All Hallow's Eve (63 page)

After several
tense moments
had passed
in silence
,
Elizabeth spoke,
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh,
I
hereby relieve
you
of all duties
and entitlements
inherent to
the
position
of
Priestess
of
Imol
.
I will train the Destined One myself
and be present to support her efforts at the
ceremony
.
It may be that
she
will
become one of the youngest
ladies to carry the title
, but from all that I have
learned
of
my new sister’s
character
,
Georgiana Darcy
will be a much better
Priestess
of
Imol
than you have
ever
been.

“Now,
Lady Catherine,
I urge you
to bring before me
the
doubts
you
were
suffering
concerning your nephew’s marriage.”

“
No
–
no
!
I
had no way of knowing
...
I would not presume
to
– to
...
” Lady Catherine’s
features
seemed to
acquire a green tint
. “
I withdraw all
previous
objections
, High
Priestess
.
”

“Excellent!
” Elizabeth’s smile lit up the room. “
If there are no other matters of business to attend to, I suggest
that you follow your original plan and
remove
yourself from Netherfield
immediately,
Lady Catherine.
”

Chapter
23 (
20
old)

D
ecember 3, 1811

De
tained by
last-minute details of
seeing off his
sisters and
brother
for their
journey to
Hurst’s family
seat
,
Bingley
was late
in
join
ing
the others at their mid-day meal
.
Once he settled himself
at the table
, he declared, “Now that
the threat of danger
is in the
past,
I have
been thinking.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have agreed to assist me in hosting a ball
in hono
u
r of
your marriage.
”
He raised his glass of
wine
toward Elizabeth and William in a gesture of salute. “
Although it must be kept a secret,
I thought it
would be an excellent way
for us
to
express our joy
in knowing that
good
has
triumph
ed
over evil—
and
to
celebrat
e
life itself
, as well
!” He moved his glass as if toasting everyone in attendance.

Mrs. Bennet tilted her head. “I cannot help but wonder what our neighbours would think if they knew that we all took part in
defeat
ing
one
who
had been enslaving good people
and
interfering in human kind’s affairs for centuries.”

“Especially those of us who had been playing their parts so well these past years,” Lord Reginald added, raising his own glass to Mrs. Bennet
, Kitty, and Mary
.

Bingley said,
“
I hope that no one will mind that
we have
decided to
limit
t
he guest list to our neighbours
in Hertfordshire
.
The
Bennets and I agree
there is
only
one
person
residing in
Town
who
shall receive an invitation
—
your
fiancée, Lord Reginald
. We all
look forward to meeting her.” Bingley’s
gaze shifted quickly to Richard.
“Unless, of course
,
there was
someone
you wished
to
add
, Richard
.”

Richard
replied
, “No, thank you,
Charles
.
”
His
eyes
met
Mary
’s as he
declared
,
“
I can think of
no one
with whom
I wish to
dance
who
will
not
already
be
among those included
.
”

Mary
blushed and smiled prettily, but
she
did not avert her eyes
from Richard’s
.

After several moments of
observing
their
shared
gaze, Mr. Bennet
coughed loudly
.
Abruptly,
Mary returned her attention to her
plate
, and it
was Richard’s turn to change colour.

Mr. Bennet chuckled
. Still smiling, he
addressed
Bingley
,
“
Though we are to return to Longbourn on the morrow,
I am certain that
you will see my wife at Netherfield quite frequently in the days leading up to the ball.
Of course,
Fanny will require Jane’s assistance in planning
the decorations.”
He chuckled once again as he watched Bingley turn to beam happily at Jane.

“Jane is welcome at Netherfield any time, sir.” Bingley’
s countenance sobered.
“As
are you all
, of course.”

Elizabeth
felt her husband squeeze her hand
,
and she
smiled up at
him
.

William asked quietly,
“Is Lydia
dining
with George?”

S
he nodded
and replied in a tone meant only for his hearing, “
Agnes and Tom from Longbourn
are
in attendance. Lydia
refuses to allow
George
to take a meal alone again.”

“I see.” His eyes danced as he added, “
D
o you think Kitty
will
expect us to find a match for her
?”

Elizabeth
laughed
. “
Oh, no
—
please,
no
matchmaking,
William
.
” Her gaze rested briefly on Mary,
then
Jane, and
finally
moved to
her mother and father. Her smile widened when her
eyes
returned to William
’s
. “
I believe that the ladies
of my family
have
done quite well without assistance
from anyone
.”

~%~

William
came
up behind his wife as she examined her gown
in the
full-length mirror
in her dressing room.
“You look
beautiful
, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth smiled, taking a step forward.

“Hanna worked for more than an hour on my hair alone, not to mention how long it must have taken her to prepare this gown.” She smoothed
some imaginary
wrinkles.

He laughed aloud.
“Elizabeth
, a
re
you
anxious
about the ball
?”

Elizabeth coloured. She did not answer,
fidget
ing
with her hair
, instead
.

“Ironically, this is the first
ball
that I have not dreaded.”

Still no answer.
William furrowed his brow.
“What is making you so uncomfortable, my love?”

Elizabeth sighed deeply.
“This
will be
the first time
I will be publically introduced as
Mrs. Darcy. I
do not wish to embarrass you
, William.”

He took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him.
Elizabeth’s
gaze
was
directed
downward
.

“
T
hat
is impossible
.
I
will always
feel
nothing but pr
i
d
e
while
having you stand beside me as
my wife.”

When she still did not look up, he took her face gently between his hands
and raised it
, brush
ing
her lips with his.
After
he broke the kiss, h
er eyes finally met his, and he was surprised to
see them filled to the
b
rim with
tears
. “
This is not about
the ball
.
Please, t
ell me
why you are so unhappy
.”

“You said
that I am
beautiful.” Her bottom lip quivered.

William
raised his eyebrows
and blinked several times before he was able to respon
d, hoping
what he said
would not upset her further
. “
Yes
. I
t is the truth.”

Her tears began to fall. B
efore long, she
pulled away and fell into a chair,
covering her face with
her hands
.

Eyes wide, William knelt before her.
“Elizabeth, I am at a complete loss. Why does
my
belief that
you look beautiful
distress you so?”

“
Since that night,
with the
Olc
,
you have not...” she trailed off.

“I have not what?”

Her weeping became more violent
. 

All at once,
understanding dawned upon him
. Cursing himself silently, he realized that he had given her the impression that he had been rejecting her
. “Elizabeth!
Elizabeth,
please,
listen to me!”
Her crying calmed, and h
e waited until she looked up to speak again
.
“
You were under so much
strain
from
all
that had happene
d
and
from
the horrid memories that you were forced to endure
—
you
seemed
beyond exhausted
. I did not wish to
–
to
pressure
you in any way.” He chuckled without humour.
Shaking his head, he continued,
“I assumed
that
I was bei
ng
considerate
of your feelings.
”

She sniffed. “Truly, William?”

“I should have
inquired as to
your preference.”
Retrieving
a clean handkerchief from a shelf
, he
dried her
cheeks
.

“I expected that you were disgusted by
the thought
of the
Olc
passing through me and
by
the memories
Cher-nog
had left behind
.”

“Does it disgust you to know that the
Olc
possessed me for a much longer amount of time
?”

She shook her head. “No
. A
ctually, some of it is rather flattering.”

“Flattering?”
William’s eyes opened wide. “You have memories
of
the time
that
Cher-nog
possessed
me
?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Every day that I drink the tincture, the
Olc’s
memories have been fading,” she blushed, “except for the most recent
possessions
.”

“Elizabeth, was it
—
that
is to say, exactly
what
memories of mine did you
acquire?”