All Hallow's Eve (68 page)

His brow furrowed
further
when Elizabeth screamed again.
If only he could take her pain away!
He moved a perspiration
-
soaked curl from her face, and her eyes met his.
She had a much more difficult part to play here than he.

“I will do what
is required
,
my brave
Elizabeth.
I love you.
”

William took a deep breath and straightened his spine. Kneeling at his wife’s feet, he discarded his coat and rolled up his sleeves.
H
e poured
water
over his hands
from his flask, washing
them
as
best
as
he could.

“Tell me what
I must
do.”

~%~

Eyes shining with happiness, William
watched
their daughter
take her first nourishment
from his wife
. When
her feeding was done
, he
helped
Elizabeth
to sit up
,
leaning
her against his chest, and kissed her forehead.
“She is beautiful, Elizabeth. Thank you.”

Grandmama asked, “
What shall you call her
?”

At a
nod
from
William
,
Elizabeth
answered, “Alexandria
Darcy
.”

A rumble
spread throughout the meadow as the
name
was repeated a thousand times.

Elizabeth’s eyelids were heavy with sleep, and
it was obvious to all
that she was forcing herself to keep them open.
“Grandmama
, I do not wish to alarm anyone, but
after giving birth,
how am I to dance the Return?”

Grandmama Bennet’s blank expression told the couple that this had not been thought of
by her
. Another murmur rippled through the crowd.

A lady from the first row stood and approached. Grandmama introduced her as the High
Priestess
who had first realized that the Opening Song could act as a sieve to allow only the
H
armless
S
ouls through to Earth.

“I
have been thinking. I
do not believe that the Dance of the Return is as important as the Song.
If the
Soul Mate
can help you to stand, and you sing, I believe that all will be well.”

Lady Anne suggested, “Hours must pass before the Return. Why do you not sleep
to
regain
some of your
strength,
Elizabeth
?”

Too exhausted to say another word, Elizabeth nodded. William eased out from under Elizabeth and took the child from her
. S
he fell
a
sleep almost immediately. William moved away, as did all except Sarah, the midwife, who
kep
t
watch over the High
Priestess
to
make certain that
she
was well.

Many approached to see Alexandria for themselves. A while later, his mother sa
id
, “The blanket that Alexandria is wrapped in—did you know that I
made
it?”

William smiled. “I had no idea. I had put it aside just after
returning from the cart
because it seemed fitting for a babe.
I
t seems that I made the perfect choice
. Thank you, Mother.”

Hours later,
all found
that the
guess of the
former High
Priestess
had been correct.

Elizabeth sang the Return
without error
. With William’s arms wrapped firmly around her,
and
their newborn babe in a sling
pressed against her heart, the spirits returned to
the Otherworld
.

All was right
on
the
Earth
.

Just the Beginning...

Epilogue

October 31, 183
7
– All Hallow’s Eve

Twenty
-five
years later

Elizabeth Darcy walked quickly into the night, thinking back to the first time that she had performed the ritual of the Sanun alone in her
favourite
meadow on her father’s estate in Hertfordshire—the
same
night that she had discovered William was her
Soul Mate
. It seemed so long ago and so
very
far away
. S
o much had changed during the
intervening
years.

Since Georgiana had taken over as
Priestess
of
Imol
, now performing th
at
ritual at her own estate, the people of the Tribes had not experienced anything
that
put them in
as great
a
danger as they had
suffered
all those years ago
. Georgie was now happily married
to her own
Soul Mate
and had
three children of her own
. H
er daughter Anne
—
born
only
the previous
year
—
was
D
estined to take her mother’s place. 

Jane and Charles were now among the first citizens of Derbyshire, their estate growing
in size and prosperity
every year
—as had their family
, at least
for the first several years of their marriage. 

Alt
hough they had seen them infrequently through the years,
Elizabeth
exchanged
letters
weekly
with
Lydia, long since
married to George
Wickham
. As
she and William had
planned
long ago
,
Lydia and George
eventually had
settled near
the Darcys
’
estate in
Newcastle
, and now had
a family of
their
own.
George
performed all of the carpentry work for the Darcy estate, and his fine workmanship was highly sought after throughout th
at
county.

Kitty had found her
Soul Mate
within the ranks of
Charles Bingley’s
cousins during a ball
at their estate.
It seemed that her daughter would be the one to inherit Mary’s ability to communicate with the Otherworld through her dreams.

Feeling that she was near the
Thin Place
,
Elizabeth
searched along the edges of the path for the correct plants
from which she was required to
gather leaves.

Although her daughter, Alexandria, had
performed the ritual for the past three years,
Elizabeth
had been present
for
them all
. Tonight, Elizabeth would take over once again since her daughter
had given birth to twin
s
!

She could not be thankful enough
that
Alexandria
had not taken after her mother—giving birth during the
Sanun
in the middle of
a
meadow
. Sh
e thought back to those frightening moments
earlier
in the day
when
her daughter
had required the immediate assistance of a doctor.

Having
had
her own set of twin
s
two
year
s after Alexandria
was born
,
and knowing that Alexandria had experienced a much more trying time than any of her own
four
deliveries
had been, Elizabeth had quickly assured her that she was up
to
the task of performing tonight’s ritual
.

As Elizabeth broke through the trees surrounding the meadow
, she could see the handsome figure of
a
gentleman stacking wood at the
centre
.
The immense joy that spread through her being upon seeing him
never ceased to amaze her
. Elizabeth padded stealthily toward him.

“Good evening,
Grandpapa
.”

William turned toward her and bowed. “Good evening,
Grandmama.” Surprising her
, he
quickly swept h
er
up
into
his arms and kissed her thoroughly
.
When he finally pulled away
, he taste
d
t
he sweet silky skin of her neck
and
whisper
ed
, “Did I ever tell you what
seeing you in that gown does to me?”

She breathed deeply his spicy scent, sending her already racing heart into
a
frenzy.
“You have
shown
me, my love.”
Elizabeth
moaned softly as she often did while receiving his expert ministrations
.

William’s own moan was one of frustration.
P
ress
ing
his forehead
against
hers,
he
clos
ed
his eyes to the
inviting
sight
of
the changes his attentions had brought to her womanly attributes. “It is almost midnight.”

She
sighed
. “I suppose it is.”
Opening her eyes, she looked up at the position of the moon and stars.
A teasing smile spread across her beautiful lips.
“Do you think they might be willing to wait an hour?”

He laughed aloud.
“I
believe
we
shall have to wait ‘till morning, my love.”

William watched as the sparkle in her eyes changed to one of pride. “I do admit to being a little impatient to begin, William.
Although they most likely already know,
I am looking forward to announcing that
our granddaughter,
Eliza
beth
—
the
Destined One
—has
been born.
”

October 3
1, 18
50

Thirteen years later

“Grandmama, I am frightened! Why does not father
do
something to protect her?
Mama
might
be harmed!
”
young
Eliza exclaimed while watching her mother begin to glow with an almost blinding white light. Her Fitzwilliam-blue eyes had widened in fear.

Elizabeth
Darcy
smiled down on her young granddaughter
,
slipping her arm around her shoulder. “No, my precious,
as we have discussed, your mother is safe. When we return to the house, you may ask Grandpapa why your father will not interfere. What you are seeing
here now might seem frightening, but it
is
truly
a great honour;
one
of the most beautiful feelings in the world t
hat
only
a High
Priestess
may ever experience.
W
atch and learn.
By the end of the night
, y
ou, too, shall
savour
All Hallow’s Eve
.”

The End