Chapter 8 #3
Brownie loyalty never surprised Lizzy. Over the years, she saw unwavering evidence of the faithfulness of brownies to people, places, and nature. She would never doubt the fidelity and determination of the four standing in front of her to protect their Miss Catherine.
“Lady Catherine, if you would be kind enough to visit with Butterbell, I will send each out to after he has been warded.” This was the normal manner in which Lizzy had her patrons renumerate her for her services.
Three hours later, Lizzy had completed all the requested wardings, and she took some time to wander around the town with Mrs. Hanson.
She used the time to purchase gifts for her sisters and brothers.
Since her stop in London was unplanned, she did not plan on spending any time there shopping.
She did, however, send an express to her uncle and aunt informing them of her arrival in a few days.
She would spend her time with them while seeking out Lord Ashbourne’s son, Colonel Fitzwilliam.
The following morning, Lizzy and her companions departed Matlock for Lambton.
She knew with the few stops necessary to rest the horses, they would arrive sometime after the noon hour.
She planned on touring the town after refreshing in her room at the inn.
She would invite Mrs. Hanson to accompany her, and she knew Butterbell would make his own tour of the area to spread the word about individual warding to any brownie who might desire it.
Lizzy did not need to tell him that she would only be available after providing the service to Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.
Lizzy woke refreshed the following morning reflecting on the previous day.
Upon arriving at the inn, the day before, she discovered Mr. Darcy had already made arrangements for her stay.
He had reserved the largest room available, made sure the innkeeper treated her as respected guest of Mr. Darcy’s, and arranged for his own coach to arrive the following day to transport her to Pemberley.
Mrs. Hanson had already requested to remain at the inn, and Joseph volunteered to travel with Lizzy to Pemberley. Butterbell also chose to travel with Lizzy. He claimed he wanted to meet with a few acquaintances he had met the last time he visited Pemberley with her grandmother.
The trip to Pemberley took little time, and as soon as Lizzy could see the house from the convenient ridge, she remembered her last visit to the estate.
She recalled the house being massive inside, but she wondered if it would still look as large since she was older.
She also wondered if she would remember the few brownies she had met during the last trip.
They would remember her, she knew. Brownies did not forget meetings or people.
Sooner than expected, Lizzy noticed the coach was drawing up in front of the house. Mr. Darcy was standing outside waiting for her. She decided he must have a way to know whenever a coach is approaching, and he knew to expect her.
As the door opened, Mr. Darcy reached in, offered his hand, and greeted her. “Welcome, Miss. There are a number of people waiting to greet you.”
Lizzy smiled, took the offered hand, and allowed Mr. Darcy to help her down.
Lizzy then turned to the coach and addressed Butterbell who was still inside. “I expect you know where you will find your friends. I will meet you inside when I am finished.”
Butterbell only nodded his head and then exited through the door on the other side of the coach.
“My sister is waiting to greet you inside. She is excited about Featherleaf having a special ward,” Mr. Darcy said as he offered Lizzy his arm.
Gracefully laying her hand upon the offered arm, Lizzy followed Mr. Darcy into the house.
As she crossed the threshold, she noticed the inside did not look quiet as immense as she remembered.
The ceiling was still high, the carvings in the ceiling were still beautiful, and the staircase further in still looked inviting because of the long banisters running down the side of the steps.
As a child, she imagined sliding down the banister, but knew her grandmother would frown upon such an action.
The memory brought a huge smile to her lips.
“I know,” Mr. Darcy began, “it is a large entry way. Many people find it a little overwhelming.”
“Oh, no, Mr. Darcy. It is not the entry way which causes me to smile, but the banister.”
Mr. Darcy looked questioningly at her. “The banister?”
Lizzy continued to smile. “This is not the first time I have been in your home. I traveled here with my grandmother on her last visit.”
“I do not remember seeing you or your grandmother.”
“No. I believe you were away at school.” Lizzy had released his arm and removed her bonnet, gloves, and pelisse so she could hand them to the maid who was waiting to take them. “Shall we go and greet your sister?”
“Yes. You are correct. It is rude of me to keep her waiting.” Darcy nodded to the maid who then turned to carry Lizzy’s outwear to another location. “If you will follow me,” Mr. Darcy directed.
They walked up the impressive staircase, with its tempting banisters, to the first floor. Then, Lizzy followed the gentleman a little way down a hall before he opened a door on the left. He motioned for her to proceed him into the room.
Seated on a flowery sofa, was a young girl and a brownie. Lizzy quickly guessed this was Miss Darcy and Featherleaf.
“Miss,” Darcy paused near his sister, “I would like to introduce you to my sister, Miss Georgianna Darcy, and Featherleaf.”
Miss Darcy stood and the two curtsied to each other.
“Welcome to our home, Miss,” the young lady softly and shyly said before returning to her seated position.
The brownie hopped off the sofa and walked up to Lizzy. After a careful examination, and a few squinted looks, the brownie proclaimed, “I member you, but much smaller then.” She then sat back down beside Miss Darcy.
Before Lizzy could reply, Mr. Darcy indicated a seat for her to take and then he too sat down.
Once seated, Lizzy smiled congenially, and said, “Yes. I was only six at the time. It was the first time I accompanied my grandmother on her warding travels.” Lizzy then turned toward Mr. Darcy.
“Your father mentioned his son was at school, and I remember him saying a brownie accompanied you to school at great risk to his safety.”
“Yes. My mother said Rowan became attached to me while I was still in my cradle,” Darcy explained.
“When father first began talking about sending me to school, Rowan argued I should study at home with tutors. Father explained why I needed to attend school. Rowan spent three days in the woods. He would not even return home in the evening. Early on the fourth day, he woke me from a sound sleep and declared, ‘I go to school as well. I no leave you. Can no leave you.’ He had made up his mind, and no one was able to make him change it.”
