Chapter 10
“ I t worked!” exclaimed Eversleigh. “Well done, Miss Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth rocked back on her heels, admiring the unearthly glow of the four chess pawns they had used for the wards. “So that is how wards are made. I have always wondered.”
“Common wards are easier. It is simpler to keep out malicious fay than to keep out magic – or to keep it locked in, as we have done here.”
Elizabeth touched her forefinger to the glowing head of the nearest pawn. The two walls, inner and outer, flared to visibility. Eversleigh’s wall was made of moving words, while hers was a fisherman’s net covered with vines and darting fireflies. “Our walls look very different. Will that be a problem?”
“It should not be.” He tilted his head to admire their work. “Mine is a very traditional mage’s barrier. Yours is pure wild magic. I understand the net, but what are the vines?”
“Deadly nightshade. It sucks magic out of redcap bites, so I think of it as blocking magic.”
“And the fireflies?”
Elizabeth gave a rueful smile as she reached for one of the pastries Eversleigh had ordered earlier. “I do not know. The magic put them there.”
“How could the magic put them there?” demanded Lady Frederica.
Eversleigh turned to her. “Wild magic is full of surprises, unlike traditional spells which have been channeled and tamed. I knew exactly what my wall would look like, and it will always look that way with that spell. If Miss Bennet made another wall tomorrow, it might be an impassable jungle of vines instead.”
Frederica frowned. “Why bother with spells if wild magic can do the same things?”
Eversleigh smiled at her. “Properly constructed spells strengthen the magic and make it more predictable. Most mages do not have magic strong enough to use wild magic, so they need spells. Miss Bennet’s magic is strong, despite what I was told by Colonel Fitzwilliam, which leads me to believe she had not used it to its full extent before these last weeks. Magic, like muscles, requires exercise to be strong.”
“Of course I did not practice my magic!” exclaimed Elizabeth. “I tried to use it as little as possible. I never used to get so hungry after using my magic, either.”
“The more of your magic you use, the hungrier you become,” said Eversleigh. “Lady Frederica, you have the potential to use wild magic. Darcy’s elemental magic is wild, but he can use spells, too.”
Something about Frederica’s smile reminded Elizabeth of a satisfied tiger, and she said, “Lady Frederica, I hope you can wait until tomorrow before asking me for more lessons in using wild magic. Between healing your father and these wards, I doubt I have any magic left.”
Eversleigh laughed at Frederica’s crestfallen look.
LADY MATLOCK SAID REGALLY , “Lord Eversleigh, I understand that under the circumstances you wish my husband to leave Rosings Park. I could not agree more. We will leave tomorrow morning once he has had a good night’s sleep.” She made no reference to Eversleigh’s earlier plan that they should leave immediately. Only Lady Matlock could make disagreement with a fixed plan sound so much like agreement.
Eversleigh bowed to her. “Your ladyship shows great wisdom. Now that the wards of power are set, I can see no harm in a slight delay.”
Naturally, Lady Matlock was not done. “Miss Bennet, it is lovely to meet you at last, and I understand we are now in your debt for saving my husband as well as Lady Catherine. I hope you will be so generous as to return to London with us and stay at Matlock House. My nerves could not possibly survive the strain of worry over my husband’s heart if I did not know you were at hand to assist him should his symptoms recur.” She sounded not the slightest bit nervous.
Elizabeth looked taken aback. “I had planned to return to Faerie, although I could visit my uncle in London instead. My mother will be visiting him soon. Given the recent damage to my reputation, it might be wiser for me to stay there. I would not wish Lady Frederica’s name to be associated with mine at present.”
“Nonsense,” said Lady Matlock kindly. “Staying with us will help to rebuild your reputation. Given that you have suffered this exposure in the course of helping our family, it is the least we can do. You can easily call on your uncle and mother from Matlock House.”
Elizabeth was shaking her head when Eversleigh said quietly, “I think it is a good idea, shurinn .”
She looked as if she wished to argue further, but she said, “Very well, your ladyship, I will accept your kind invitation. I will first need to inform Titania of this change of plans, since she is expecting my return to Faerie soon.”
Why did she agree with whatever Eversleigh suggested? She had only met him a few days ago, and already she submitted to him. Something was not right, and Darcy did not like it at all. And she had been avoiding looking in his direction all day. He did not like that, either.
