Cher-nog
made
Julian a
n offer that he could not refuse.
T
he
only way to protect his
dependent
niece
from
it’s
...”
s
he hesitated
, blushing
,
“...
desires
...
was to participate in the kidnappings.
Julian told me that he was going to
use
his share of the ransom
to
take his niece to the country, where they would
both
find honest work.
”
She
paused
,
h
o
ld
ing
his gaze
. “I have been thinking
,
putting myself in his place.
To what lengths would
I
have gone to protect one of my sisters from
such
e
vil?”

“You would not have done something
like kidnapping
, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I am not certain that
I would not
.
If I had been promised that no one would be harmed
,
and
I
had no money to take
my sister
away
to somewhere safe
from the
Olc
, would I have done
it
?”
She took his hand
in hers
. “
Think, William. N
o matter our intentions, how much of what
we
have
done in the past few days was against the law
s of England
?”

~%~

Mr. Bennet
opened the door
to
the sitting room attached to h
is wife’s bedchamber.
His daughter’s
disheveled
appearance
caused him concern. “Mary
?”

“I must speak to
M
other at once!”

“Come in, come in.”
He stepped aside
as
Mary rushed past him.

Jane and Mrs. Bennet were sitting at a table, going through the book they had retrieved from Longbourn.
Her mother’s
greeting was silenced
at seeing
Mary’s
expression
.
“What is it, child?”

“
Mama!
I
la
y
down to rest before
dressing for
dinner and
fell asleep...
T
hey came to me...
.
” She held out a scrap of paper. “We must make haste!
It is essential that
Lizzy
drink this
before
darkness
sets
in
,
or she will be
overcome by
the memories that have been forced upon her
.
George must take this as well, but
the timing
of the first dose
is not as vital as it is to Lizzy.
”

Mrs. Bennet looked over the
list
.
“I see what they have in mind.”
Motioning to the book on the table, she said,
“
After what Elizabeth mentioned to us last night
about retaining memories
,
Jane and I
have spent the day devising
a
similar
brew
, but
we
would
have taken too long to come up with
th
e correct
formulation
.
”
She nodded
towards the paper
. “
This
can be
easily done;
these
ingredients
are
all
available
at Longbourn.
C
all for the carriage
, Thomas.
”

“
No,
the sun will set in little more than an hour.
You have not thought of the time it would take to harness the team.
I
t will be quicker
for me to go
on
horseback
,
” Mr. Bennet stated, rushing
away
from the window.
“Give me the list, my dear.
I will go at once and bring them to you.”
Taking the
paper
, h
e was gone
i
n
an
instant.

“
It is lucky that you napped before the sun set on this day, Mary!
I will
inform
Elizabeth
while you
complete your preparations for the evening meal
.
We must keep up appearances.
”

Mary
followed
her mother
from the room.

~%~

After dismissing the servant who had shown her into the sitting room
of
George’s chambers, Mrs. Bennet declared,
“I thought to look for you here when you were not in your rooms. It is just as well
that I find
the
three
of you
together
—we have something to discuss, and it concerns
you all
.”

Taking in her daughter’s
gaunt
appearance,
Mrs. Bennet
settled into
a
chair f
acing Elizabeth, William
,
and Ge
orge
.
“
Mr. Bennet has gone to Longbourn to retrieve a number of oils and herbs
that I have
collected
and prepared.
Jane and I
shall
mix
a concoction that
you,
Elizabeth
,
must take before darkness settles upon us today.
” Mrs. Bennet looked directly at Elizabeth. “
I
f taken several times a day
over the next several weeks
,
it should
quiet
the dreadful
memories
that were imposed upon
you
by the
Olc
.
”