Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment

Chapter 9

D arcy spent a troubled night in an uncomfortable bed in the Dower House. Or perhaps the bed only felt uncomfortable after Elizabeth’s refusal to consider a future with him. How could she kiss him so passionately and then turn away from him? By morning he was filled with a simmering anger and judged it best to return to the main house before he saw Elizabeth and said something he would regret.

By the time he had changed into clean clothes and shaved, it was well after he usually breakfasted. He found Eversleigh still in the breakfast room, shadows under his eyes.

“How late were you up last night?” Darcy asked him.

“Too late, and my dreams were not pleasant. Textbooks of sorcery make for poor bedtime reading.”

“I can imagine. I had a late-night adventure of a different sort.” Darcy poured himself another cup of coffee as he told Eversleigh about Anne’s disturbance of the elements. “I will need to spend some time training her in how to control elemental magic. Or at least I will try. I have never taught elemental magic before, and I do not know how well Anne will respond to teaching.”

Eversleigh pursed his lips. “Indeed. She does not strike me as someone who enjoys taking direction.”

They said little more as Darcy picked at his food, his stomach too tied in knots to feel any hunger. He pushed his plate away. “I suppose we should discuss our findings of last night.” It was the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

Eversleigh grimaced. “Let us at least do so in the comfort of the drawing room.”

They had no sooner arrived there when the sound of hoof beats made Eversleigh twitch aside a curtain and peer out the window. “It appears we have visitors. Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lord Matlock, if I am not mistaken.”

Darcy frowned. “They must have set off at dawn to arrive so early.”

“I am not surprised Lord Matlock would want to investigate immediately. We must do our best to keep him from overworking himself.”

When Lord Matlock entered the drawing room, his ashen face looked a decade older. Richard trailed after him carrying a wooden box.

Eversleigh guided Lord Matlock to a sofa. “Rest, sir. They will bring tea and refreshments shortly.”

“I must see his work room first,” Lord Matlock said wearily.

“No, sir, you must sit and rest for a few minutes. Darcy and I can tell you of our discoveries last night, so it will not be wasted time.”

Lord Matlock shook his head. “I will see it first.”

Suddenly Richard loomed over his father. “You will sit down,” he ordered. “Mother charged me with keeping you from overwork.”

The older man almost smiled as he lowered himself to sit. “And you are more frightened of her wrath than of mine.”

“Of course. Any sane man would be.”

Lord Matlock sighed. “Eversleigh, I have business with you in any case.”

“I am, as always, at your service. As it happens, I have some business with you as well,” said Eversleigh.

Lord Matlock waved to Richard who handed him the polished wooden box about the size of a chess set. He set it on his lap and rested his palms on it briefly before holding it out to Eversleigh. “This is yours now.”

Eversleigh, his brows furled, took the box and opened it. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “My lord, this is your chain of office.” His voice was low.

“No, it is your chain of office now,” said Lord Matlock testily. “I wrote my letter of resignation last night, appointing you the Acting Master of the Collegium until next winter’s meeting.”

“But –”

“Stop it. I failed to see that my own brother-in-law was a sorcerer. I cannot lead the Collegium with the inevitable questions that will be asked. It must be you or Debenham, and Debenham is in Ireland. Do not waste my energy with arguments.”

Richard said gently, “He is right, you know.”

Slowly Eversleigh closed the lid of the box. “I will do my best to live up to your trust. I only wish the circumstances could be different.”

Lord Matlock said gruffly, “You said you had business with me. What is it?”

Eversleigh’s cheeks colored. “It is more a matter of a confession I must make. Lady Frederica and Colonel Fitzwilliam are now aware of this matter, and I do not wish to put them in a position where they must choose between keeping a secret from you or betraying my confidence.” He took a deep breath. “I am half fay.”

The older man’s jaw dropped. “Good God. You never told me.”

“I have preferred not to reveal this particular blot on my escutcheon, as it were. As we have more contact with Faerie, it will become difficult to disguise. Darcy, might I ask you to do the honors of explaining my situation? It is difficult to say it myself without sounding infernally conceited.”

Darcy nodded. “He is a prince of Faerie. Oberon begot him on his mother after her marriage. Eversleigh is well known in the Faerie court.”

“I think...” Lord Matlock seemed to look off in the distance. “I think I would like some port, even if it is still breakfast time.”

“Right away, sir.” Richard strode to the sideboard.

“There is nothing like a good glass of port when life becomes too interesting.” Lord Matlock’s shoulders sagged in an uncharacteristic look of defeat.