Lord Matlock said sharply, “Titania, as in the queen of Faerie? ”
Elizabeth hesitated and glanced at Eversleigh before responding. “Yes. My last trip to Faerie led to some interesting discoveries, but when we found out about Sir Lewis’s sorcery, that pushed everything else aside.”
Richard appeared in the doorway. “Ah, here you are. Our mission was successful. Three Bakewell Black mares are now in the stables in Faerie, Aelfric is happy, and the breeder is so pleased to have your custom, Eversleigh, that he has promised me a colt from his next breeding. I could grow to enjoy spending your money. Oh, hello, Mother. I did not see you there. I hope your journey was easy.” He went straight to the sideboard and poured a glass of port.
“It was, thank you, Richard,” said Lady Matlock. “Unfortunately, nothing else has gone according to plan. Your father nearly died from a heart paroxysm, but Miss Bennet was able to heal him. And your aunt has been practicing sorcery.”
“Lady Catherine?” he exclaimed in disbelief. “Lady Catherine, who would rather die than admit she has even a drop of magic in her veins?”
“Yes, that Lady Catherine,” said Anne, who had been silent since Lady Matlock’s arrival. “I would like to raise a question that has not been resolved.”
“What is it?” Lord Matlock asked with a frown.
“The punishment for sorcery is immediate execution. There are no exceptions. Yet you hesitate to do so. Is it because of me? Are you afraid of what I might do, given my history?” Now she looked straight at Lord Matlock.
His eyes widened. “No. That thought had not crossed my mind. Should it have?”
Anne eyed him consideringly. “No.”
“What do you think should be done with her?” asked Lord Matlock with unusual gentleness .
Anne balled her fists at her side. “The punishment for sorcery is death. It is what she deserves.”
“That is harsh!” exclaimed Lord Matlock. “She raised you.”
“No, that is not harsh. Harsh is putting a binding spell on a helpless child and leaving her that way for half a lifetime.” Anne raised her chin. “Lady Catherine committed a crime. She knew the punishment.”
Lord Matlock merely looked at her, his expression puzzled.
Why did he not respond? Could he be having another heart paroxysm? Quickly Darcy said, “It can be difficult to contemplate killing a woman we have known all our lives. That is why the decision must be made by mages who have no connection to Lady Catherine.”
Anne pursed her lips. “That is acceptable, I suppose,” she said grudgingly.
“Gentlemen, I must speak to you privately.” Lord Matlock’s expression was grim. “In the library, if you will be so kind.”
“Certainly.” Darcy bowed to the ladies before following his uncle.
Eversleigh sat down in a leather armchair by the library desk. “What is the matter?” he asked Lord Matlock.
“There is a new problem,” said Lord Matlock, his expression foreboding. “It appears your Miss Bennet did more than patch my heart. I am suddenly unable to account for my decision to bind Anne, something I have never doubted before. I allowed Miss Bennet to use her magic on me, and now I find myself in agreement with her position.”
Darcy was so shocked he could barely speak. “Are you suggesting that Miss Bennet is a sorceress?” He would never believe it. Not Elizabeth, who fought so hard against binding spells.
“Yes. I suppose I am,” Lord Matlock said slowly.
“No,” said Eversleigh. “I was with her all the way while she was healing you. She did nothing to your mind.”
“How can you be certain? Why else would I be feeling this? Nothing else has changed.”
“I do not –” Eversleigh broke off suddenly, a look of horror twisting his face. “One other thing has changed,” he said harshly. “We stopped Lady Catherine’s sorcery from leaving her room. It may be blocking the spells she has already cast.”
“What?” roared Lord Matlock. “You think she cast a spell on me? Ridiculous!” He stopped short and sat down heavily behind the desk, all his anger suddenly draining away. “Good God. She wanted Anne bound, and I refused. That she would dare to put a spell on me!”
For once, Darcy knew the answer. “Lady Catherine has never lacked the audacity to tell any of us what to do. If anyone would dare to put a spell on you, she would be the one.”
“But how could I have failed to notice it? I, of all people, should have known I was bespelled.” Lord Matlock put his elbows on the desk and covered his face with his hands. “Leave me, all of you.”
