All Hallow's Eve (17 page)

The ladies came into hearing distance
just after
Mr. Bennet
had uttered
the last phrase and walked away from the group, leaving William standing wide-eyed, overcome by the multitude of emotions that had been stirred in the wake of the speech made by his
Soul Mate
’s father.
As the ladies approached, Elizabeth asked,
“
What is the task
at which
I will
need to make several attempts, sir
?
”

Lord Reginald and Richard chuckled
,
and Bingley pa
t
t
ed
his friend on the shoulder before the three made a quick retreat with their teachers.

“
Mr. Darcy, I asked
—
”

“
Yes, Miss Elizabeth, I did hear you.
My mind was engaged in an at
tempt to form a reply, but whilst
doing so, I find that I would prefer not to answer your question at all.
”
William head
ed
off toward the area of the meadow that they usually occupied, for the first time not waiting for Elizabeth.

Of what subject
could Papa have
been speaking
?
Elizabeth thought as she followed him.

~%~

November 4, 1811

The seating arrangement at any
gathering that would require one
had been an established custom for many years past
, and a performance of a London musician at the assembly room was no exception
.
Whenever Netherfield had been vacant, the Bennet and Lucas families
had
occupied the front rows, the other families of the area filing in behind them, sitting in accordance to
their
established
rank wit
hin their limited local society
.

Bingley, not even aware that a hierarchy had been established
,
and not at all used to being a leader in any society, h
ad
always sat wherever there happened to be a vacancy
,
unless there were cards indicating that he should sit in a certain place
.
He had no idea that since he had
come into the area
, the Lucas family had
been expected to
move back one row
,
leaving the front row
vacant for the party from Netherfield
.

For the past six weeks, Bingley’s sister Caroline had delayed
the departure of
their group
to any social function,
and
consequently,
they would arrive late to any outing that they had been invited to
attend
.
At the one concert that had been given shortly after his arrival in the area, upon their
entrance
,
the only row that had been left empty was the one in front, and so Bingley had led his party to it.
Even
he
had thought this a little odd, but he had quickly become pleasantly occupied in catching the eye of a certain young lady to allow his mind to ponder the subject too deeply.
Actually, he would have preferred
not
to have the Bennet family—especially the eldest daughter—in the row on the opposite side of the aisle where he could not glance
at her
without the entire audience noticing his action.

This being the first gathering that Caroline
would have the pleasure of attending with
a
viscount
and
the younger son of an earl
, her
honour
ed guests
, she made absolutely certain
that they would arrive much earlier than usual
so
that everyone in the
neighbour
hood knew exactly who her new guests were
.
Alth
ough she would have much preferred to be showing off to London society, she had to make do with what she had.

Upon their arrival, Bingley
had
noticed that many of the
spectators were
gathered out of doors in conversation.
Upon enter
ing the assembly hall, he
had
jumped at this
opportunity
, and
he led the Netherfield party to the second row on the left,
directly
behind the Bennets.

S
uddenly realizing that his friend did not understand the social order that was present even
at a gathering such as this
,
William
had made an attempt to catch his friend’s attention and explain the situation to him
. B
ut since his seat was only slightly to the left behind Elizabeth—
and she was
directly in his line of sight when he looked at the
piano
—he decided to allow his friend to learn from his own errors without interference from him.

Mortified,
Caroline
silently
fumed
at her brother
’s
choice in seating
, which
went completely unnoticed by the gentleman
, as usual
.

Lord Reginald and Richard understood exactly what was going on, and after seeing both Bingley’s and their cousin’s expressions, exchanged a smile, neither feeling slighted in the least.
Perhaps Richard was not the only one of the group who thought it was not a bad idea, tactically, for her guard to be situated close to Elizabeth, even if Richard was the only one who was armed with a sabre since he was in full uniform.

Elizabeth first notice
d
there was some difficulty
when she turned in her seat to
reply to
a
query
about her health from William.

“
Is there something the matter, Miss Elizabeth?
”
William
asked
in response to the appearance of shock across her visage, which
then
abruptly changed to
amusement
.

“
Do not turn
to look
, Mr. Darcy, but the entire population of Meryton is confused by your party’s change
in
the
usual
seating arrangem
ent.
They have no idea what to do
!
”

“
Do you mean that none of them ha
s
taken a seat as of yet?
”

“
No, sir, they have not.
T
hey are
all
standing at the rear of the
room
deep in conversation,
and,
I believe
,
attempt
ing
to work it out.
We are the only two parties seated.
”

Elizabeth had to turn around to face front when she saw William press his lips together, feeling as if she might laugh out loud.

