All Hallow's Eve (30 page)

She replied only with
a scowl
, her eyes flashing with dissatisfaction
.

“
Elizabeth, I will n
ever
sleep if you do not
make this promise.
”
When she did not respond, he raised both of his eyebrows high
.
“
W
ill
you
force me to
remain
in a chair outside your door to ensure your safety?
”

Sighing, Elizabeth
replied
,
“
I
promise I will go nowhere alon
e until the
Olc
is dealt with.
”

He thanked her and kissed her hand
lovingly
before making certain that she was safely within her bedchamber
.
He listened
to
the door
bolt
move
firmly in place
before
turning toward
his own rooms
,
and
he was surprised to
hear her door open again.

Elizabeth’s head pee
ked out, and
she
looked at him with mirth shining from her eyes.
“
At least you will not be surprised to find that I am stubborn only
after
we are married, William!
”
She laughed and closed the door behind her once again.

~%~

Nov
ember
16
, 1811

Mary
was late
to
join
the
others
in
break
ing their
fast
.
Upon her entering the dining room,
Mrs. Bennet
noted her
countenance
and could not help but comment
,
“
Mary,
are you well?
”

Mary nodded.
“
I
have little appetite this morning, but I am well. I am only tired, Mama.
Last night, I
was
contacted
by the Otherworld
,
and i
t takes a while for sleep
to find me
again
after one of those ‘dreams.’
”

“
H
ave
you
something to share with us, Mary
?
”
Elizabeth
asked
.

Mary looked a
t
the
many pairs of eyes now starting at her expectantly
.
Knowing that the gentlemen all
felt
that Elizabeth should not leave the confines of Netherfield, s
he
s
ensed
an argument
was about to
begin
,
and braced herself for it
.
“
Mother and Father may stay behind, but i
t is quite important that
the rest of us,
”
she looked pointedly at William,
“
including
Elizabeth
,
should
visit
Meryton
this morning
.
W
e
must meet Wickham
today
.
”

Lord Reginald
exclaimed,
“
Practically d
elivering Miss Elizabeth into the hands of Wickham
would be
foolish
of us
!
”

“
As her guard, o
ur task is not to dictate
t
he movements
of the High
Priestess
, Cousin;
we are
only
to protect he
r
.
She
will do as she sees fit
in order to
carry out
her
dut
ies
, and we shall
perform
ours
.
I
personally
guarantee that
Wickham will
not
touch Elizabeth!
”
William
said
the last
sentence
whil
st
looking directly at Mr. Bennet
.

The older gentleman
looked intently
at him for a few moments before
nodd
ing
in reply.

Elizabeth
d
eclared,
“
If Mary says we must go to Meryton
this morning
, we
will
go to Meryton.
Shall we meet in the entry hall in half an hour?
”

As m
ost of the young people
departed the room
to prepare themselves for their outing
, Mrs. Bennet approached her daughter
.
“
Yo
u will be careful, Lizzy?
”

“
Yes, Mama
—
as
careful as I can be.
”

Mr. Bennet only kissed h
is daughter
on the
brow
before escorting his wife from the room, leaving Elizabeth and William alone.

She reached out
,
took her
Soul Mate
’s
hand
,
and squeezed it
.
“
I know how difficult that must have been for you
, William.
T
hank you.
”

He lifted her
delicate fingers
t
o his lips and gently brushed
a
kiss over her knuckles.
“
You will
remain
beside me whil
st
we are in the village, will you not, Elizabeth?
”

She nodded,
“
Yes, of course.
”

~%~

A
bout
halfway
between Netherfield and
the village,
the group
noticed a
neighbour
’s open gig
approaching them.
Elizabeth
sighed and
said
just
loud enough for
Jane
, Mary,
and
the gentlemen
of her party
to hear
,
“
T
he performance
commences
!
”

T
he
changes
in the youngest two
Bennet
s’
countenances
were
striking
as they
transformed
from
the
sensible
young
ladies
they all knew well
in private
into
the
silly
girls that William and Bingley had remembered from their first six weeks spent in the
neighbour
hood
.
Having seen the
m in public
less often
than
the others
had
,
Lord Reginald and Richard
found the
conversion of their characters fascinating
to examine
.

Kitty and Lydia began to walk more quickly to distance themselves from the rest
of the party
, as if to send a message
to anyone who might observe them
that the
two
girls
did not
welcome the company of the older adults
.
Both the girls began
to
speak loud
er
, giggl
ing
often at the
other’s
mindless
prattle
, and were quite obvious about examining the
pair of young
men
in the gig
as it approached
.
T
he
two
young ladies were
evidently
accomplished flirts; in the minute or two that their
neighbour
s
had stopped
to greet the
group
, the
y had been more than successful in earning their targets’ full attention
.
Elizabeth made certain to hint at the girls to control their
behaviour
.

M
eantime, Mary’s countenance
had
hardened, disapproval
radiating from
her
every pore
.
Once they began moving again, s
he walk
ed
more slowly
than before
, separating herself from the group
, but only
slightly
.
Opening
the
book of sermons
that she carried with her
,
Mary
began perus
ing
the thick volume
while she
continued
walk
ing
.

“
It is amazing how they change their way
s
seemingly
without effort.
”
Lord Reginald observed quietly
after the
chance of being overheard
by those not of their group
had
been ensured
.

Elizabeth blushed.
“
I
am
very happy that
soon
there will no longer
be
a need for th
is
pretenc
e
.
”

“
I do not understand
,
”
William
stated
.

Jane saw
Elizabeth
’s
colour
r
i
s
e
even further and
noticed that
she
refused to look up from the ground. Knowing how
guilty
her sister
felt about this situation, Jane
responded
in her stead.
“
Our m
other, Mary, Kitty
,
and Lydia all agreed to the charade
about two years ago
.
Mary had received information
from the Otherworld stating that
if they did
this
,
eventually
they
would
be
in the position
to discover information that would help
to
save
Lizzy’s
life.
Of course,
the changes were implemented
slow
ly
since
we knew that
our neighbours would comment upon a sudden change in their
behaviour
.
During this time, e
ach of them
deliberately
modified their
conduct
to conform to what Mary’s dream had told her was required
.

“
Mama
’s
feigned
love of gossip has
helped us gather much information
, especially
over the past year
.
We have also learned that g
entlemen will be much
less
reserved
about what they
discuss
in the company of young girls who
they think of
only
as
silly flirts than they would be in the presence of intelligent, well-bred young ladies
.
Mary has fashioned herself into
a
type of person that most people
do not notice
is nearby
,
and s
he overhears people speaking of things
that
they would
never
say i
f they knew she was there
.