Chapter 16
“ Darcy, what are you doing here?” Eversleigh’s voice, still thick with sleep, interrupted Darcy’s reading.
Darcy closed his book and set it on a side table. “At last! I was starting to wonder if you would ever wake up.”
“How long has it been?”
“A day and a night. You fell asleep after Titania healed your hand. Aelfric dealt with Georgiana’s snake, and she fell asleep, too, so there has been no one to answer my questions. Then things became truly exciting – in all the wrong ways.”
“But how did I get here? I remember being in Faerie.”
“Aelfric brought you back to Rosings, but Titania insisted on keeping Georgiana until she awakes. What in God’s name happened to her?”
Eversleigh sat up and stretched. “She was under a spell placed by George Wickham. Nothing too serious; she simply had to tell him where you were going every time you left London. That solves the mystery of how someone could know all about your travels even when you tried to keep it secret.”
Darcy scowled. “Wickham has become more trouble than I ever thought possible, and that is saying quite a bit. Now we are up to four sorcerers – the late Sir Lewis de Bourgh, Lady Catherine, Wickham and Biggins.”
“Biggins is a sorcerer as well? Damn. ”
“I am afraid so. He is locked in the wine cellar, blindfolded and bound, guarded by Richard Fitzwilliam, two footmen, and a very self-satisfied cat. Of course, according to Aelfric, Biggins is also under a sorcerer’s spell, presumably Wickham’s. Biggins’s two cronies are bespelled and locked up. And now they are your problem.” Darcy forced himself to stop before he started tearing his hair out. It had been a very stressful day.
“Good God, what happened while I was asleep? How did you discover he was a sorcerer?” Eversleigh was wide awake now.
“Apparently Aelfric announced it to his face. You may be able to get a clearer story from Aelfric; he just tells me things like ‘snakes are slippery.’ Lord Matlock and Elizabeth are both in fay-induced sleep as well, so that is all I know. I have never felt so out of my depth in my life.”
“Darcy,” said Eversleigh distinctly, “I think you had best start at the beginning and tell me everything that has happened.”
Darcy glared at him. “What does it mean when a woman claims blood right to a man?”
“Could we save the discussion of fay etiquette until we have dealt with the sorcery?” Eversleigh sounded exasperated.
“No, it cannot wait.” He had already waited a night and a day for this answer, and so much depended on it.
“If you insist, it is the fay equivalent of marriage, although there is also an element of adoption and some exchange of magical power. Now can you tell me what happened?”
“Fay marriage? Is it irrevocable?”
“Yes, it is lifelong, and why is this so damned important?”
Darcy allowed himself a foolish grin. “Because Elizabeth claimed blood right to me shortly before you arrived and collapsed at our feet.”
“Elizabeth claimed blood right? Good God. I have never heard of a mortal doing that before.”
Darcy shrugged. “She was trying to force Aelfric into saving me from being bound. It seemed to work.” He was going to have a very interesting discussion with Elizabeth when she finally awoke.
“How did Aelfric come into this? Never mind. Just start at the beginning, if you value your life.”
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and presumably he created Faerie as well,” snapped Darcy.
“Darcy, I am not –” He halted, his eyes widening as he stared at the door in shock. “Lady Frederica?”
Good God, what was Freddie doing here? And in her nightgown!
She rushed to Eversleigh’s bed. “You are awake! Thank God! But are you well?”
In a much gentler voice than he had used to Darcy, Eversleigh said, “I have never been better in my life than I am at this moment.”
“You!” Frederica spluttered. “You... Do you know how worried we have been? What were you thinking to try such risky wild magic? You could have been killed!” She punctuated each statement by striking his shoulder with the side of her fist.
“Frederica –”
“Did I give you leave to use my name? After all you have put me through?”
“Marigold, then –”
“Stop it! You do not know what it is like not knowing if – mmph.” She broke off as Eversleigh stopped her complaints in a most ungentlemanlike manner. The bed creaked as he pulled her to him.
Darcy glared at the oblivious pair. What was wrong with everyone at Rosings Park? He ought to stop them, but then there would be yet another fight, and he was tired of fighting. With a sigh, he picked up his book and held it directly in front of his face, so close that the print blurred.
He would give them five minutes to resolve their difficulties, and then he would step in. What could happen in five minutes, after all? But wait – they were already in a bed. Only three minutes, then. And in their nightclothes. No, he would give them one minute.
Lady Matlock’s voice dripped ice. “I see I will not receive any assurances from Viscount Eversleigh about my husband’s health tonight. I believe I will return to my bed, and I hope that when I awaken in the morning, this will prove to be nothing worse than a very bad dream.”