He had only begun to sip his port when the butler entered and bowed. “Colonel Fitzwilliam, there is a gentleman come to call on you, but he has no calling cards. He says he is Lord Eversleigh’s brother.”

Richard chuckled. “No calling cards indeed! Do bring him in.”

Lord Matlock narrowed his eyes. “You have no brother, Eversleigh.”

“No mortal brother. This is my Sidhe brother.”

Lord Matlock’s face lit up. “A Sidhe? Here?”

Aelfric strode in, the illusion of humanity already dissolving to reveal his true features. With Sidhe abruptness, he asked Richard eagerly, “Are you ready to visit the breeder?”

Richard slapped his forehead. “I had forgotten about that! So much has happened.”

Aelfric looked crestfallen. “Perhaps another time,” he muttered.

“Aelfric, a moment,” said Eversleigh with quiet command. “We have been dealing with a crisis which has distracted us from other plans, but I believe today would still be a good day for the colonel to take you to the breeder.”

Richard shook his head. “I must remain here while my father does his investigation.”

“Your father will not be investigating anything.” Eversleigh put one hand atop the box containing his new chain of office. “The investigation is in my hands. I will be asking your father to place bindings on the books of sorcery since no one can do it better than he. However, I cannot imagine you wish to spend any more time in Sir Lewis’s study.”

“No, but –”

“Your presence here will only create more worries,” said Eversleigh pointedly. “Take Aelfric to meet your breeder. But first, brother, might I impose on you to spend a few minutes with my friend, Lord Matlock? He has a great interest in Faerie. Lord Matlock, may I present Prince Aelfric? He is the youngest son of the king of Faerie, and I will warn you not to raise the subject of horses or he will never speak of anything else.”

Some message seemed to pass between Eversleigh and Aelfric, for the Sidhe seemed suddenly to relax and put on public manners. “Of course.”

Lord Matlock struggled to his feet and bowed. “Your Highness, it is a pleasure.”

Eversleigh waved Aelfric to a chair. “You and Lord Matlock have some acquaintances in common. He is father to Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lady Frederica, whom you know as Marigold Meadowsweet, and he also knows Miss Bennet. She is a half-sister of Aelfric’s. It is a pity English has no term for the person who is my half-brother’s half-sister, don’t you think?”

“I had not realized Miss Bennet had fay kin,” said Lord Matlock, sounding displeased.

“Neither did she until a few days ago. She was quite astonished,” said Eversleigh lightly. “Do you have any questions for Aelfric? The Sidhe are more direct and abrupt than we are, so he will appreciate equal directness.”

Lord Matlock shifted in his seat. “Er... Are there many of the Sidhe?”

Aelfric said, “I believe there are nearly two hundred. And sixty Sidhe horses.”

“So few! In the stories it always seemed as if there were thousands.”

“There have never been thousands, but our numbers were greater long ago, when my father was a young man. Until my birth, it had been some fifty years since the last Sidhe was born.”

“The reason for the decrease,” interjected Eversleigh wryly, “which Lord Matlock is too polite to ask but is no doubt desperate to know, is the reduced contact between our two worlds. Sidhe are born of a union between a Sidhe and a mortal. Most such couplings lead to a mortal mage, but occasionally a Sidhe is born.”

“A mortal mage? But not a mortal without magic?”

“Of course not,” said Aelfric, sounding surprised by this lack of knowledge. “Your magic is a sign of fay blood. Those with no fay blood will never have magic. A half Sidhe will always have magic.”

Eversleigh smothered a smile. “Yes, I am afraid all the pure Norman bloodlines of our mages have been polluted.”

“That would be great shock to many in the Collegium,” said Lord Matlock faintly.

“Still, Sidhe magic is rather different from ours,” said Eversleigh. “Aelfric, would you be so kind as to display some Sidhe magic for Lord Matlock? He was surprised to learn that apples could be created rather than grown.”

Aelfric looked at his brother dubiously, but he obediently put out his hand. A shiny red apple appeared on it. He set it on the tea table and methodically produced a pear, a peach, three strawberries, and a cluster of grapes to accompany it.

Lord Matlock reached out a finger and touched one of the strawberries. “And you can eat these?”

Eversleigh leaned forward and popped one of the grapes in his mouth. “They are perfectly edible. They taste delicious and will quench your hunger, but they will not nourish you. If you ate nothing else, you would eventually starve to death. Nourishing food must be grown from the earth.”

“Still, the possibilities... Can you do this as well, Eversleigh?”

“Create fruit? Alas, no, that is a Sidhe skill.”

“Can you create anything you want, Prince Aelfric?” Lord Matlock asked.