Richard made a shooing motion, indicating he would remain with his father. Darcy silently wished him luck.
“MISS BENNET WISHES to speak to you,” Colonel Fitzwilliam told his father a short time later.
Lord Matlock rose slowly. “Miss Bennet, I fear I am not good company at present.”
“I understand. I merely wished to check on your health before I return to the Dower House.”
He spread his arms. “I am quite well, as you see. Thanks to you.” His voice was heavy.
“I am glad. I also wanted to say that, while I cannot apologize for the conclusion I reached about you at our first meeting, I am relieved and happy to know it was based on false assumptions. ”
“Very prettily said, Miss Bennet. I wish I could forgive myself as easily.”
Elizabeth cocked her head to the side. “Mr. Darcy also has an odd tendency to blame himself for things completely beyond his control. I would suspect it to be a Fitzwilliam family trait, but the good colonel seems free of the curse.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam chuckled. “Very perceptive, Miss Bennet. Sir, did you not wish to ask Miss Bennet about her healing techniques?”
“Not now, Richard,” the earl said wearily.
The colonel laid his hands on the desk and leaned over it until his face was a foot from his father’s. “Yes, now,” he said firmly.
“I can return another time,” said Elizabeth hastily.
Colonel Fitzwilliam turned back to her with a winning smile. “Miss Bennet, I throw myself on your mercy. You are my best hope for distracting my father out of his gloom. Once you start speaking of wild magic, he will be unable to restrain his curiosity.”
Elizabeth tapped her chin with her fingertip. “Now this is a dilemma. Naturally I would wish to oblige you, Colonel, but your father does outrank you.”
“I am glad someone realizes that,” grumbled the earl.
“Miss Bennet, must I threaten to tell my mother? I assure you she will take my side.”
“Colonel, your mother has been nothing but kind to me, yet to hear you talk, one would think her a veritable Gorgon!”
A smile twitched the colonel’s lips. “Exactly so!”
Elizabeth ostentatiously looked heavenwards, but from the corner of her eyes she could see Lord Matlock did look better for watching their banter. “Very well. Purely out of respect for the gentle creature who is your mother, I will torment his lordship with my inarticulate description of the indescribable. I hope that will satisfy you.”
“Very much so.” He offered her a chair .
She sat and folded her hands in her lap, trying to disguise her sudden anxiety. Was she truly going to explain her magic to the Master of the Collegium? “I hardly know where to begin. I will tell you what I can, but I beg you to understand that it might be completely different for someone else. There is a reason we call it wild magic. What would you like to know?”
“How do you do it? How do you reach inside a person’s body?”
She had never tried to put it into words before. “I start by feeling for the life force. It is like a tingling sensation under the skin. When I feel it, the force tugs at my hands, and I let it pull me inside. Wild magic tends to be metaphorical, so it transforms the complexity of the body into something I can understand. In your case, I found myself in a flat-bottomed rowboat skimming along the surface of a rocky river.”
“How did you know I was trying to sense what you were doing?”
She laughed. “That was simple. Suddenly you were standing behind me, looking over my shoulder and tipping the boat. Wild magic can be very literal.”
“Hmm. What did you do next?”
“After a time, I reached a pier and tied up the boat. I walked through a narrow valley until I came to a small clearing where I found a cabbage and an embroidery basket.”
“A cabbage! How...unique. Do continue.”
“It is not as odd as it sounds,” Elizabeth said. “I once saw a pig’s heart, and it had big veins branching off all over it, just as a cabbage leaf has veins. It looked like a brown misshapen cabbage. This cabbage was green, naturally, but one of the leaves had a small area that was wizened and gray. Since the wild magic had given me an embroidery basket to work with, I began to embroider new veins across that area.”
The colonel’s face was filled with mirth. “You embroidered a cabbage?”
With mock dignity, Elizabeth replied, “No, sir, I embroidered a cabbage leaf. There is a difference. Once I had mended the gray spot, I returned to the river. It was flowing the other direction, and I took the boat back.”
Lord Matlock tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. “This sounds like one of those strange, nonsensical dreams that wakes you in the middle of the night.”
