Chapter Six #2
“Father’s wards are strong,” she reassured her mother. “You are certain the wights cannot enter the house?” she asked him.
He nodded. “They might not withstand a concerted attack from such creatures every night, but we need not worry tonight.”
“Oh! My nerves! My nerves!” her mother complained. Mr. Bennet signaled one of the maids to take her upstairs and give her a sleeping draught.
Elizabeth hurried to Mr. Dee. The raw neck wound was bleeding furiously and required most of her remaining energy just to seal it closed.
Completely healing it and the scrape on his cheek would have to wait until she rested.
His pallor suggested that the attack had set back the progress of his healing.
Her father had a long gash down the length of his leg and a wrenched knee.
Elizabeth did what she could. Hill had already dressed the wound in Lydia’s side—which was not as grave as it first appeared.
Elizabeth began the healing process on Mary’s injured ankle, promising to do more the next day.
By that point, she was weaving on her feet.
Jane gently led her to a chair in the blue sitting room, where the others had gathered.
Hill had laid out tea and lemon biscuits to settle everyone’s nerves. After a long silence, Kitty voiced the concern that was on everyone’s minds. “Will the wights return?”
Mr. Dee rested his head against the tall back of his chair. “I doubt it. Miss Elizabeth has an effective weapon against them. They can seek easier prey elsewhere.”
“Do we know why they attacked here?” her father asked.
Mr. Dee cleared his throat and shifted in his chair.
“I imagine they sensed the presence of an amulet I had on my person. The necromancer who summoned the wights desires the amulet. One of the wights tore it from my neck during the battle. Now that the necromancer has it, I believe he has no reason to seek me again.”
All eyes were fixed on their guest. “Where did you obtain an amulet desperately desired by a necromancer?” Elizabeth’s father inquired with deceptive mildness.
Mr. Dee’s expression was stony. “There are things I cannot reveal.”
“Magical amulets help sell a lot of wool, do they?” Her father’s voice was sharp.
“I will depart from Longbourn if that is your wish, sir,” Mr. Dee said calmly. His face was pale, and from the stiff way he held himself, Elizabeth guessed he was in pain.
“You cannot travel,” she said flatly. “You would not survive.”
“I would not place the inhabitants of Longbourn at risk,” he insisted.
“We will be safe if we remain behind the wards,” Elizabeth said to her father. “They only manifest at night.”
Her father inclined his head. “I am willing to see what happens tomorrow night. However, if the creatures return, we will address the situation again.”
“Fair enough.” Mr. Dee leaned forward in his chair. “Miss Elizabeth, how did you manage to fight off the wights?”
She glanced down at the hands clasped in her lap. “I cannot say. I had never fought such creatures before, but I was desperate. Since they are things of death, I thought to gather life energy and suffused them with it. I did not know what would happen.”
Mr. Dee shook his head. “They are supposed to be indestructible. I believed we were doomed.”
“Wights are creatures of death, and you are a mancer who wields the power of life,” Jane said softly.
Mr. Dee nodded slowly. “Miss Elizabeth’s power may be the sort necessary to defeat the wights.” He considered for a moment. “I have reason to believe that the necromancer may send the wights to menace others. Would you be willing to help them?”
“Of course,” Elizabeth responded. “You may share my secret with the Agency and Council leadership.”
“Elizabeth—” her father said in a warning tone.
She met his gaze. “Papa, I would not stand by and allow others to be killed by such creatures if I might help.”
He conceded with a sigh.
“And what variety of mancy did you use?” Kitty asked Mr. Dee. “I have never seen the like.”
He weighed his response. Elizabeth had long suspected that much of what he had told the family was a string of half-truths.
But her instincts told her she could trust him.
He certainly had been eager to protect the others during the wights’ attack.
But her father was not wrong to worry that the man’s secrets might be dangerous to the family.
Mr. Dee sighed. “I am a shadowmancer. I bound the wights’ sight with shadows.”
Her father raised an eyebrow. “Do you experience many wights attacking your family’s sheep?”
Mr. Dee stiffened. “As I am sure you are aware, sir, we are born into our magic, and we are born into our family. Those two accidents of birth do not always coincide neatly.”