“No. Nothing that comes from inside the earth, such as metal or jewels. Only things that grow or are made of things that grow. Except silver filigree. We can make that as long as we carry silver.” He touched his filigree wrist cuffs. “Now may I go to the breeder?”

Eversleigh laughed. “Yes, you may go to your precious horses, pest! If Colonel Fitzwilliam is agreeable, of course.”

Richard tore his eyes from the impossible fruit and shook his head in disbelief. “Certainly.”

“Then let’s go!”

“You may have the bills sent to me,” said Eversleigh dryly. “No Faerie gold that will turn into leaves overnight. Fitzwilliam, if you would be so kind, do attempt to keep Aelfric from bankrupting me.”

Aelfric’s eyes lit up. “Two mares. May I get two mares? Or perhaps three?”

“Three mares and not a single one more. Besides, you will have to take them through the rings, so you do not want an entire herd.”

Aelfric’s expression suggested that he did indeed want an entire herd, but he said nothing more as he and Richard departed.

“My apologies for Aelfric’s abrupt behavior,” said Eversleigh. “His youth is showing.”

“How old is he?” asked Lord Matlock, still staring at the fruit the Sidhe had created.

“They do not celebrate birthdays in Faerie, but I would guess he is in his early twenties. The Sidhe grow to manhood quickly, in perhaps ten years, and then they remain at the same apparent age until they enter their decline, which is also rapid. Their behavior changes, they begin to age, and are dead within a few years. Usually they retire from society when the changes begin.”

“There are so few of them! And the other types of fay?”

“They are plentiful – the gnomes, dryads, brownies, redcaps, phoukas, sprites, and elves.”

“Do they breed with mortals as well?”

“Usually not.”

Lord Matlock wore a calculating look. “I suppose you know the fay spell for shape-changing as well.”

Eversleigh laughed. “I have never bothered to learn it, and it would do you no good if I had. It does not work on mortals, even those who are half fay like me.”

Lord Matlock scowled. “I could try.” He picked up a strawberry and examined it carefully, sniffed it, and took a tiny nibble. “Astonishing.”

Darcy said, “Perhaps it is clearer now why I was unwilling to threaten the Sidhe. Their power dwarfs ours.”

Matlock popped the rest of the strawberry in his mouth. “It would seem so. I would like to learn more about it.” His expression sobered. “But while I appreciate the distraction, we have some unpleasant work to do.”

“Less than you might think,” said Eversleigh. “Darcy and I have already gone through most of his study. I would like your opinions on Sir Lewis’s experiments, but apart from that, all that remains is to place magical seals on everything and remove it to the Collegium vaults.”

“You work quickly.” Lord Matlock sipped his port with a frown. “Where is Frederica? I thought she was here.”

“She is staying at the Dower House with Miss Bennet and Miss de Bourgh.”

Lord Matlock scowled. “How convenient. That way they can spend hours telling each other how evil I am. And do not look at me like that, Eversleigh. I know full well I should not have been the one to bind my niece, that I should have sought out someone else, someone unrelated to her. I did not trust what the Collegium might decide to do about a girl who could kill with a thought. How did you manage to break the spell?”

“I did not. Aelfric was the one who freed her.”

“I suppose it would be child’s play for him.” Lord Matlock looked displeased by the concept. “But no matter. I am more worried about the conflict in the Collegium. I have no doubt you will handle it well, Eversleigh, but I am concerned for Darcy.”

“For me?” Darcy said, startled. “Why?”

“Now that I have given up my position, I can no longer protect you.” Lord Matlock sounded defeated.

“Protect me from what?” Foreboding filled Darcy.

Eversleigh was the one who responded. “The inquiry into whether you had abused your power was a very near thing. Lord Matlock’s support of you tipped the balance in your favor.”

Darcy’s hands clenched into fists. “That again? I thought it was put to rest.”

“It should be, and I wish it were,” said Eversleigh. “There are those who are still whispering, though, and your proximity to this discovery of sorcery will not help. I will do what I can on your behalf.”

Darcy forced the words out. “I did not do it.”

“I know,” said Eversleigh matter-of-factly. “I always supposed you had not, and now I know it without a doubt.”

Darcy’s mouth twisted. “Perhaps I have been lying to you.”

“I do not blame you for being angry. I can be certain because I asked you about it when we were in Faerie, and I would have known if you were lying. It is not a defense I can put before the Collegium, but I know it.”

It was a relief to be believed. “What must I do?”

“Nothing at present. If someone raises the question again, you may need to take a stand. Otherwise my only suggestion is to try to find the mysterious water mage who is determined to harm your reputation.”

“I have tried, I assure you!” There had to be an answer to the mystery, but he was damned if he could find it. Of course, he was also damned if he could not.