“Strange and nonsensical perhaps, but not a dream. Wild magic is real.” Elizabeth held up her forefinger, displaying several pinpricks in the fingertip. “I am not fond of embroidery, and I rarely trouble myself to practice. I pricked my finger embroidering the cabbage leaf.”
Lord Matlock leaned forward to examine her finger. “Astonishing. Was it an ordinary needle?”
“No, it was made of silver. Wild magic dislikes iron, so anything metal is usually silver.”
“Ordinary thread? What color was it?”
Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up. “Green, of course. Green silk. Nothing but the finest for your lordship’s cabbage.”
An unladylike snort came from where Frederica stood in the doorway. Darcy, standing next to his cousin, looked unamused, not at all like the man who had kissed her so passionately the previous night.
Elizabeth’s heart sank. “Now I will leave you to the tender mercy of your family. If you have more questions later, I will be happy to answer them.”
“What are the words to the shape-changing spell?” Lord Matlock asked.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Oh, no. Besides, the spell would be of no use to you. Mortals cannot change shapes.”
“Bah,” he grumbled. “It was worth a try.”
AFTER LEAVING LORD Matlock, Elizabeth found Viscount Eversleigh leafing through a book in the drawing room.
“How is Lord Matlock?” Eversleigh asked her.
“Calmer, I think. We talked about wild magic, and that seemed to distract him.” Elizabeth hesitated a moment. “Why did you tell me to go to Matlock House instead of my uncle’s home? Was it to please Lady Matlock?”
“Not at all, shurinn . It was for your safety. If Lady Catherine proves to be a more powerful sorceress than we currently believe, we may not be able to contain her immediately. She blames you for her troubles, so I want you under the care of one of our strongest mages.”
“Would I not be even safer from her in Faerie?” And she felt oddly at home in Titania’s bower.
“You would be safer from Lady Catherine, but there is also the danger to your reputation. Assuming Lady Catherine’s sorcery was limited to a few spells she had written down, I suspect the mages examining her will be reluctant to recommend execution for her. The other option would be to have her declared insane and confine her for the rest of her life. If you are clearly under the protection of Lord Matlock, it will appear that you did nothing wrong other than to land in the path of a madwoman.”
“A lost reputation is not that easy to restore.” No matter how much she might wish for it. The loss of her good name had cost her any hope of a future with Mr. Darcy.
“Restoring it completely is likely impossible, I admit. Scandal tends to cling even when proven untrue. Still, it is possible to make you socially acceptable again, and if a few old biddies still whisper about you behind their hands, so be it.”
She bit her lip. “It is more than that. To remain respectable, I would have to go back to pretending I have no magic and living in constant fear of exposure. I have enjoyed these days of freedom when I have not had to hide who I am. I do not want to give it up.”
“I cannot blame you for that.” His voice was flat. “I feel the same way about hiding my fay connections. There is always a distance, even with my closest friends, because I am lying about who I am. These few days here have been a taste of freedom. I know it cannot last, and it will be that much harder when I return to keeping my secret, but I cannot regret it.”
“Why do you do it, then? Is it only for the sake of your ambitions?”
He gave a bitter laugh. “No, I have ambitions because I have nothing else. I keep my secret because I have three sisters who do not deserve to have their reputations ruined simply because my mother could not resist Oberon’s wooing.”
Her sisters. A lump formed in her throat. They were why she could not follow her dream of being a woman with magic. She could choose to destroy her own good name in society, even if it cost her Darcy, but she would drag down Jane, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia with her. Allowing Lady Matlock to present her in society would protect them. She said slowly, “I have no choice, do I?’
“No. But at least now we will both have the comfort of not being completely alone with our secrets. When I look across a crowded ballroom and see one of you, I will remember that there are a few select people who know me for who I am.”
If her reputation was miraculously restored, she might be able to marry Darcy, and she would not have to lie to him. She still did not think it could be done. Everyone in Meryton had already heard the news, thanks to Mr. Collins, but she would not give up Darcy without at least trying. “I still do not believe my reputation can be fully restored, but I will do my best.”
He inclined his head. “I thank you, both on my own behalf and that of your sisters. It would be a pity to lose my shurinn now that I have found you.”
“You are worrying about your other shurinn Bennet sisters,” she teased.
“Naturally,” he said with a smile. “I used to think myself bedeviled by having three sisters. How will I survive with eight?”
