All Hallow's Eve (7 page)

Whil
st
waiting, Jane explained to
William
that her mother was the more experienced
Fili
,
and she was
merely
an
Apprentice
.
She worried that perhaps she
had
not give
n
Elizabeth the correct amount of the liquid.

When Mrs. Bennet arrived,
she took in the scene and began to scold
in
her usual imprudent manner
,
“
Oh,
Lizzy
!
What trouble have you gotten yourself into
so early in the morning?
And inconveniencing Mr. Darcy, as well?
Have you no sympathy for my nerves?
Why, you…
”

Jane interrupted as soon as she could,
“
Mama
,
there is no need.
Mr. Darcy witnessed the
Sanun
!
”

Mrs. Bennet gasped.
“
Mr. Darcy?
”
S
he hesitated, looking to Elizabeth for acknowledgement.
After Elizabeth colo
u
red and nodded, Mrs. Bennet could only say,
“
O
h
!
”

Jane quickly explained
Elizabeth’s condition and
verified
the amount of medicine she had given to
her sister
.
With a worried expression, Jane asked,
“
Did I do something wrong, M
ama?
”

Mrs. Bennet patted Jane’s hand.
“
Do not worry, Jane, you have done all that
is usually necessary
.
Lizzy, did something unexpected happen?
Were you under more stress than you have been in the past?
”

Elizabeth turned bright crimson before saying,
“
Yes, there was a bit more stress than usual.
”

William
closed his eyes
,
and his jaw tightened
.
Yes
,
learning
I
am
her
Soul Mate
!

“
Ah, well then, that is
a
problem
easily cured
.
”
Mrs. Bennet took the same medicine
bottle
out of Jane’s basket and explained how much additional liquid Elizabeth should receive should this ever happen again.

While this was taking place, Elizabeth watched
William
closely.
She had
observed
his reaction to her words and
had been
surprised to find that the expression of pain in his eyes was painful to her as well.
As he walked
to the window to stare out,
she
notic
ed
how he flexed his
fists and jaw.
All this time I thought he was
behaving
in
such
a way
to show
disapprov
al
of his company, but he is really overwhelmed with emotions and
attempting
to gain control.

William
felt her
eyes
upon him and turned
.
T
he
look in her eyes when h
e
met
her gaze
astounded and confused him
.
H
is
ingrained reticence
warned him
to
withdraw.
I
t was not natur
al for him
to
display vulnerability for all to see
, and whenever he was caught in Elizabeth’s gaze he
felt completely
exposed
—especially now that she knew he cared for her
—but he could not help himself
from searching her eyes for answers
.

Mrs. Bennet
inadvertently
moved between them to administer the medicine
, saying,
“
Here you are, Lizzy; drink this
,
and you
should
be feeling better shortly.
”

Mrs. Bennet and Jane spoke at length about this specific
tincture
as
William
watched Elizabeth drink it.
Suddenly it dawned on him that Mrs. Bennet was speaking quite sensibly
,
and his head snapped
back
in her direction.
Elizabeth saw his
stunned
expression and
nearly
choked on
her drink
.

When he finally looked back to Elizabeth with a question in his
expression
,
the light in her eyes
danced with amusement in
respon
se.
“
All is not what it
ha
s
seem
ed
to be, is it
,
Mr. Darcy?
”
S
he tilted her head a bit and continued,
“
Which do
you
believe is the façade?
”

After a few minutes more in discussion with Jane, Mrs. Bennet approached Elizabeth
.
“
You do not seem
strong enough
to climb the stairs
, Lizzy
.
I will call Mr. Hill and have him carry you to your bedchamber.
”

“
Excuse me, Mrs. Bennet.
May
I offer my services in assisting
Miss Elizabeth with the stairs?
”
William offered.

Everyone startled whe
n Mr. Bennet exclaimed
,
“
And why would I allow
y
ou
to
assist my Lizzy, Mr. Darcy?
”

“Mr. Bennet! A moment, please?”
Mrs. Bennet rushed over to her husband
standing in the kitchen doorway
. What she
whispered
to him
caus
ed
his eyebrows to
arch in surprise and his eyes to lock on Elizabeth.
After receiving a nod from his
favourite
daughter, Mr. Bennet
mumbled to himself
,
“
Why did not Mother inform
me
?
”
R
emembering
where he was, Mr. Bennet cleared his throat
.
“
Thank you for your offer, Mr. Darcy, but
I
will carry Elizabeth
if assistance is required
.
”

William
bowed slightly
.
“
Mr. Bennet, may I speak to you about an urgent matter as soon as possible?
”

~%~

Mrs. Bennet led
William and Jane
into the breakfast room
to join the
remainder
of the family
.
As he entered the room, the younger Bennet ladies stopped speaking abruptly. Mrs. Bennet offered him some food, and William replied,
“
I thank you, but we have already
broken our fast
, Mrs. Bennet.
Though
I wo
uld appreciate a cup of coffee
.
”

The absolute silence in the room, the younger girls’ questioning looks directed at their mother, and their frequent glances at himself made William feel quite uncomfortable. Eventually
, Mrs. Hill entered to inform
him
that Mr. Bennet awaited him in
his study.

Knowing Mr. Bennet would wish to ask him some questions at this juncture,
William
remained
mute
.
The two gentlemen sat
,
one on each side of the desk, staring at each other.

Finally Mr. Bennet broke the silence,
“
May I ask how much of the
Sanun
you were present for, Mr. Darcy?
”

“
As far as I can tell, I was
witness to
part of the
first
half and the entire conclusion of the ritual.
”

“
What made you think you
had the right to intrude?
”
Mr. Bennet asked.

“
Sir
,
when I heard Miss Elizabeth’s song, I was drawn to the meadow.
My most prevalent thought was
to assure
Miss Elizabeth’s safety,
her
being in the wood
s
in the middle of the night.
I did not understand the meaning of what I was about to
see
, a
s
I
had never heard of the
Sanun
before my parents came to me after the first part of the ritual was complete.
I have learned a great deal since I
left
Netherfield for a walk
to tire myself
last night
,
Mr. Bennet
.
I
admit to being
a bit
overwhelm
ed
.
”

“
Yes, I can imagine.
”
Mr. Bennet hesitated several moments,
studying the young man before him,
trying to decide how much to reveal.
“
Do you understand
why your
attendance
at the
Sanun
without
disrupting the rite is significant
?
”

“
Yes, I do
.
”

Mr. Bennet’s eyebrows arched high on his forehead.
Taking
a deep breath
, he
nodded.
“
I see.
”

“
Sir, there is much more to discuss.
Last night I learned that
Olc
have discovered a way to identify the High
Priestess
and will
soon
be coming to Meryton.
”
Mr. Bennet jumped up out of his chair
in alarm
as
William
continued,
“
My parents have explained that you are the Lead
Immun
,
and I must
request to
be
trained by you as soon as possible, along with Bingley
,
and my cousins
,
Lord Reginald
Matlock and Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.
”

“
Ah, you are of the Darcy
and
the Fitzwilliam lines?
”

“
Yes, sir.
I was informed
last night
that m
y mother was
Priestess
of
Imol
before she passed into the Otherworld
.
She was the daughter of the Earl of Matlock
.
My
father
began to
train my cousins and me
, but he
ha
s
told me that
we will need
your
expertise to be successful in protecting Miss Elizabeth from the
evil that will soon be
near
.
I am afraid we have not practiced much since my father passed
on
five years ago, sir,
al
though we all have a great deal of experience in fencing.
If I had understood the importance of it…
”
William
’s forehead furrowed in concern
as he trailed off
.