It was odd. He was a stranger and could be lying, and yet Elizabeth longed to trust him. He exuded such an aura of dignity and honor that she needed to constantly remind herself he was a stranger. She credited him with a genuine concern for Longbourn’s safety.
A spot of red was growing on the fold of his disheveled cravat. “Mr. Dee, I believe your wound has opened again.” He touched the spot and winced in pain. “You should retire for the night. Let me heal you in your room.”
A flash of defiance in his eyes suggested he did not like being ordered about, but he acquiesced with a weary nod, too tired to argue.
They trudged up the stairs in silence. He sank gratefully onto his bed and unwound the neckcloth. The wound was not large, but it had ragged edges, and she suspected such a bite was more difficult to heal than one from an ordinary animal.
“I am exceedingly sorry your family was forced into such a battle,” he murmured while she knelt by his side and sent healing energy into the wound.
“Nobody should have to face wights. They are an abomination.”
I wish I could have fought them off on my own.”
She gazed up into his face. “Surely that is impossible!”
“Likely it is. Still, I regret drawing others into the fray.”
She tilted her head to the side and regarded him. “Nobody wants to send others into danger, but there is strength in numbers. I might not have discovered my ability to drain wights if my family had not protected me at the beginning of the fighting.”
“This is why I prefer to face danger alone. I do not want to be responsible for the safety of others—and they can be unreliable.” His face betrayed more than he knew. She wondered who had betrayed Mr. Dee’s trust so badly that he hesitated to trust again.
She stood, having finished healing his wound. “I suppose that is one difference between us. If I am facing trials, I would much rather not be alone.”
She had opened the door to depart when she heard Mr. Dee’s voice behind her mutter, “If you had lived my life, you would prefer it.”
***
Darcy slept late the next morning as his body recovered from the previous evening’s exertions.
The Bennet family had finished breakfast and were in the parlor when he descended the stairs.
Having recovered her strength, Elizabeth was able to completely heal the scrape on his cheek and further mend the wound on his neck.
Although Darcy was greatly improved, he was still tired and stiff and hoped that he would not need to do more fighting immediately.
He would have expected the wight attack to be the primary topic of discussion, but Mrs. Bennet was effusively reciting news that Hill had gathered during a visit to town earlier in the morning.
“Mrs. Cooper’s housekeeper said—” The woman gave a dramatic pause. “Netherfield Park is let at last!” This news elicited squeals of excitement from the younger girls, and even Jane raised her eyes from her embroidery.
Mr. Bennet glanced up from his paper and gestured for his wife to continue relating her story.
“It has been taken by a man of large fortune from the northern part of the country. He is worth five thousand pounds a year!” There were general murmurs of astonishment from around the room.
Darcy fixed his eyes on the opposite wall.
Not only was his fortune twice that of this unknown man’s, but such an announcement would not have occasioned any exclamations in Darcy’s circles.
He was experiencing anew the gulf between his world and the Bennets’—a gulf they did not perceive because they did not know Darcy’s true identity.
How would they treat him if they knew his real name?
With awe and deference—as they did this unknown neighbor?
In reality, they would probably be furious at his deception.
Fortunately, they were unlikely to make that discovery.
At times Darcy had been grateful for his secrecy, but at that moment the deception weighed upon him. The family undoubtedly experienced greater ease around Mr. Dee than they would around Mr. Darcy, but they did not truly know him. Elizabeth did not truly know him. What a melancholy thought.
“What is the new gentleman’s name?” Kitty asked.
“And when will he give a ball?” Lydia asked.
“Mrs. Cooper and her housekeeper do not know his name, but I assure you I will do my best to discover it so your father might visit him. Mrs. Jameson told her that Netherfield’s new owner would be attending the assembly ball with a large party of ladies and gentlemen.
That will be a treat indeed! Kitty, you must wear your new gown, and Lydia, we must procure ribbons for yours. ”
The longer Darcy resided at Longbourn, the more he had sensed the edge of desperation clinging to Mrs. Bennet. She had five daughters with virtually no dowries, and their family was barely tolerated in Meryton society. A wealthy unmarried stranger must appear to be a gift from heaven.
Mrs. Bennet was vulgar, and some of the daughters lacked sense, but Darcy had actually grown somewhat fond of them. None of them lacked bravery; they had protected him from the wights as if he were a part of the family.