MISS DE BOURGH AND Frederica were already breakfasting when Elizabeth came downstairs. She had taken extra time with her appearance, but it made no difference. Darcy was not here to see it. She refused to let herself be disappointed. “Did the rest of the night go smoothly?” she asked.

“We were just discussing that,” said Anne. “I had forgotten all about my night troubles, but it is nothing to worry about. Before I was under the binding spell, the maids were instructed to keep breakables out of my room, but I never caused fires or floods. I unmade a few bedsheets, but that was all. Darcy worries too much.”

“It was a fairly frightening sight, and the windstorm extended far beyond the house,” said Frederica pointedly.

“Well, I will consider that. Perhaps draining some magic just before bed would help. But in the meantime, I must speak to my mother. Although the Dower House is pleasant, Rosings Park belongs to me. I will not live in the same place as her, but I should be the one in possession of the main house, and she should have nothing but the Dower House.”

Lady Frederica touched her napkin to the corners of her mouth. “She is likely to be unhappy if you tell her that.”

“I have been unhappy for years because of her. It is her turn now, and I intend to tell her so today.”

Elizabeth looked down at the untasted food on her plate. “Perhaps it would be wise to speak to Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam first. They could provide support if Lady Catherine becomes distraught.” She was more concerned about outright violence from Lady Catherine, but it seemed unwise to say so.

“I do not need them to claim my heritage. I am strong enough to face my mother. I would appreciate it if both of you would be witnesses, though.”

“I would be happy to, as long as you plan nothing beyond speaking to her,” said Lady Frederica carefully.

“You need not worry that I plan to attack her as I did my father. Even if she deserves it, it will take me days to recover all the power I used yesterday.” Miss de Bourgh sounded completely untroubled by this talk of killing her parents.

Frederica pushed her plate away. “Are you certain Lady Catherine is well enough? She may not be fully in her right mind yet.”

“There is nothing wrong with her mind,” said Miss de Bourgh. “She has always insisted that I eat dinner with her, even while she has been locked in her rooms, and she sends a servant for me if I do not appear. Last night she did nothing. Someone must have told her the binding spell has been removed. The servants are her spies, you know. I will allow her to take a few of them with her, but I will hire all new servants for Rosings, ones who will be loyal to me, not her.”

“It might be wiser for me to stay here,” Elizabeth said carefully. “My name alone seems to provoke Lady Catherine into a rage, and after her attempt to ruin me, I may have difficulty keeping my temper if she provokes me.”

“All the better,” said Miss de Bourgh. “She would not be so angry if she were not also afraid of you.”

It seemed Miss de Bourgh did not plan to waste any time.

The walk to the main house took no more than ten minutes, but they seemed very long minutes. Elizabeth did not know what she dreaded most: seeing Lady Catherine for the first time since she had been ejected from the parsonage, Lady Catherine’s inevitable fury about being displaced, or Mr. Darcy’s reaction when he discovered her presence. Would he think she was seeking him out? Was he angry with her about the previous night or shocked by her shameless behavior? She already knew Lady Catherine despised her, but that did not matter to her. She now cared about Mr. Darcy’s good opinion.

Inside Rosings she could hear Lord Eversleigh’s voice in the drawing room. Was Mr. Darcy with him? She was destined not to know since Miss de Bourgh led them straight past it in a determined manner. The route to Lady Catherine’s rooms was all too familiar to Elizabeth after the days she had spent tending to her ladyship, the service for which Lady Catherine had punished her so severely. Perhaps Lady Catherine deserved whatever Miss de Bourgh was about to say to her.

She was surprised to see Mr. Darcy’s valet sitting outside Lady Catherine’s rooms. Apparently Mr. Darcy did not trust the servants at Rosings either, and preferred someone he could trust to keep the door locked. The valet did not hesitate to let them in but warned them to beware of flying crockery.

Lady Catherine greeted them with a beaming smile. On this occasion she was apparently prepared to overlook the presence of the witch who should not be suffered to live. Miss de Bourgh must be right about her ability to understand what was happening.

“My dearest Anne!” cried Lady Catherine. “How I have missed you!”

“Stop it, I pray you,” said Miss de Bourgh coldly. “You are no doubt aware the binding spell has been removed, and I am myself again. I am taking my position as mistress of Rosings Park. I expect you to move to the Dower House immediately.”

Lady Catherine clasped her hands to her chest. “You cannot mean it! I have devoted my life to you. No one could have cared for your every need as I did. ”

Miss de Bourgh wrinkled her nose as if smelling an unpleasant odor. “You have kept me under a spell which took away my free will and my ability to think. You are an unnatural mother, and I want nothing more to do with you.”