Darcy’s book fell out of his suddenly frozen hands. Lady Matlock, clad in a seemlier dressing gown, stood in the doorway glaring down at her hapless daughter.
Frederica disentangled herself from Eversleigh. “Mama, it is not what you think –”
“It most certainly is exactly what I think.” Lady Matlock turned to leave but tossed out one parting remark. “Darcy, I am ashamed of you. You at least should know better.”
“Me? I was not the one tearing propriety to shreds!” he said in disbelief, but she was already gone. Lady Matlock liked to have the final word. “At least I did not walk out of the room and leave the two of you alone.”
“Pity,” drawled Eversleigh, but a smile touched his lips.
“I knew you would stop us,” Frederica announced. “But do not worry. Mama is not truly angry.”
Darcy said dryly, “If you leave this room continuing to insist you are not engaged, we will see an eruption that will put Vesuvius to shame.”
“Oh, well, then,” said Frederica.
Eversleigh grinned and pulled her to sit beside him, his arm remaining around her shoulders. “Good. I am glad that is finally settled. But as utterly delightful as this topic is, I believe Darcy was about to tell me something extremely important about sorcerers in the wine cellar.”
FREDERICA CAME TO ELIZABETH’S room several hours later. “Good, you are awake, too. Poor Darcy has been up in the boughs snapping at everyone and looking ready to explode. He has been frantic over you and attempting to deal with all the sorcery while not being able to ask for help from anyone in the Collegium. The worst is when he has to ask your cat to tell him whether someone is a sorcerer. Poor Darcy, reduced to taking orders from a cat!”
“I imagine he would not like that,” said Elizabeth as she pulled a comb through her hair. “I understand his worry, though. First Sir Lewis, then George Wickham, and now Biggins were all members of the Collegium. If the Collegium has hidden three sorcerers, how many more may be among its ranks?”
“Eversleigh is already planning an emergency meeting of the Collegium, though I cannot imagine how he will explain to them that Aelfric must look in each one’s eyes and Pepper has to sniff them. My father seems unable to sit still long enough to worry about it.”
“Is your father well? I was certain he was dying in front of me before Titania came. It was so much worse than the attack he had before, and my magic was already depleted.”
“My father?” Frederica rolled her eyes. “He is driving my mother mad. Titania apparently made his heart into something halfway between a Sidhe and a human heart. Somehow this also ended up giving him boundless energy and a mischievous sense of humor. It is a little frightening.”
“I wonder if she did anything to my heart. It was a very strange sensation. But she would probably not change anything without asking me first.” Elizabeth flexed her sore arm. “I would not have minded if she had fixed this, though. How is Anne de Bourgh?”
Frederica’s expression grew sober. “She has been helping my mother to receive the constant stream of callers from London, but it has been difficult for her to have a sorcerer in the house. It brings up too many memories, she says.”
“Why are they calling? Simply to meet Anne?”
Frederica’s face brightened. “Our revel was a grand success. Everyone claims they were delighted with the fay from the moment they saw them, and Prinny himself praised our illusion-building and said he would like to see more of it. No one will dare call you a witch when the Prince Regent has approved your use of magic! But the reason they are coming here is that every hostess in London wants to invite the Sidhe to their own soirées. Since they do not know where to leave calling cards for them, they come here. The poor ton has no idea how to deal with beings who do not follow their rules. A few ladies have even asked how they can arrange for their daughters to learn to make illusions. Anne will be pleased about that.”
“Dare I ask what has been said about the blood right ceremony?” She suspected Darcy would have discovered its true meaning by now. He would have every reason to be angry with her.
“Not a word. Darcy has been silent as the grave on the subject. To be fair, he has had a great many distractions. I still cannot believe you did it.”
“I am shocked by it myself. Naturally, I will not hold Mr. Darcy to any commitment.”
“But you did it to save him!”
“He never asked me to save him, especially not in that way. Bluebird said the binding was why I could not keep up my part of the illusion with you and Anne. If Aelfric had not stepped in to help, I would have embarrassed us all.”
“It was very strange to feel his magic as part of it, though Anne seemed to like it. I find it disturbing, though, that a Sidhe can join a spell without having to touch the person casting it. What if we do not want their help?”
“You need not worry on that account. Aelfric could only do it because of his blood right to me.”
“This blood right business is very confusing. I am glad no one can claim it to me.”
“I do not blame you. And now I have three men with blood right to me – Aelfric, Eversleigh, and now Darcy. Tiarinn , shurinn , and eliarinn , though that last one was rather rash on my part, to say the least.”
“Do you regret doing it?”
“No.” Even if Darcy was angry, she was glad she had been able to offer him protection. Part of them would always be joined, even if she never saw him again. But his kiss had given her hope.
There was a knock on the door. “Enter,” said Elizabeth.