William glanced to the right and saw that Mr. Bennet had also noticed.
His eyes were shining with tears born from repressing his mirth.
The three refused to look at each other again, lest they make a scene.

The innkeeper’s wife entered the room through the door near the piano to place a beautifully arranged vase of flowers on the
instrument
, and at seeing most of the seats empty
,
she stopped so sharply that her husband walked into her, almost knocking her down.
At her gesture, he looked at all the vacant seats
,
and the two exchanged a worried look.
The innkeeper continued on ahead of his wife, and called out,
“
Please, come in and have a seat!
The concert is about to begin.
”

As the muttering of the crowd only became louder, Lady Lucas took control of the situation, quite noisily directing her husband to take the front row on the right.
Upon arriving at said bench, Sir William attempted to
quietly voice
his
misgivings, but Lady Lucas simply nodded toward where Bingley’s party was sitting and raised her eyebrows at her husband.
He dutifully stepped aside and motioned to his family to file in.

Noticing the volume of the murmuring had increased once again, Bingley turned around.
Seeing the seats empty and the assemblage standing at the back of the room, he leaned toward Caroline.
“
What seems to be the problem?
”

It was obvious that Caroline meant to whisper, but she seemed to have trouble modulating the volume of her voice.
“
You
are their problem, Brother.
”

“
Me?
How...
”

“
Honestly, Charles, have you n
ever
noticed?
The
honour
of sitting
in the front row
always
goes to the most prominent families in the area
!
They were waiting to see if you
were
going to move
our party
to
the front row
, but now the Lucas family has taken it!
You hav
e embarrassed me beyond measure
and
have
dis
honour
ed our guests
by placing us here
!
Forcing Lord Reginald
—a viscount!—
Colonel
Fitzwilliam
,
and Mr. Darcy to sit in the second row
behind
...
”
As Caroline gestured toward the Bennet family,
Louisa grabbed hold of Caroline’s arm to stop her sister from continuing.
Caroline huffed.
“
Really, Charles!
”

William had a
“
coughing fit
”
when he saw Elizabeth’s hand move to hold her handkerchief to her mouth to cover her smile
. H
er shoulders quake
d
quite vigorously in her amusement.

Bingley made a mental note to himself to apologize to the remainder of his party later in the day.

Now that the Lucas family was seated, the balance of the
neighbour
hood could find their places as well.
The innkeeper
delayed only
until all were seated to introduce the performer.

Chapter 5

November
5
, 1811

As
she and William
walked
across
the meadow the next morning after gathering their
practice swords
, Elizabeth said,
“
Jane and I had long ago devised a way of practicing the patterns of combat,
combining
T
ribal
techniques with those of
my father.
Since you have learned many of them
already
and do so well
learning by
imitation,
I
think
that
you might do well with this
.
I can
use it to teach you
some
skills
that
you have not already
acquired
, as well as it
s
being practice for us both.
We will move much more slowly than
Jane and I
usually do.
As I progress to the next movement, you will imitate my previous one,
or at least make the attempt
if it is something that you have not yet seen.
Since Jane and I
are quite accustomed with
the entire
arrangement, we repeat it several times, moving a little faster with each repetition.
You and I can do the same, though first you must
gain knowledge of them all
.
Perhaps I should go through the sequence alone
so that you may become familiar with it
?
”

William nodded.
As she went through the arrangement, he could not but reflect that it seemed almost
a dance
.
She was so incredibly beautiful, how could he not memorize her every movement?
Alt
hough he had never had the
inclination
to dance
before this moment
, he certainly would not refuse
an invitation
to imitate her movements now for it meant he could be much
nearer
to her, which is something he desired
at all times
.

When
Elizabeth
ended the
arrangement
, he stepped closer
,
and she began again.
One movement flowed into the next, alternating offensive and defensive patterns
;
the
entire
cycle
made sense
to him
, as if he had
been born
know
ing
this sequence
.
Upon the second repetition, William was so comfortable that his eyes never left hers, and the two were lost within
the
other’s gaze.