“I had no choice! Was I to allow you to attack me as you did your father?”

Miss de Bourgh’s upper lip curled. “As I attacked Sir Lewis for sorcery and his mistreatment of me. Goodbye, Mother.” She turned to leave.

“Wait!” shrieked Lady Catherine. “If I cannot have Rosings, neither can you. You have no right to it. You are nothing but one of Sir Lewis’s by-blows by some loose woman. Look at you – small and scrawny. You look nothing like me.”

Pausing in midstride, Miss de Bourgh looked back at Lady Catherine with an odd smile. “I am delighted to hear it. Nothing could make me happier than knowing you are no relation to me.”

“I shall not permit it!” Lady Catherine yanked at the drawer in her bedside table and scrabbled with the contents. She pulled out a paper, held it close to her face, and began to mumble.

Miss de Bourgh made a gesture, and the paper crumbled to dust in Lady Catherine’s hands.

“No!” Lady Catherine cried in despair.

“Surely you did not think I would allow you to use that,” said Anne coldly. “I expect you to be at the Dower House tonight.” She left the room, followed closely by Elizabeth and Frederica.

Elizabeth closed the door behind them just as some unfortunate piece of crockery slammed into it. It was oddly satisfying to know it was Lady Catherine’s turn to be cast from her home. She exchanged glances with Frederica as they hurried after Anne. For such a small person, she moved very quickly.

ANNE STORMED INTO THE drawing room, heedless of interrupting the men’s discussion. Without any preliminaries, she said, “Darcy, you are my guardian. I told Lady Catherine to move to the Dower House. Now she claims I am not her daughter, but a by-blow of Sir Lewis’s. Can she use that to stop me from inheriting?”

Darcy stared at her in shock, so stunned by her words that he barely noticed Elizabeth and Frederica standing behind her. “I believe not. Sir Lewis acknowledged you as his daughter by Lady Catherine, and that is all that matters legally. In any case, I have no reason to think what she said is true. She may simply have been lashing out.”

“She is making it up,” said Lord Matlock with annoyance. “I recall when she was carrying you.”

Anne flung herself down in a chair. “Or pretending to. I do not care if it is true or not as long as I keep Rosings.”

Viscount Eversleigh cleared his throat. “If you wish, I might be able to tell you whether she is your mother.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could check your magic. If you have Fitzwilliam magic like your uncle, then logically she must be your mother. If you do not...” He shrugged. “We know no more than we do now. The type of magic is not always inherited. Colonel Fitzwilliam does not have Fitzwilliam magic, but his heritage is written in his face.”

Anne considered. “Would you need to take my magic as my father did?”

“No. This would be more akin to dipping my hand into a stream of water to test its temperature. I take nothing and leave nothing behind.”

She gave a single sharp nod. “Then I would like to know.”

Eversleigh reached out to touch her wrist for no more than a few seconds. “You have nothing of Fitzwilliam power. Your magic is elemental and wild. I do not know what kind of magic Sir Lewis had.”

“I would be perfectly happy if neither of them were my parents.” Anne stroked her wrist where Eversleigh had touched her.

“I think it very possible that is the case,” said Eversleigh calmly, as if questioning her legitimacy were normal drawing room conversation.

Lord Matlock stiffened. “Do not be ridiculous.”

Anne ignored him, fixing her gaze on Eversleigh. “Why do you say that?”

“I have thought so since I saw you use your magic. No mortals have magic that strong, even if they have a fay parent. Your wild magic is more like Sidhe power than mortal magic.”

“But I am not a Sidhe.”

“No, but on those rare occasions when a Sidhe man begets a child on a Sidhe woman, the child is always mortal. I believe you may be one of those children. If Sir Lewis wanted a helpless child with strong magic, he could do no better.”

Anne eyed him dubiously. “You think this simply because my magic is strong?”

Eversleigh’s teeth flashed as he smiled. “Not just that. Your temperament has a good deal in common with the Sidhe.”

Darcy stared at him. He was right. This new Anne had the same mercurial shifts in mood as the Sidhe, and her attention darted from one thing to another as theirs did. He had thought it came from spending so many years under a binding spell, but it was also much like Sidhe directness.

“Was there such a child seven-and-twenty years ago?” Anne’s voice was low.

“I do not know, and I cannot ask. It is one of the very few topics the Sidhe will not discuss.”

Anne tapped her foot as she considered this. “I would like to meet a Sidhe for longer than the brief moment I saw your brother when he removed my spell.”

