Chapter Six #3
Perhaps he might help them once he returned to his life. His Aunt Margaret might sponsor one of the sisters in London society. With their mancy talents, they should be sought after as brides for families with sufficient wealth of their own who wanted to ensure that magic bred true in their lineage.
Kitty and Lydia were too young and flighty for such an honor, and Mary was too sour.
But Jane and Elizabeth were quite pretty and very magically talented.
But the thought of Elizabeth wedding another man made his stomach churn.
I should be happy if she found a worthy husband, he admonished himself.
She deserves a secure future, but he did not want to envision it.
Then he recalled that he could not bring a Bennet daughter forth in society without revealing his true identity.
Surely there was some service he could render the family.
Perhaps a gift of some variety? But would Bennet’s pride allow him to accept it?
Or could I do so anonymously? Damnation!
How had the situation grown so complicated?
“Will you attend the assembly ball?” Lydia asked Darcy.
Darcy had only been giving the conversation half his attention. “I beg your pardon?”
“We will have an assembly ball in Meryton in a week’s time. Will you attend?”
Darcy would wager he would be the only attendee who had washed up on the banks of the River Lea.
Despite his customary distaste for balls, he found the idea strangely appealing.
I am simply in need of entertainment to break up the monotony.
It has nothing to do with the prospect of spending more time with Elizabeth.
If there were no further wight attacks, attending a ball should be safe enough. It would be a pleasant ending to his sojourn at Longbourn. He might dance with Elizabeth—a memory to carry with him after he quitted the neighborhood forever. “I do not know if I will still be in Hertfordshire….”
Elizabeth gave him a sharp look. “You need at least a week more to recover—unless you wish to court pneumonia or additional injuries.”
He nodded, attempting to appear meek and obedient. “I would prefer to remain. I have not fared well by ignoring your medical advice.”
She laughed.
The discourse had turned to who would attend the ball when Hill opened the parlor door. “There is a man at the door who said he is seeking his cousin.”
Richard! Finally. Darcy climbed to his feet.
He could hear his cousin’s voice speaking to a servant in the hallway. Darcy made haste toward the front hall as fast as his battered body would allow. Richard was dusty and travel-stained, but lines of worry around his eyes smoothed out when he saw Darcy.
“Will!” His cousin took Darcy’s extended hand and pulled him into a hug, holding him with a surprising ferocity.
“Good Lord, man,” Richard whispered into Darcy’s ear. “I truly believed we had lost you.”
Darcy returned his cousin’s embrace. “I apologize. I did send a letter. Did it go astray?”
Richard grimaced. “It must have. I received nothing.” He released his death grip on Darcy, who gestured for his cousin to follow him to the drawing room. Darcy would have preferred a private tête-à-tête with Richard, but it would be unforgivably rude not to introduce him to the Bennet family.
“These good people have been taking care of me,” Darcy said, identifying each by name.
He introduced his cousin only as “Richard Williams.”
Mrs. Bennet took one look at the cut of Richard’s suit and decided that he was someone her daughters should become acquainted with.
“Are you also in the wool trade?” she asked him.
Richard looked a little startled. “Not at present. I am in the army.”
Lydia squealed. “Did you bring your regimentals? I love a man in red!”
Richard’s lips twitched. “No. I do not intend to stay the night.” Lydia made a moue of disappointment.
Tea arrived, and the next hour of Richard’s life was consumed with responding to intrusive questions from Kitty, Lydia, and Mrs. Bennet, many of which he had to answer as evasively as Darcy had.
Elizabeth said little but watched with an appraising eye, no doubt noticing all the things Richard did not say.
Eventually the conversation devolved—as it so often did at Longbourn—into a monologue from Mrs. Bennet.
She nattered on obliviously about the varieties of wool she preferred and the best colors of dye.
Richard listened in bemusement, nodding occasionally.
Lydia interjected with questions about his uniform, regiment, and horse.
Darcy was finally free to maneuver Richard outside to the back garden. He was forced to rely on a cane for support as he limped the short distance to the chairs under the oak tree.
Richard’s easy amiability with the Bennets had been replaced by a sober look of concern. “I pray you, cousin, tell me what happened. If I had not tasted those lemon biscuits myself, I would have sworn the Bennets were starving you. And you appear to have not slept for a week.”
Darcy had a mirror. He knew he was gaunt and pale. “In short: I hit my head, was stabbed by the necromancer’s men, and then I fell into the Lea.” He gave his cousin an abbreviated account of his travails.
Richard gasped. “One of our agents reported a rumor you had drowned. At first, I did not credit it, but when I receive no word from you, I worried it was true.”
“It was a near thing,” Darcy admitted. “Elizabeth and Jane Bennet pulled me from the river, and Elizabeth healed me.”
