All Hallow's Eve (44 page)

“But that is not even the worst of it, sir!
Wickham’s plans are even more devious this time.
The two men that I overheard on my way here were discussing what they will do with the
ransom
money they expect to collect from
Mr. Darcy
!
Wickham
intends to kidnap
Miss Elizabeth
.

“Sir, I
am absolutely
determined to do anything that I must to stop him
, but in all honesty, I have little faith in my abilities
when matched
against a master manipulator such as Wickham
.
I
n case
I fail, I wished for someone who cares about the Bennet family to know
of
Wickham’s plans
, and where he is likely to take her if he does get hold of Miss Elizabeth
. Since Miss Elizabeth is engaged to your cousin, and you seem to be very protective of
her family
, I thought you a good choice when Miss Bennet suggested
that
I speak to you
, Colonel
.
Perhaps you have some advice for me, sir?
I am unsure about how to proceed.
”

Richard
paced
in the space between them
for a few minutes after Denny’s speech
had
ended whilst
he digested the information the
l
ieutenant had passed off to him and
considered
his honesty.
When he did speak, it was not to Denny. “What do you think, Reginald?
Should we trust him?”

Lord Reginald stepped out of the shadows
.
Denny
’s countenance paled.

“I am glad that you asked, Richard, since I have a few things that I
would like
to say to you
as well as
to
Mr.
Denny. I know for a fact that all
this man
has told you about
his
past is the absolute trut
h
, so I do believe
that
we should trust him.

“
Lieutenant
Denny,
you
should know that my uncle did not die of an infection from the wound that you gave him—it was an infection of another kind that
took his life
, one which had taken hold quite a while before your du
e
l with him
and had been worsening as time went by
.
It was also one that he most
probably
passed on to your sister.
In fact, f
ate was
probably
kinder to
Clara
to
have
her
die in birthing
than
to leave her alive
.
I promise you that Sir Lewis de Bourgh would have died that day whether you had shot him or not.
It was only
my
family
’s
saving face to say that he had died of ‘an infection’
and leaving it
at
that
. S
ince
many knew that he had been injured recently, though they did
not
know how
he received
it, others would assume that it was an infection of the wound
.
You did not kill Sir Lewis, Denny—he died as a
direct
result of his own debaucheries.
”

Lord Reginald glanced at his brother and almost laughed
,
having
never seen Richard’s eyes so wide or his eyebrows up quite
so
high upon his forehead
before this time.

Denny stood in
silent shock
for a minute or two
as well
.
“My lord,
I can never thank you enough for the gifts that you have given me—not only for
all that I
now
know
you
,
and not your father,
had done for my sister, but for
what you have done for
me here today as well.
I shall be grateful
forever
.” He bowed
deeply
.

“I have only told you the truth, Denny.
I am sorry that I was not
there
when Sir Lewis visited my father’s house
and
harmed
your sister.
I knew that he was mad by then and
had made a point of
always
ke
e
p
ing
a close eye on him when
ever he visited with us
, but
that
trip
was
unexpected.
I returned as soon as I
was told that
he was staying
at Matlock
H
ouse
, but
to the mis
fortune
of
Clara
and another girl
who worked for us
, it
was
already too late.”
He hesitated a few moments before continuing.
“I
appreciate
t
hat you have confessed to
us
tonight, as well.
Your information will go to good use
in
help
ing
the Bennet family
.
There is no
need to worry about the
m
nor about Miss Elizabeth.
We are aware of a plot against her and have plans of our own.”

“May I be of any assistance, my lord?”

“Richard?” Lord Reginald was uncomfortable being the
centre
of attention.
He might be
more
knowledgeable about matters of politics than his brother, but Richard should be in charge of
this
conversation.

“We will take
care of the situation as it unfold
s, Lieutenant. Y
ou must not interfere
.

“
Be warned, sirs, t
here is something about
Wickham
that is
pure evil.
”

“Yes, we know,
Lieutenant
, but do not count on his n
ever
being able to change.
All I can tell you is that we believe there are forces at work here that can be
eliminated
.”
Richard raised his eyebrows once again.
“
Now that I think of it,
I do believe there is something you can do
to help
.
Can you meet me
near
Netherfield tonight?
I would like you to
show
me this house that Wickham has been using for his men.”

“Yes, Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Many of us
have
been given
the night off
from our duties
,
and I am certain that the others will go to the
t
avern after the Philips
es’
party
has broken up
.
I can claim that I am tired and meet you at Netherfield soon after.”

“
Excellent
.”