He was doing so well that
Elizabeth
increased the speed of the
progression
with each successive recurrence
.
A
t some point, he
did not anticipate her
movements c
o
m
ing as
rapidly
as she made them
.
Even
such
a
slight delay
caused
his
sword
to
be
in
the wrong place as she stepped toward him,
and Elizabeth
stumble
d
.
Both were quick to
drop
t
h
eir
weapon
s lest they injure the other
, and William
reach
ed
out to
assist
her
in regaining her balance
,
pulling her toward him
.

Elizabeth’s hands
naturally
moved
to his chest to steady
her
self
, her right han
d rest
ing
above his racing heart
—
and their eyes met again.
They stood in this position
for some time,
their
breath
lessness continuing on too long for it to be
a result
only
of
their physical exertions,
each completely
captivated
by
the
feel of
the other
pressed against them
.
William’s eyes moved briefly to her lips
as h
is tongue
moistened
his own
, breaking the spell that had
been
cast upon her.

“
I should not have...
”
she whispered
.

A
t the same moment
,
he huskily
declared
,
“
I apologize
.
”

Elizabeth
slid
her hands down his chest as she stepped
away from him, leaving him
aching
for
her
touch
.

A
s he released her
shoulders
—
the last point of contact between them
—she gasped and
shivered.
N
ever
having
felt
a
s
hollow
as she did at
that
moment
, she wrapped her arms around herself
.

“
Elizabeth
!
Are you injured?
”

She shivered again at the way his voice caressed her name.
The tenderness and concern in his look
was
so intense that she
had
to
tear her eyes
away
in order to speak.
“
I am well.
”

“
Then
I am relieved.
If you had been
harmed
because of my inability
, I never would have forgiven myself
.
”

Hearing the pain in his voice,
Elizabeth furrowed her brow and reached out to
lay her hand upon
his arm.
“
It was
my
error, Mr. Darcy. I – I should not have increased the speed of the task so soon.
”

He
took her hand from his arm and held it between both of his.
“
Please
,
call me William?
”

T
he emotions
expressed
in his
eyes
produced a pleasant ache within
her;
she
could not
prevent
herself from
step
ping
closer
.

William took a chance; his hand
guided hers to the place it had been before
, and he
pressed
it against his heart
.

Elizabeth
could feel his heart
beat
ing
frantically
against her palm
,
a
s
his chest r
ose
and f
e
ll even more rapidly now than it had during their activity
—
matching
her own.
His
warm,
spicy scent beckoned her closer
,
and she took another step toward him.
Without thought, her left hand joined the other
, lightly tracing the firm muscles beneath the thin cloth
.

He made a sound, half-way between a moan and a gasp, sending a thrill through her entire body, causin
g the ache to deepen within her. S
he leaned into him, her eyes drawn to his lips
as they whispered her name
.

William
leaned toward her,
so close
that
she could feel his breath upon her face
.
Realizing what he was about, he caught himself and was about to move away, but then Elizabeth lifted her chin and
closed her eyes
in anticipation of
what she
was sure to come
.

H
e
could
not resist her invitation
.

His
lips
gently brushed against hers
—
again
and again
.
William
pulled back slightly to
gauge her reaction
, and
she watched
a
s an expression of joy
slowly spread across his face
at what he saw in her eyes
.
Elizabeth could not help but
return it
.
Her
left
hand seemed to move
of its own accord
to the back of his neck, fingers lac
ing
through his hair,
and
she leaned more firmly against him, bringing her lips to his
.

Encouraged, his free hand made its way to her waist,
then
slowly
moved to
caress
her back.
It took a great deal of effort to
stop
himself from deepening th
e
kiss
that she had initiated
or
from
pulling her closer
against him
, but
something
within
told him
that he would frighten her
if he gave in to these
almost overwhelming
desires
.

Elizabeth
barely breathed
his name
for the first time
,
and
his heart soared
.
H
e could not stop himself
from
smiling against her lips.

As
s
he
pressed her lips against his once again
,
t
he
Bennet family’s imminent arrival was
announced
by the
sound of Lydia
and Kitty
’s
distant laughter
echoing
through the
trees
,
returning
the
couple
to reality
.

Suddenly,
Elizabeth
’s eyes
flew open wide
,
and she
pu
lled completely
away from him
quickly
,
a deep
blush
spreading across her exposed skin
.
“
N
O!
”
she exclaimed
,
and
her hands moved to cover her mouth.