Darcy stood in the doorway, his eyes fixed on her with indecipherable look. He walked slowly towards her.
Good heavens! He was in her bedroom. This was beyond improper, even with Frederica there.
Without taking his eyes from Elizabeth, he said, “Freddie, you may go now. I want to be alone with my eliarinn .”
He knew. Sometime between the revel and this moment, he had learned the meaning of claiming blood right.
“Certainly,” Frederica said brightly. She closed the door behind her.
Elizabeth’s heart began to pound as Darcy continue to advance towards her. “I know you did not understand what blood right entailed. I will not hold you to a commitment you entered into unknowingly.”
“It hardly matters whether you do, because I certainly intend to hold you to it, and the bond cannot be broken,” he said conversationally. “Have you tried to use magic since that night?” He stopped less than a foot from her.
She took half a step backwards. “Only for the illusion at the revel.”
He held up his hand and rubbed his thumb against his fingertips. Blue flame emerged from his thumb, just as it did when she made flame. “You see what has happened to me? I imagine the same has happened to you. There is water in that basin. Tell it to spill over the edge.”
“I have no power over water.” She had never seen him like this.
“Try anyway.”
Silently she told the water to spill. And it did, just as it had listened to her at the revel. “Good heavens!” No wonder her magic had misbehaved. She had some of Darcy’s magic, and he had some of hers.
“Good heavens, indeed. Now close your eyes and tell me what I am doing with the hand I have behind my back.”
“How could I... Oh, very well.” She closed her eyes and thought about his hand. Suddenly she could feel it – from the inside. Her eyes flew open. “You have your fingers spread.”
He produced his hand, and his fingers were indeed spread. He stepped forward until their bodies were almost touching. “Do you still believe it is possible to choose not to hold me to the commitment?” He seemed intent and demanding at the same time, hunting her like a lion stalking a gazelle. Was he displeased with her?
She moistened her dry lips with her tongue. “I did not expect that to happen. I assumed it was more of a legal connection, and I had no way of knowing Aelfric would break with Wickham that night anyway.”
“You said you loved me. You said you would leave England with me. You claimed blood right to me. There is no going back.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, but instead of pulling her towards him as she expected, he steered her backwards one step at a time. “If I had known what it meant, do you know what I would have done?”
The back of her legs came up against the bed, causing her to sit down with a thump. “What?” Why was her voice so high?
He placed his hands on the bed on each side of her hips and leaned over until she could feel the warm rush of his breath on her face. “I would have done it anyway,” he whispered .
His lips descended on hers. As his mouth moved across hers, unleashing a tide of desire, he bore her backwards until her head was on the pillow. He scooped her legs up onto the bed and then he was above her, propping himself up on his elbows with his legs trapping hers.
Elizabeth rallied one final bit of rationality. “Why are you behaving this way?”
His smile had something feral about it. “Because I have noticed that whenever you take a step towards accepting me, you run away afterwards. I want to make it clear your running days are over.”
Joy flooded her. She wound her arms around his neck. “Who says I want to run? After all, I was the one who claimed blood right.”
His eyes flared. “So you did, eliarinn .” He brushed his lips against the side of her neck and trailed his tongue up to her ear. “And I did not deny you,” he whispered before turning his attention to the sensitive notch between her collarbones.
With a whimper she arched herself towards him, desperate to feel his body against hers, and he obliged by lowering his body to meet her own. She could feel the pressure of him through every inch of her, and it still was not enough. She clasped his head between her hands and brought his lips back to hers.
She had longed for this so much since that night in the Dower House sitting room and had despaired of ever feeling it again. And it was even more – so much more contact, and this time she could feel the reflection of his pleasure in her response. It made her even more shameless, running her hands down his back as his kiss devoured her.
That ache she remembered started building again deep within her, making her writhe beneath him. Oh, she needed more! And this time there was no need for guilt or shame, and she could drown in the pleasure of his hand caressing her neck, her shoulder, her arm – had he pushed her dress off her shoulder? Yes, and now he was bringing his mouth to that tender skin.. .
The knock on the door barely registered to Elizabeth through her sensual haze, but Darcy must have noticed it. “Go away!” he called.
“Fitzwilliam Darcy, I am going to count to ten, and then I am opening this door.” Lady Matlock sounded furious.
“I should have locked it,” muttered Darcy as he helped Elizabeth pull up the shoulders of her gown. They both scrambled off the bed.
Elizabeth attempted to straighten the rumpled counterpane, but it was hopeless. Instead she sat down firmly in the middle of it to cover the evidence. There was nothing to be done about the disheveled state of her hair.
The door opened to reveal a frowning Lady Matlock. Her husband stood behind her, looking more amused than annoyed.