“She is the dark-haired one you were staring at?”
Darcy’s head jerked up. “I was not staring at her!”
Richard chuckled. “I have never seen you so entranced by a woman. I was beginning to believe you were impervious to their charms.” He held up a hand to forestall another protest. “Oh, I doubt any of the Bennets noticed your infatuation. They do not know you as well as I.”
Darcy shook his head. “You had better not share these wild speculations with another soul. You know we must both marry women of impeccable breeding.”
Richard rubbed his face. “Indeed. I had another lecture from my father on the subject just the other day.”
Darcy found himself scowling at his cousin. Being Mr. Dee was so much pleasanter than the man with the weight of so many family duties.
“But Miss Elizabeth’s father is a gentleman,” Richard pointed out.
Darcy shook his head. “Her mother’s family is in trade. Your father and Aunt Catherine would be appalled. It is just as well. She has no desire to be thrust into the public eye.” With good reason. “And marriage to me would inevitably bring that.”
“She does not appear overly shy,” Richard said with a frown.
“It is not shyness,” Darcy said. “It is…I must tell you something in the strictest confidence.”
“Of course.”
“Yesterday evening the Bennet family and I were attacked by about a dozen wights—no doubt sent by the necromancer. The creatures retrieved the amulet I had taken before.”
Richard gasped. “How did you survive?”
“Things would have gone ill for us indeed were it not for Elizabeth. She was able to destroy the wights because she is a vivomancer.”
“A vivomancer!” His cousin took a moment to absorb the news. “Why does the Council not know of it?”
“Her family has concealed her powers for her entire life.”
Richard folded his arms over his chest. “And yet you are telling me.”
“She has consented for me to share the information with the director and the Council leadership. Cranston should know that vivomancers can destroy wights. He should recruit Britain’s other vivomancers in secret, so they are prepared if the wights attack elsewhere.”
Richard nodded slowly. “Yes, that would be an extremely valuable weapon. Wights are thought to be indestructible. But two vivomancers may not be sufficient. Will Miss Elizabeth help the Council if they request it?”
Darcy frowned, not liking the idea of putting her in danger. “I believe so. Her family is intent on keeping her talent private, but she has a strong sense of right and wrong. She has saved my life twice.”
Richard’s eyebrows shot up. “Then I owe her a great debt.” Darcy considered how much bigger was the debt he owed her.
Darcy glanced at the angle of the sun. “You should depart soon. Until the danger of the wights is past, you should avoid traveling at night.” He handed his cousin a scrap of paper. “I wrote a list of the necromancer’s followers whom I recognized.”
His cousin read the list, eyes widening. “There are prominent names on this list.”
“Yes. The movement to use dark magic is clearly more widespread than we credited. And many of the followers were masked. There could be even more prominent mancers among their number. I am only praying there are none on the Council.”
Richard winced. “God forbid.” He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. “I will take this to the director. This situation is far more serious than we feared.”
“Do you think he will have the followers arrested?”
Richard sighed. “He would hate to agitate some of the old families, particularly without more evidence than your word. However, this necromancer threatens everything. I did not know one person could even summon more than a single wight. Such news is quite disturbing.”
“There are many members of the Council who will argue against arrests,” Darcy said.
“I hope that will not sway the director’s decision.”
“Which way will your father fall?” The Earl of Matlock was one of the longest-serving Council members.
Richard grimaced. “I do not know. He always says the Council made the right decision about Edward, but I do not know if he actually believes it. For a time, I thought Papa would surrender his Council seat after…but perhaps he did not because he still believes in its mission.”
“I hope so.”
“I wish you could deliver the report in person, Will.”
“I will come as soon as I can. However, yesterday’s attack set back my recovery.”
Richard clapped a hand on Darcy’s shoulder. “Is this family taking good care of you?”
“Yes. I am very fortunate.”
“Indeed.” Richard grinned. “For that alone I am willing to undergo any number of sighs about regimentals.”
Darcy laughed.
They chatted for a few more minutes as Darcy escorted his cousin to the stable. They clasped hands before Richard mounted his gelding and trotted down the drive. Darcy watched until the other man was out of sight, hating the necessity of giving the charge into another’s hands.
When Darcy turned toward the house, he found Elizabeth standing in the drive, watching him. “Your cousin has departed already?”
“Yes, I thought it best if he did not travel at night.”
“Indeed.” She lifted an eyebrow. “And he is taking your important information to the Council?”
Darcy should never underestimate her intelligence. “Why do you say that?”
She rolled her eyes. “You were eager for your information to go somewhere. I did not believe it was to the wool merchants’ guild.”
Darcy laughed. “My cousin has some contacts in the Council. They need to know about the wights as soon as possible.” At least that was true, just not the whole truth.