“It must have been a fearful time for him,” Lizzy observed.
“Go from protection scary,” Featherleaf observed.
“Rowan was always happiest when we returned home on holidays,” Darcy observed. “We did spend one holiday with a school friend. Rowan refused to ever return to that friend’s home without protection. He would not explain why, but I honored his request and did not visit that friend again.”
“We know where not safe; we must protect,” Featherleaf remarked.
“Has your brownie always been protected?” Darcy wondered how long the warder had been able to invoke individual wards.
“No, I warded him ten years ago. He was my test subject. I did not know if warding just an individual brownie who traveled around would work or even how long it might last. This is the first time I have offered the protection to other brownies,” Lizzy explained.
“He had great belief in my ability, but I said I needed proof it worked.”
“What proof did you find?” Darcy did wonder how one could find proof unless there was a personal encounter with an evil user.
“There are those in the world who do not use their power properly. My brownie and I have had occasion to encounter a few such people. At first, I would not allow him close to them, but one day, he stepped in front of a woman who meant to use the power to harm me. As she cast the power forward, it seemed to bounce off him and fall harmlessly to the ground at the woman’s feet.
She was not happy, but nothing she tried would pass the shield around him. ”
“It was a brave step he took,” Darcy observed.
“Yes, but he declared he knew the protection would work.” Lizzy recalled how proud Butterbell sounded as he spoke those words.
“I believe I should take Featherleaf somewhere quiet so I might weave the protection around her,” Lizzy brought the topic back around to the purpose of her visit.
“Yes,” Darcy said. “I believe you will find the library a quiet place. I do, however, have one more request.”
“Ask it,” Lizzy replied.
“Rowan would like to have the same protection woven around him, if that would be possible.”
Lizzy smiled. “Have him come into the library after I send Featherleaf out.”
“I will send for him now. He is likely in the stables with the horses,” Darcy replied.
“If you follow me, I will show you to the library.”
Lizzy smiled at the young girl, who had risen from the sofa.
She noticed Featherleaf take hold of the young girl’s hand, and then Miss Darcy led Lizzy out the same door she had come in.
The library was further down the hall and to the right, and when she passed through the door Miss Darcy opened and held for her, Lizzy gasped in surprise.
“Amazing,” Lizzy uttered breathlessly.
“Yes, William is proud of this room. He tells everyone it is the work of generations of Darcys. Each master of the estate has added to the collection since first moving into the manor.”
Lizzy noticed a pleasing lilt to the young girl’s voice, and she spoke softly; almost as if not to disturb someone who might be in the room.
Lizzy guessed the girl was eleven, for if she remembered correctly, the elder Mr. Darcy had mentioned having a young daughter who had only turned two just before she and her grandmother arrived.
If Lizzy had an option, she would have requested the opportunity to visit the Pemberley library over the course of a few days, but she knew she was on a tight schedule, needing to arrive in London on the day designated to meet the earl’s son.
Over the next two hours, Lizzy wove the intricate spell around first Featherleaf and then Rowan.
Featherleaf had thankfully stood still while Lizzy was weaving, but Rowan seemed less able to remain still.
Lizzy wondered if it was because he enjoyed the outdoors more than Featherleaf.
Mr. Darcy had not mentioned it, but Lizzy felt Rowan’s deeper connection to the woods, flowers, and animals.
She reasoned this was why he had to be summoned from the stables.
As she neared the end of her task, Lizzy asked, “Rowan, do you often spend time with the horses?”
“Yes, Miss. Greatly enjoy friends. Especially young Master’s horse. He special. Young Master special. Now can travel with him. I protect better. Need no fear bad power.”
Lizzy knew about people wielding the power for evil purposes.
As Grandmother said, power was meant for good; it was a part of the natural order of the world and was especially found in woods, fields, meadows, and hills.
Unfortunately, not all people were good.
The eliminator used the power for a bad reason.
As Butterbell had mentioned, they had met a woman who tried to harm Lizzy during a trip to southern England. She turned the power to bad purposes.
Lizzy continually desired a way to bind the bad use of the power so it could not harm anyone.
She reasoned, if she could weave protective spells, she should be able to weave binding spells.
Lizzy had already determined to use her next respite as a time to experiment with trying to weave binding spells.
Something to stop bad power from leaving the person trying to cast it.
Of course, she was unsure how to begin because no one in her small community improperly used the nature’s power.
“Miss done?”
Rowan’s question recalled Lizzy’s mind to her currant task, and she chuckled softly as she noticed Rowan impatiently rocking from one foot to another.
“Only a moment more,” Lizzy replied as she bound of the final weave of the spell. Taking a deep breath, she then said, “Now, you may go.”
“How long?” Rowan paused to ask.
“At least ten years.” Lizzy was unable to say more because Rowan turned and rushed from the room. Lizzy chuckled again at his restlessness.
The following day Lizzy and her entourage left Lambton soon after sunrise.
Lizzy directed the driver toward Huntingdon, and just before that town, they would pick up the Great North Road.
This road was much traveled, but the road conditions were better.
She hoped to make the journey in three days which would allow her time to stop at the home of her uncle and aunt.
One day of rest would help her to be more refreshed before she met with the earl’s son, a major in the regulars, and his brownie Beechwood.
The entire trip proved uneventful with the exception of Butterbell arranging for Lizzy to ward each of the inns where they stopped to spend the night.
Lizzy, however, warned Butterbell not to arrange any individual wardings because they had little time to linger in any town they passed through.
Butterbell was slightly disappointed for he did so enjoy bragging about what his Miss could do.
He did, however, realize they needed to arrive in London on or before the prearranged date.