“No doubt Aelfric would be happy to speak to you again, or if you prefer, I can take you to Faerie.”

Anne shook her head decisively. “If what you say is true, Faerie sent me away once. I do not need it now. But I would be happy to meet with your brother.”

Lady Frederica asked, “Cousin Anne, forgive me, but what was that piece of paper you unmade, the one Lady Catherine was holding?”

“That? It was her favorite obedience spell. I was expecting her to try to cast it on me now that the binding spell is gone. That was why I asked you to come with me, since I thought she would not dare to use it in front of you. It seems I was wrong. Why are all of you staring at me?”

After a silence, Eversleigh spoke. “Do you claim, then, that Lady Catherine has employed an obedience spell?”

“Yes, did I not just say as much?”

“On whom has she cast it?” Eversleigh sounded oddly distant.

“Mostly servants whom she felt were not sufficiently deferential. She cast it on the new parson, Mr. Collins, to stop him from arguing with her. She tried to cast it on Darcy many times, but it did not work. That made her furious.”

Lord Matlock said hoarsely, “You saw this happen?”

“How could I? Thanks to your spell, I fainted every time she began to speak Latin. The results were unmistakable, though. Have you never wondered why the servants are so slavishly devoted to her?”

Eversleigh said, “The spell was written on paper?”

Anne nodded. “Yes, in her bedside table. No one else is allowed to touch that table under any circumstances. When she pulled it out today, I unmade the paper. Why are you so concerned about this? Do you think I should not have destroyed it and simply let her cast the spell?”

Eversleigh shook his head slowly, but it was Frederica who answered. “Obedience spells are sorcery of the worst sort. We are upset to learn Lady Catherine employed them.”

Anne’s eyebrows rose. “I assumed all ladies used them, but I have had no contact with other households. It appears there is much I do not know.”

Eversleigh frowned. “It also appears I must ask you some further questions. What other spells does Lady Catherine use?”

“I do not know. Perhaps it was only the one spell, or there may be more. I can only tell you what results I have seen.”

“That would be helpful.”

“It makes the servants obey her instantly, even if they are ill or exhausted, and they will not say a word against her to anyone, no matter how unreasonable she is. Mr. Collins stopped arguing with her and instead began praising her constantly. One time a neighboring landowner came to her with some complaint about her land management, and suddenly he no longer cared about the problem and apologized for troubling her. As far as I know, she has never sought out people to cast spells on as my father did, but only used them to make people around her behave as she chose.”

“Have you seen her use magic for other things? Does she light candles with magic, or cast illusions, or create a breeze?”

Anne tipped her head to one side thoughtfully. “I do not think so, but I would have swooned at any sign of magic, so I am not the best witness.”

“Does she read books on magic?”

Anne laughed scornfully. “She never reads books.”

Elizabeth gasped. She laid her hand on Eversleigh’s arm and pointed towards Lord Matlock with the other. The earl’s face was ashen, his eyes were closed, and he clutched his hand to his chest.

Eversleigh and Frederica were by his side in an instant, and Darcy not far behind. Eversleigh said, “Lie down on the sofa and breathe slowly, sir, as the doctor told you. Slowly. I know it hurts. ”

“Not important,” muttered Lord Matlock, wheezing as he spoke. “Deal with Catherine. Tell my wife. Tell her. I am sorry.”

“You will tell her yourself,” said Eversleigh. “You have survived these before.”

“Not...like this.”

Frederica sank to her knees beside her father. “You must not die,” she said shakily. “Mama will be very cross with me if I allow you to die, and you know what Mama is like when she is cross.” Her voice caught at the end.

“I will try...not to subject you to that, child.”

Frederica covered his hand with her own and pressed her forehead against it.

That was a bad sign. Darcy had not been too worried until now, since his uncle had suffered these spells before, but he had not heard Lord Matlock call Frederica ‘child’ since, well, since she had been a child. He turned to Elizabeth. “Can you do anything to help him?” he asked desperately.

Elizabeth opened and closed her mouth before saying, “I do not know. Possibly. But cannot Lord Eversleigh heal him?”

“Eversleigh lacks healing magic. I beg you to do what you can.”

She hesitated. “Only if Lord Matlock wishes me to try, and I cannot imagine he does.”

“Healed Catherine, did you not?” Lord Matlock coughed. “I wish you had not.”

Elizabeth took a small step backwards, her cheeks flushed. “I will leave you, then.”

Lord Matlock lifted his hand a few inches. “No, I will accept...your help. Just that...” He stopped to catch his breath.

“Do not try to talk, sir.” Eversleigh placed a small chair beside the sofa and gestured to Elizabeth to take it.