“There is no reason for concern.” Darcy bit out the words. “Elizabeth and I went through the Faerie equivalent of marriage just before the revel.”
“That is not my equivalent of marriage,” said Lady Matlock. “Darcy, you will find a horse, ride to London, and return with a special license. Now.”
“There is no point,” Elizabeth said, acutely conscious of her swollen lips. “I am not of age, so it would not be valid.”
“In that case, Darcy will also have to call on your father and get his permission,” said Lady Matlock severely.
“My father is more likely to lock me in the attic than to give his permission,” Elizabeth said. “Convincing him may not be a quick process, and I am not willing to speak to him about it at present.”
“Then we will just have to keep you apart until he gives it,” Lady Matlock stated firmly.
Darcy made a noise that could only be described as a growl. “Come, Elizabeth. We are leaving.”
“Where do you think you are going?” Lady Matlock demanded.
“To Faerie, where everyone agrees we are married,” snapped Darcy.
“Nonsense,” said Lord Matlock cheerily. “There is no need. I can fix this.” He left and a moment later came the sound of footsteps bounding down the stairs.
Lady Matlock placed a beringed hand over her eyes. “One hesitates to even wonder what he means. We will wait for him in the drawing room, though. Not here.”
They found Eversleigh, Frederica, Anne, and Colonel Fitzwilliam already in the drawing room, each with a knowing smirk. Elizabeth’s cheeks burned. Frederica must have told them all why she had sent her parents to Elizabeth’s room.
A quarter of an hour later Lord Matlock strode into the drawing room and dropped two papers in Darcy’s lap. “Signed and sealed. That should take care of it.”
Darcy read through the top paper and shook his head. “I do not know why you think it will help to have a letter from you granting your permission for Elizabeth to marry me. You are not her father.”
Lord Matlock settled himself comfortably in a large armchair. “Second letter.”
Darcy did not bother to look at it. “Tell me you did not forge her father’s signature.”
“I did better than that. I adopted her.” Lord Matlock looked smug.
Elizabeth’s jaw dropped. “You cannot just adopt me!”
“Of course I can,” said Lord Matlock. “I told you I would fix it, and I did.”
Elizabeth looked at Darcy. “That cannot be legal, can it?”
“Perhaps, if your father does not challenge the adoption.”
“He would not dare,” said Lord Matlock. “By the time he could, you will have been living as husband and wife. Too much scandal, and what judge is going to believe that an impoverished country gentleman with six daughters refused to give his permission when the Earl of Matlock wanted to adopt one of them?”
“Five daughters, and you ought to be careful, my lord,” Elizabeth said archly. “I might decide I like being an earl’s daughter better than getting married.”
Darcy and Lady Matlock spoke in unison. “Absolutely not.”
Lord Matlock guffawed. “No worries there. You would never agree to be in my custody for a second longer than necessary. Darcy will ride to London tonight, get the special license first thing tomorrow morning, and we will have you married before dinner. Tonight we shall drink a toast to this very short engagement.”
“And to celebrate having a new daughter for a few hours,” said Eversleigh. “Not to mention having claimed blood right. Did I tell you Titania is extremely excited about it? She says your children will be tiarinn to her, which will make the two of you her shurinn as well.”
“ Tiarinn ? But that means shared blood kin. Our children would not have any of Titania’s blood,” said Elizabeth.
Eversleigh’s mischievous look intensified his resemblance to the Sidhe. “You were bound together by Titania’s blood, and apparently that gives something to your children. Your offspring may have interesting magical powers.”
Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. “I have not had the chance to mention this to you yet, but if any of our children turn out to be elemental mages, I would want them to spend part of their childhood in Faerie. For years I dreaded having children and watching them suffer as I did. Even when I wear a ring of fay metal, there is still enough elemental pressure to be difficult for a child. In Faerie they would have a chance to be ordinary children.”
Elizabeth batted her eyelashes at him. “Allowing my children to spend time in Faerie? How would we ever get Titania to agree to that?”
Frederica and Eversleigh laughed, but everyone else, including Darcy, looked puzzled. Elizabeth explained, “Titania has been asking for my children to visit her already. I believe she would settle for any child I could find on the street.”
Lord Matlock’s old look of curiosity was back. “How did Titania’s blood come into this? Tell me about this binding.”
“We are still discovering for ourselves what it means,” admitted Darcy. “Here is one effect of it.” He rubbed his thumb and fingers together and produced fire.
Lord Matlock leaned over to examine the flame. “Fascinating. How did you do that?”
“It is Elizabeth’s wild magic. Some of it transferred to me in the binding, and she now has some control over water.”
“Really?” Frederica eyed Eversleigh assessingly.
Lord Matlock pulled over a chair. “You must tell me about it this minute.”