FREDERICA OPENED HER bedroom door reluctantly. She had been expecting her mother to corner her sooner or later. Lady Matlock had an unnatural ability to know when something was troubling her.
Lady Matlock did not trouble to disguise her intentions. “Distressing as it is to have learned that Sir Lewis and Lady Catherine were practicing sorcery – I never did like that man – I gather there is something else disturbing you.”
There were several somethings, in fact, and only some of them were safe to tell her mother. She sighed. “Everything is in such a muddle, Mama, and I see no escape from it, either for the fay or for my friends – or, for that matter, for myself. You say there is always a solution, but I defy you to find one this time.”
Lady Matlock seemed unperturbed. “Perhaps you should tell me about these problems, my dear.”
“Very well, but do not say I did not warn you. Cousin Anne will be ruined once word gets out that not only is she a sorcerer’s daughter, but she refuses to hide her magic after having been forced to do so for so long. We can attempt to save Elizabeth from ruin, but there is no guarantee it is possible. If I wish to protect my own reputation, I must abandon Cousin Anne and perhaps Elizabeth, and without her to take me to Faerie, I am exiled from it and unable to help the fay with their problems. Moreover, this has made me realize I am in an untenable position in searching for a husband. Am I to lie to my husband my entire life about my magic? There are very few men like Papa who will accept a wife with magic, and even they would not marry a known witch.”
“Language, my dear,” Lady Matlock chided gently. “Those are serious problems, indeed. But what is this about the fay? Is it the difficulty with the groves?”
Frederica shook her head. “That is but part of it. I had a long talk with their queen. Even if the groves survive, the Sidhe will continue to diminish until only a few are left. The number is already far less than it was in the past, and almost no Sidhe are being born.”
Lady Matlock raised her eyebrows. “What has caused this change?”
“We have. The Sidhe were once able to travel freely through our world, safe in the knowledge they could heal from any wound inflicted by a mortal. That was before we had guns. Once rifles and pistols became common, Sidhe began to die. Now they rarely leave Faerie, and only in hiding.”
“Ah. They must travel in our world in order to have children?”
“Not precisely.” Frederica hesitated. “Pray forgive the unseemly topic, but they must have mortal men and women to have children. Two Sidhe cannot produce a Sidhe child. Only a Sidhe and a mortal can. Once it was an honor to be wooed by a Sidhe, and poets and artists sought out Sidhe ladies in Faerie, but very few Sidhe will take the risk to find a mortal lover now.”
Lady Matlock raised a delicate eyebrow. “You are not speaking of marriage, then?”
Frederica shook her head. “They are not Christian. They have something akin to marriage among themselves, but fidelity is not expected.”
“Why are you so concerned with saving them, even at the cost of leading mortal men and women into sin?”
Frederica chewed her lip. “I like their queen. She is beautiful, but it is not that. She is not selfless. Still, there is something about her. It is like watching an exquisite butterfly flit from flower to flower, and suddenly I want to write a poem about it. Like the butterfly, she is something beyond my comprehension, yet her presence makes me feel somehow more alive. She told me that the Sidhe bring inspiration to artists, musicians, and even scientists, and I believe it. Without them we would be less than we are.”
Lady Matlock’s lips tightened. “I hope you will not prove susceptible to the blandishments of Sidhe gentlemen.”
“Oh, no, Mama. I do not want a Sidhe lover. But I do wish I could spend more time with the fay.”
“I wonder if anyone has ever tried to bring Christianity to them.”
“I cannot say.” Frederica doubted the Sidhe would have any patience for missionaries, but if the possibility warmed her mother to the idea... But no. “We will never know for certain, since nothing will change. Their world and ours will continue to drift apart. People who are afraid of things they cannot understand will cut down the groves. The Sidhe will slowly die out, and so will we when our crops fail, our magic no longer works, and we are unable to conceive enough children because there are no lesser fay bringing fertility to our world.”
“Surely there must be some better option than that melancholy prospect.” Lady Matlock tapped her fingers together as if considering the matter.
Frederica stared at her hands. “I have been unable to find one.” Would the crops start failing in her lifetime, or would it be that of her children?”
“Nonsense. There is always something one can do.” Her mother looked thoughtful. “I believe I should host a grand soirée.”