“I can say it for him,” said Darcy. “He would rather Lady Catherine had died than for her to be alive as a sorceress.” He had been thinking the same thing.

Lord Matlock bobbed his head in agreement.

“Mr. Darcy, could you try to call Pepper while I begin here? I may need her help.” Elizabeth sat and took Lord Matlock’s hand in both of hers. “Your Lordship, your daughter told me you sometimes feel great pressure in your chest. Is that what is happening now?”

He nodded again.

“You will feel magic moving up your arm, and it may make you somewhat sleepy. That is to be expected.” Then she deliberately lightened her tone. “This is one for the annals of great hubris, is it not? The hedge witch who tried to heal the Master of the Collegium?”

Darcy winced at her words as he struggled to open the latch on the window. Did no one ever oil the cursed things? It gave way finally and he pushed the window open. He stuck his head out as far as he could. “Pepper! Elizabeth needs you!” Nothing. Only silence. He counted out a minute and tried again. “Pepper, I beg you to come.”

Behind him, Elizabeth said, “My lord, I pray you, do not try to follow my magic with yours. You are making it more difficult.”

Lord Matlock’s lips twitched. “Simply...curious.” He closed his eyes.

“Thank you. I will be happy to answer your questions later.” Her expression suggested she was not certain there would be a later.

If only there were something he could do! For lack of anything better, he stuck his head out the window again. “Pepper, I will give you every fish in the lake if you help us!” Still nothing.

At least Lord Matlock was still breathing. Elizabeth’s head was bowed in concentration. Eversleigh stood behind her, his eyes shut and his hands on her shoulders. Even through his fear and grief about his uncle, jealousy burned in Darcy’s stomach. Was Eversleigh the true reason she had pushed him away ?

“Caw?” Pepper sat on the windowsill in raven form.

Not even Pepper’s appearance could lift the heaviness in Darcy’s chest. Mechanically he said, “Elizabeth – Miss Elizabeth, that is – is trying to help Lord Matlock. He is having a heart paroxysm. She asked me to call you.” At least he could still be useful to her in this small way.

Lord Matlock turned his head in their direction. “What is that?”

Darcy said quickly, “There is no need to worry. Pepper is a phouka. Usually she takes the form of a cat.”

As if on cue, Pepper flew down to the floor and transformed.

“Is that the cat who attacked me?” Lord Matlock sounded sleepy.

“Yes, but only because she thought you intended harm to Miss Elizabeth. She will not hurt you now.”

Pepper padded to the sofa, jumped up on Lord Matlock’s chest and began to knead, pushing her paws into him rhythmically and purring.

“Is she doing that for a reason?” asked Lord Matlock.

“I do not know, but Pepper usually has a reason for what she does.”

“Her eyes do not match.” Lord Matlock did not show the excitement at meeting a phouka that Darcy would have expected. Another bad sign.

“No, they do not.”

“But I do feel a little better. I can breathe. Perhaps she is doing something.”

“I have great faith in Pepper,” said Darcy.

Elizabeth began to hum, but she did not open her eyes. It made quite a tableau, Lord Matlock on the sofa with Pepper on his chest, Frederica kneeling by his shoulder, Elizabeth sitting beside him holding his hand, and Eversleigh standing behind Elizabeth.

Lord Matlock blinked. “The pressure is gone.” He sounded surprised. He took a deep breath and released it. “Definitely better.” He started to pull himself up to a sitting position .

Without opening his eyes, Eversleigh reached out, put a hand on Lord Matlock’s shoulder, and pushed him back down. “Stay there,” he ordered.

“Papa, you must not stress yourself. We are all here to help you, and you need do nothing but rest.”

Elizabeth released his hand. Her voice seemed to come from far away as she asked, “How do you feel? Does it still hurt?”

Pepper jumped off Lord Matlock’s chest.

“Not at all. The pain and pressure have disappeared.” Lord Matlock sat up and swung his legs off the sofa. “Definitely better. I thank you, Miss Bennet.” He sounded drowsy.

Elizabeth frowned. “I was not able to fix everything. I patched the broken area of your heart, but I could not heal it. It is a temporary measure.”

“You made me well enough to deal with Catherine, and that is the important thing.” He heaved himself to his feet.

“Papa, you must rest!” Frederica cried. “Elizabeth, should he not rest?”

Elizabeth turned her palms upwards. “I cannot say. Wild magic is different from normal healing. Lord Eversleigh may know more.”

