All Hallow's Eve (15 page)

“
No, it is quit
e all right.
I am not offended.
A
ctually, I have seen many men without
neck cloths
.
I
t is just that
...
I
ha
d
never noticed
before
…
”
Her voice trailed off as she tilted her head
back
and
to the side a
s
her hand moved to touch her own neck.
“
When you swallow
, and sometimes when you speak—
part of your neck
moves
!
Does that happen
to all men,
all
of
the time
?
”

William
could not stop himself from swallowing, and then
he
coloured
, knowing that she had seen what happened to his neck as he had
.
“
I – I have not paid very close attention to other men’s necks.
I do not know how to answer
you
.
”
It suddenly occurred to him that
all the gentlemen would be without neck clot
hs today
.
Th
e
thought
that she might
spend part of the day
looking at other men’s necks
was very disturbing
.
Perhaps that is why
British
men wore neck cloths in the first place!
Had his lack of a cravat exposed some
great
flaw in him that
he should keep
hidden
from this moment on
?
William
had to keep his hand from
moving to cover
his
throat
whil
st
h
e quickly offered,
“
I will pay close attention and give you an answer as soon as possible.
”

She nodded,
and
mov
ed
his arm into the correct position.
“
Both are correct.
Part of what
I
teach you
has been
handed down
T
ribally
and part is my father’s own method.
”

He had to think back over the past few minutes to gain some insight into why Elizabeth had furnished this information.
After he remembered his question to her, he replied,
“
So, other
I
mmun
would not have known some of these moves?
”

“
Correct
.
Anything specific to my father’s technique would not be known by another
Immun
unless th
at man
was
trained by my father
and
skilled enough to remember them all.
My father usually customizes his training to
each
person’s style and will
only
show
the moves that
he knows th
at
person
w
ould be able to
perform
.
Alt
hough with
the
four
of you
, he has chosen to teach
as much as possible in the time allowed
and hope that you
remember
most of
what you are able to
do
.
There is not time enough before the
Olc
arrive
s
to
analyse
your achievements
in stages
and choos
e which to teach
,
as he
normally
would.
”

“
From what you are saying, would that mean that you
—
”

Elizabeth’s back stiffened
as he spoke
,
and she interrupted him,
“
I am
skilled enough
to perform
all techniques
equally well
and
entirely able to teach them.
”

William
raised his eyebrows and looked at her seriously.
“
You mistook my meaning
, madam
.
I do not doubt
you
r
proficiency
in the least
.
”

She closed her eyes for a moment before s
t
a
t
ing,
“
I apologize for jumping to conclusions, sir.
The one
opinion that
I have found
most
common
among men
is the idea that women are inferior
in every way possible—other than child
b
earing
and child rearing.
In my experience
,
about half
of the men
feel they are more skilled at
child rearing
as well
, even those who have had nothing to do with
that endeavor,
”
she said with a raised brow and a throaty laugh.
Immediately sobering, she continued,
“
T
hrough the years
,
I have had to do a great deal
t
o defend my competence.
You are the first to have accepted
my
level of skill
after
such a short time
.
I should thank you
for not forcing me to prove myself
constantly
as so many others have done in the past
.
”

“
There is no re
ason to thank me for
recogniz
ing
the truth
, Miss Elizabeth
.
I
can only be
grateful that you
willingly
cho
o
se to share your
abilities
with me.
What I was about to say was that
you
know some tactics
which
our adversaries will not.
”

Elizabeth blushed slightly at hearing what he would have said if she had not interrupted him.
“
This is true, but they probably will have some strategies that we do not expect as well.
Especially since they might not fight fairly.
”

“
Yes, my father warned me of this.
It is not part of my nature to think
as if I were someone who cheats
, but
I was trained to fence by a
master
who included th
at
as part of his
lessons, in case
there was ever a
need to
truly
defend
my
self
instead of
simply
engaging for sport.
I found it very difficult to do at first, but it did
serve me well
once.
”

She hesitated momentarily,
and William thought
that she would ask
a
bout the time he
had
needed to use this approach, but then
seemed to
have thought better of it.
“
Well, then, Mr. Darcy, you
already
have an advantage over most of those who come to my father for instruction.
Shall we begin?
”

~%~

William had walked Elizabeth home and retrieved his horse from the stables at Longbourn,
with enough time to return
to Netherfield
and refresh himself
before he met with the rest of his party
for a
mid-day
meal
.
Along the way, they touched on a great many subjects of conversation, finding they had many opinions in common.
Whe
never
their sentiments differed, the two debate
d
their own point of view, making
for
some
very lively discussion
s
.
Upon reaching
their destination, William found himself wishing there had been a greater distance between the meadow and her home
,
and
he
hoped
for
a repetition of this morning’s
friendly
repartee
—a
s well as
Elizabeth’s smiles
and laughter
—
during
future rambles
.

What he did not guess was that Elizabeth’s thoughts were surprisingly similar to his own
.

~%~

Bingley found a few moments to speak to William
alone
on their way to the dining room for luncheon
.
“
After using Jane’s first name for most of yesterday, I hope I will not find it difficult to
change
back to ‘Miss Bennet’ in public.
”

William raised his eyebrows quite high.
“
Miss Bennet
permits
you to use her Christian name?
”

“
Yes, she said that it is not common for those within the
T
ribes to use last names
or refer to each other
as
formally as
it is within
British society
, except for those
with titles
of nobility
, such as your cousin
.
All of the ladies have made the same request
of me
.
”

“
Miss Elizabeth did not grant me permission to do the same
,
”
William stated, and then added as an afterthought,
“
N
either did her sisters.
”

“
Oh?
”
Bingley looked a little sheepish.

“
Bingley, what are you not telling me?
”

“
Well
,
I do not wish to upset you, Darcy.
”

“
Bingley, please!
”

“
They
did
ask it of everyone else—including Eli
—
Miss
Elizabeth.
”

William closed his eyes momentarily, and sighed.
“
I see.
”

“
Perhaps they have only...
”

William placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder to cease his speech.
“
There is no
thing you can say to
ease my mind
, Bingley, but I
do appreciate
the effort.
”

~%~

“
Caroline!
”
Bingley exclaimed,
“
I had told you that we
were
go
ing
out and that you should
plan for
a quick meal—which does not
include
three courses
!
We will be able to stay for
one
.
Arrange it so with the cook.
”

“
You and the gentlemen
were
not
at
home all day yesterday, Charles!
”
Caroline whined.
“
You owe it to me and your sister and brother
to stay home long enough to eat a decent meal.
I insist
.
”

“
No, Caroline.
This
is
business
that
cannot be delayed
,
”
Bingley stated
firmly
,
doing his best at imitating William’s
phras
ing
and
decisive
tone of voice
.
“
This
is
the way it will be for the next fortnight, at the very least.
Unless we have a previous engagement, w
e will be at home
only
at
sundown
and will most likely retire shortly after
our meal
.
”
Thinking of his conversation with the gentlemen at luncheon the previous day, Bingley took this opportunity.
None of those involved wished to place his sisters in danger.
“
Perhaps you, Louisa
,
and
Leonard
should return to London
since we will be spending so
little time at home
.
I am certain you can
amuse yourself much better in T
own.
”