All Hallow's Eve (67 page)

“Come
—
sit
and rest so that my son
may
find a bit of peace and enjoy
the company
of his father
whil
st
it lasts. I shall fill your ears with tales of a young William Darcy!”

Chapter
25

William
and Mr. Darcy
wandered away from
their
wi
ve
s to
converse
with
a famous poet
whose work both Darcys had always found quite interesting
. William felt comfortable
leaving
Elizabeth
w
ith
his mother,
her
g
randm
other
,
and another former High
Priestess
—a relative of Elizabeth’s
from several generations past
. So involved
was he
in the
ir extended
conversation that
William
had
not notice
d
a flutter of
feminine
activity near the bonfire until
their new friend
mentioned it. William rushed
to his wife’s side.
Alt
hough he could have walked directly through the opaque spirits, he excused himself
and made his way around them instead.

His relief on seeing
his wife
’s beaming smile
changed a moment later into
severe concern when her expression became one of pain
.
K
neel
ing
next to her
, he
took her hand, which she squeezed quite firmly.
“What is wrong, Elizabeth?”

Lady Anne replied
,
“All is well, William. The waters surrounding the baby have
been
expelled—a
perfectly natural event.
As you can see,
Elizabeth’s
pains have begun as well.”

William
paled
.
“Pains? I must
bring
the
Fili
!”

Grandmama Bennet
protested,
“William, you cannot.
Y
ou are the only living being who can
witness
the
Sanun
.
I have
called the midwife who delivered
my
own children. She should be here momentarily.”

“Midwife. But you said no living...” He paled further. “Do you mean the
S
pirit
of a midwife?”

“Yes,
”
b
oth Grandmama Bennet and Lady Anne replied
at once
.

“NO! I will
take
her to
Pemberley, where Mrs. Bennet and Jane await us
!”

Lady Anne answered,
“William, there is no time. Elizabeth’s pains have progressed quite rapidly—they are now very close together.
She will birth the baby very soon.”

William’s breathing was becoming quite rapid.
“But – but, this cannot be! My son will not be born outdoors, in the middle of a field! Elizabeth,
you must stop this right now!”

The tittering of all the ladies surrounding them filled the air.

“I am afraid that I have no choice in the matter, my love. Your
daughter
will come when she wishe
s
.” Another pain
interrupted
.

One of the ladies came forward with advice on h
ow to breathe through the pains
. Once the pain had passed,
Elizabeth
said, “William, go to the cart and get the blankets. We will also need water.”

“Blankets... water...” He leaned over and kissed Elizabeth ever so gently. “Be well, Elizabeth.” He rushed off towards the path to the cart.

“I had best
go with him
, but a
t the speed
he was running, he may be halfway to the cart by now!” Mr. Darcy chuckled,
transformed
into a light
being
, and flew after his son.

“I do hope
William
hurries!
I have a sudden urge to walk—or at
the very
least
to
stand.”
Elizabeth said a moment before another pain began.

“When will the midwife arrive?” Lady Anne asked
with concern in her voice
as
her hand
took
on
a more solid form and
took hold of
one of Elizabeth’s.

Grandmama Bennet took
her
granddaughter’s
free
hand
and nodded up towards the sky. “
S
he is
near
.”

Elizabeth
soon noticed
that
a new light had arrived and was heading directly for her. Transformation took place, and a lady stepped forward.
Sarah, t
he midwife
,
began to ask many questions to get an idea of Elizabeth’s history and condition.
Her
arms
took on a more solid form
,
and
she
tried her best to examine her
charge
. She was able to hold her form long enough to declar
e that the baby’s head was down. A
sigh of
relief
r
an through
the crowd.

Elizabeth chuckled
breathily
. “I
ha
d not
thought of
delivering my child before such a
large
number of people
!
”
An expression of sorrow filled her e
yes. “Whilst
I am very happy that you both are present at the birthing—and
,
of course
,
Sarah—I wish that my mother would have been able to attend.”

“
All
of
these women
have experienced this
miracle
themselves, my dear Elizabeth,” Lady Anne replied
as she wiped Elizabeth’s face with
the
handkerchief
that her daughter-in-law had taken from her pocket
. “The gentlemen will remain on the opposite side of the bonfire, with you out of their line of sight. If it would make you more comfortable, the ladies will
join them, but e
veryone is excited to witness the...” Lady Anne suddenly stopped speaking and changed subjects. “The gentlemen will take turns informing your family of what is happening here.”

Elizabeth smiled
as best as she could
. “They are
excited
to witness the birth of the next High
Priestess
!
”

Grandmama Bennet nodded. “
You have guessed well
, my child
. It is a good thing, too, since I do not know what would have happened if one who
was
not a Destined One was born in the middle of a
Sanun
!”

“Are you saying that a baby has never been born during the ritual?” Elizabeth asked.

One of Elizabeth’s distant relatives answered from behind her grandmother. “Not in all history.”

“One would think
—”
Elizabeth’s speech was short
ened
by another pain.

“The pains are coming
extremely
close together now.” Grandmama Bennet
said aloud to nobody in particular
.

“
T’
wi
ll be soon,
”
Sarah said with a thick
accent.

William arrived, panting
and
laden with blankets
and pillows
. He was
followed by a light, which t
hen transformed into Mr. Darcy—who excused himself immediately.

“Elizabeth
—
Elizabeth, are you well?” William
attempted
to kneel next to her, but realized it
c
ould not
be
accomplished without soiling the blankets
.

Elizabeth
screamed
, “YES!” through her pain.

“Father,
” William called out, and Mr. Darcy returned. “
Can
you spread this out upon the ground?
” He pointed with his chin to the blanket on top.
“
I will pile the others upon it
so that I can
hold
Elizabeth
.”

“Yes, I can, William, but please remember that we cannot rem
ain in solid form for very long,
”
Mr. Darcy replied as William carefully laid the blankets
and pillows
down.

“I
’
m glad
ya
returned,
Soul Mate
,” Sarah declared, “for y
a
must
’
elp the
’
igh
Priestess
t
a
walk about. It
’
ll make th
a
pains easier f
e
r
’
er.
When I be alive,
I
used ta ’e
lp th
a
lady, but I do n
a’
w
an’
t
a
risk it
now
.”

When Elizabeth’s pain eased, she reached out for William’s hand
,
and he helped her to stand. “I feel better already.”

“Should she not
lie
down?”
h
e asked.

“It’s me ’sperience tha
’ tha
lady be allowed
ta
do as she likes,” Sarah replied.

Leaning heavily on William
’s arm
, Elizabeth only took one or two steps before another pain began. She grabbed
hold of
his hand and squeezed very hard, then pointed to the blankets. “
D
own
.
NOW!” William lifted her into his arms while Grandmama Bennet spread out several blankets on top of the other, saving a few for the birthing and the baby. William laid her upon them and arranged the pillows behind her.

William
startled
when
Elizabeth screamed.

“If ya
feel like ya
mus’ push, then push, ’
igh
Priestess
,
”
Sarah said, then looked at William.
“
Soul Mate
, git down ’ere by ’er legs.”

His eyes widened.
“ME?
NO!
I w
ill remain
here,
holding her hand
.”

“
Noooo
,
Soul Mate
. Ya mus’ catch tha baby!”

“But, you...”
He looked around at all the ladies, and a sudden realization came ov
er him. None of them were solid!
His father had
mentioned
that he might not even remain solid long enough to spread a blanket; how could any of them catch a baby?