“I rarely use wild magic,” said Eversleigh. “I have been determined to prove I could succeed as a mage using only mortal magic, but in this case it does not matter. Lord Matlock, you might as well rest because I cannot allow you to have any part of this matter of Lady Catherine. No part at all, do you hear me? Lady Frederica, I would be obliged if you would send an express to Lady Matlock informing her of what has happened and that I will be sending Lord Matlock back to London by carriage as soon as I am certain he is well enough.”

“No need,” grumbled Lord Matlock. “She is already on her way. She wished to come with me, but Richard and I rode ahead.”

“All the better,” said Eversleigh. “You can go back to London together.”

“I should stay. Even if I do not see Catherine, I can still be of use to you here,” said Lord Matlock.

Eversleigh paused. “Until we have a clearer idea of what spells Lady Catherine can use, it is safer to send everyone far away from her. Everyone except Darcy. Although I would prefer not to have any of Lady Catherine’s kin here, I would ask you to stay simply because you are apparently immune to her spells, and I have no reason to assume I am. Miss Bennet, I will need your assistance in setting wards of power this afternoon, but after that, you should go as well.”

Darcy did not like Eversleigh’s appropriation of Elizabeth. “I will stay here if you wish, but I must remind you Miss Bennet is not obliged to follow your orders.”

Elizabeth gave Eversleigh a teasing look before turning to Darcy and saying lightly, “In fact, according to fay protocol, I do have to honor his requests, but I still prefer to be asked. In this case, I am willing to do what I can, but I know nothing about setting wards. Surely Mr. Darcy or Lord Matlock or even Lady Frederica would be of more use to you.”

“Can’t do it,” grunted Lord Matlock with some annoyance. “Wards of power are blood magic. Using the blood of one of Catherine’s relatives creates a weakness she could exploit. Eversleigh, does your blood count as fay blood?”

“Alas, no. I am a mere mortal,” said Eversleigh.

“Pity. It would be more interesting that way,” said Lord Matlock. “Is it true that spells mingling fay and mortal blood are more powerful?”

“It increases the power greatly when both are mixed. I was once the mortal component of such, and it is quite remarkable, even by the standards of Sidhe magic. One of the great wonders of Faerie is the giant oak – and it truly is giant – at the end of the void where Caerdic of blessed memory and his mortal brother Alber spilled their heart’s blood together to break Faerie in twain. ”

“Heart’s blood?” asked Elizabeth. “Is that different?”

Eversleigh straightened his lapels. “Quite different,” he said. “It happened only in ancient times, and it is not something you will ever see. This spell will not mingle our blood, but it will require giving four drops of your blood to the wards, and you must give it willingly. Blood magic is tricky business, and using blood given under duress can lead to unpredictable results.”

“You would be perfectly safe,” added Lord Matlock. “The worst thing that can happen is that the spell will not work.”

“But I only know wild magic,” said Elizabeth.

“That does not matter.” Eversleigh smiled suddenly. “I can teach you what you need to know as we go along. Discovering sorcery qualifies as an emergency which authorizes me to teach anyone at hand, including women. And while I might pride myself on using formal spells whenever possible, I do have wild magic in my blood, as you just saw while you were healing Lord Matlock. “

Lord Matlock frowned. “You were involved in that, too?”

Eversleigh nodded. “I worked with Miss Bennet, following her lead and taking some of the effort on myself. I wanted to protect her strength so she could make the wards. Since we are shurinn , I can work in tandem with her.”

“What are you talking about?” Darcy could barely hold his anger in check.

“It is complicated,” said Elizabeth quickly. “Just a fay matter. Because we are both connected to Aelfric, Viscount Eversleigh and I can entwine our magic. I can explain it later if you like.”

Darcy nodded tersely, not trusting his voice. He was not a fool. Magic was not the only thing Eversleigh wanted to entwine with Elizabeth. How dare he use her connection to the fay prince to accomplish it? To think he had the gall to tell Darcy he wanted to protect her !

Frederica blurted out, “May I watch you set the wards?”

Eversleigh bowed to her. “It would be most ungentlemanly of me to forbid a lady to be in a particular room.” He paused, as if deliberating. “I am notoriously careless with spell books. I often leave them open in my room rather than locking them with spells. It is a failing of mine.”

Lord Matlock said ominously, “Eversleigh, if you are trying to tempt my daughter into your bedroom –”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Frederica. “He is merely commenting on his natural untidiness.”

Eversleigh was perhaps the tidiest and most organized person Darcy had ever met.

“Darcy, while Miss Elizabeth and I are preparing the wards, could I ask you to write letters for Collingswood, Winston and Elliott telling them I require their immediate assistance here on a matter of sorcery?”

“Certainly.” But he was glad Frederica would be with them. He did not trust Eversleigh alone with Elizabeth.