All Hallow's Eve (33 page)

Seeing that she had
made it clear that she was now well,
she
re
turned her gaze
to
Wickham.
T
he fiend’s countenance
betrayed
severe
annoyance
, which
momentarily
transformed
in
to rage.

Her heart sank
; th
e prophecy was
confirmed
!

A
s those gathered made their goodbyes
,
Wickham’s
violent
emotions
vanished
from his features
.
His countenance was again
at ease,
sticky sweet
charm
ooz
ing
from his every
pore
.

The party from Ne
therfield moved down the street and
stopp
ed
at the green in the
centre
of the village.
With a
look from
William, Richard understood that he and Lord Reginald should provide an excuse for their trip to town.
Escorted by the two gentlemen, Kitty and Lydia continued on to the shop across the green to purchase a few ribbons.

Elizabeth
had been leaning heavily on his arm as they walked,
so upon spying
a group of benches near a large chestnut tree
,
William led Elizabeth
to rest
.
C
onveniently
, all of the benches were
empty,
and he made
certain the
seat he chose was
far enough away from the buildings
surrounding
the grassy area
to ensure
a
priva
te
conversation
. Jane
and Mary
settled
themselves
o
n
each side
of Elizabeth
, and Bingley stood behind them
, while William remained standing before
the ladies
.

Elizabeth began,
“
C
onsidering our location
,
I
will not go into particulars, but I must
declare
that
we
have won the first battle
against
Wickham
.
However
,
brief
as
it was, h
is emotional display
following
h
is
defeat
proved three things, all of which
are
very disconcerting.
The first—
Wickham
knew who
I
was
the moment he saw
me
.
The second is
that this was
a planned attack
.
And l
astly
,
no matter how
much effort I expended
in
an
attempt
to conceal it
, he was aware of my struggle this morning
and
instantly
knew that I
had
prevailed
.
He knows much more about me than I
do of him
,
and I
am
not
comfortable with
this fact
.
”

Jane furrowed her brow.
“
We have been so careful
to guard
your identity
, Lizzy; how could he have known?
”

Elizabeth looked at William to see if he had any ideas since he knew Wickham best, but he only shook his head slightly.
Elizabeth answered,
“
I do not know
, Jane
, but I assure you that he did
.
”

~%~

Whe
n their purchases were complete
, t
he group from Netherfield decided to take tea at the inn to provide Elizabeth with
additional
time to recover more fully.
Bingley had offered to send a boy from the village to fetch the carriages, but
Elizabeth
was adamant that fresh air and exercise
w
ould
do her
nothing but
good
.
Throughout their meal, William barely took any refreshment, keeping a close watch on his betrothed
instead.

Colonel Forster
, who had business with the innkeeper, paused to greet the Bennets, Bingley
,
and William,
al
though there were some who thought he might have been seeking an introduction to the red-coated gentleman of similar rank among them.
Th
at
gentlem
a
n
took advantage of the opportunity
to gain a bit of
understanding
o
f
the man who would be Wickham’s commanding officer
,
and the two colonels disappeared into the tavern area
.

Alt
hough Bingley and William had spent
some
time with
Colonel Forster
previously
,
they had not had the need to ascertain w
hether or not they could rely
on
his assistance at some point in the near future
.
But w
ith
Wickham near
by
,
they
c
ould not leave
Elizabeth
.
They would have to rely on Richard’s account of the man
.

Richard
had already told the others what he had heard of
Colonel
Forster
—that he
was not
to
be trusted
—
but
knowing that gossip was sometimes self-serving,
Richard
wished to form
his
own opinion
.
A
s he rejoined the others
,
he could only
shake his head, later
report
ing
that
he w
as
left with the impression that Colonel Forster’s character was
not all that it should be for a man in his position.

As they rose to begin the ramble home, William helped his lady with her chair.
“
Elizabeth, are you certain that you do not require
the
carriage?
”

“
I am quite recovered, I assure you.
A walk
will
also
provide
us
with an
opportunity
to discuss what happened
today
without the chance of
being
overhear
d
.
Perhaps one of you noticed something I did not that can
be to our advantage
at the next encounter.
”

November 2
5
, 1811

Deep in conversation
, Elizabeth and William
wandered a little further
from Netherfield
than
was
usual
for them
during their morning walk
s
.
By the time either of them realized their
error
, they were no longer in sight of the house.
Responding to the
pressure
that Elizabeth applied to his arm, William turned to her.
The sparkle in h
er
eyes
left no doubt
as to
her
expectations
of the
situation
in which
they found themselves
.
Never one to deprive his love of anything within reason
which
he could provide
,
William took his
Soul Mate
into his arms.

As thoroughly involved as they were, the normally alert couple
missed
seeing
the
movement
in the
distance
indicating that they were not alone
.

~

W
ickham
walked
f
a
rther
into the woods
where the shadows became deeper
.
Far from any path, he
lay
down
on a bed of fallen leaves
,
and
instantly
f
e
ll
a
sleep.
Part of the shadow
that surrounded him
br
o
k
e
away
and move
d
in the direction that Elizabeth and William had taken
.

B
eneath the tree,
Wickham
s
ighed deeply
.
H
i
s
brow
now
smooth
, his expression calm
,
he l
ook
ed
as innocent
as a child
.

A
dark
shadow
drift
ed
off
between
the tree
s
and
slowly
cre
p
t
up
on the place where the lovers stood
in their passionate embrace
.
The
b
eing was
pleased that
it
had discovered that when in this form, the High
Priestess
could not detect
i
t.
It hovered
for a
while, watching th
e
romantic scene
unfold
.

~

The couple
br
oke
from the
ir
kiss
,
and Elizabeth
cuddled
in
to
William
’s chest as
he
buried
his face in her silky curls,
whisper
ing
sweet nothings
to his beloved
.
Elizabeth
smile
d
widely
, moving
away slightly,
absorbed by the tenderness reflected
in
his
eyes
.
S
tep
p
ing
up onto her tiptoes
, she
explored his
kiss
once again
.

Having taken a few steps off the path, the trees
shad
ed
them from
the
sun
as it rose
higher in the sky
. W
ith their eyes closed,
neither
w
as cognizant
of the
shadow that
slowly
enveloped them
as
their lips met once again
.

William was acutely aware of
Elizabeth’s prominent female charms unquestionably pressed against him
. H
er scent had his head spinning.
Enthralled by
the
velvety feeling
of
her skin against his cheek,
he
turned slightly to taste her skin
,
slowly
making his way
to her lips
. H
er kisses were so sweet, as if she
were
his life’s nectar
,
and his hunger was insatiable. His fingers traced down the curve of her spine as his hands stroked her waist and came to rest upon her hips. Everything about her was
intoxicating
, a
nd yet, he
took great care to be very gentle with his precious Elizabeth, holding himself back from all that his base
r
instincts urged him to
achieve
.