C
hapter 1
4

William
put a great amount of effort into
keep
ing
his eyes
from rolling toward the ceiling by focusing
on hi
s plate instead
.
Caroline Bingley
was
chatter
ing
on about the parties
and other
social
occasion
s
that she and the Hursts
had
been afforded
the pleasure of attending
whil
st
in London,
detailing
every piece
of the gossip she had
gathered
at
these
event
s
.
Her monologue was obviously for his benefit as
she had barely acknowled
ged the presence of anyone else
.
Why d
id she believe that
this nonsense would
interest
him
?

It was also clear that Caroline had made up
seating arrangements for dinner tonight instead of allowing everyone to sit where
ver
they liked as they had done since the Bennets had arrived.
It would be necessary
for him
to lean forward in his seat and
peer
around Hurst
’s full figure
to be able to catch a glimpse
of
Elizabeth
.
William
longed to
gaze
upon her face,
to
be witness to
the
emotion
s
that would
be revealed in
her eyes
,
and
t
o
hav
e
the opportunity of deciphering
all
that
even the
slight
est of
her
movements
betray
ed
to him
.
When
they were
together
,
it was almost as if he had
access
to
her thoughts on
the
subject
at hand
.
Last night,
for example—
their
wedding night
—he
had
treasured
her
every response
, especially
the incredible combination that she displayed during
th
ose
glorious
moment
s
when
she
had
...

“Mr. Darcy!”

William jumped in his seat
,
turning to glare
momentarily
at the
lady
who would dare interrupt
such a
n
exceptional
memory
,
before recollecting just where he was
.

“Are you well, sir?
Is the main course not to your liking?”

He cleared his throat.
“
T
he meal is
excellent
, Miss Bingley.
Is there a reason for your inquiry?”

“Your expression
just now as you looked upon your plate
was so very
odd
.”

Bingley’s
chuckle
was cut short by a nasty look from
both
his sisters.
He had also
noticed his friend’s expression
but had guessed
correctly
at the
nature of its
cause.
As William
turned his head
in Bingley’s direction,
Hurst happened to be sitting back
in his
chair
,
and
enabling him
to see
Elizabeth
.
Apparently, she had
ascertained
the cause of his distracted countenance as well, and his heart race
d at the way she looked upon him
. Her eyes were dancing with mischief
,
and he wanted nothing more than to kiss th
e
smirk from her lips
.
Noticing
her increased colour
, an idea struck him
.

“Miss Elizabeth,
if you will excuse me for saying so,
you
seem to be
quite flushed
.
I must assume
that
the
headache, which kept you from accompanying your family to your uncle’s house this evening,
has worsened
,
and you would wish to retire
.
May I escort you to your
chamber?
”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened briefly before she nodded and thanked him for his offer.

William helped Elizabeth with her chair
,
placed her hand upon his arm
, his own hand covering
it
protectively
,
and
turned to the remainder of the party. “Miss Bingley, you
we
re correct
;
I find that I am
not quite
well
after all
.
I, too,
shall
retire for the evening. Good night.” He bowed and did not wait for a reply from anyone,
al
though he did catch sight of a slight smile upon Bingley’s
lips and a scowl on
the faces of
both his sisters.

As the
couple
made their way toward the door
, they heard Bingley
interrupt Caroline’s response with a request for
Louisa
to
play her
favourite
piano concerto
after dessert
.
William glanc
ed back
and saw
his friend
wink
at him
.
Mozart’s
No.
24.
He
well knew
that
her brother
would
ask Caroline to play her
favourite
as well, Field’s
No.
1
.
William
nodded his thanks.

After the door closed behind them, Elizabeth asked,
“Are you truly feeling ill, William?”

“
I find that leaving th
at
room has already
aided in
lift
ing
the
headache
that
I
suffer
whenever
forced to sit through
a
recital of every detail of part
ies
and
ball
s
.
”

“One would think that
an evening
spent playing
the piano
will
keep them
all very
well occupied,
” Elizabeth
added
as they began to climb the stairs.

William nodded.

“My family will be out for
several
hours.”

He nodded again, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“Indeed.”

“I u
nderstand that
exercise
is beneficial toward
the
treatment
of
headaches.”

“
Do
you recommend a
ny specific
type
of exercise
t
hat might
work its magic on m
ine, my dear
?”

“
I believe I can think of an
activity
that we
both
may participate in
, my love
.”
L
ook
ing
down the corridor
as they reached the landing,
and n
ot seeing any servants, she
gazed into the eyes of her husband and asked
,
“
W
hy do we not change
into attire more appropriate to the task
?
”

Elizabeth
nodded
a
t the door of the bedchamber that she had originally occupied
,
and they entered
quickly, whil
st
the corridor
remained
unoccupied
.
Once the door was locked
,
h
e turned toward h
er, smiling roguishly.
“
My belongings
have been moved once again.
My chamber is now the one next to this
one
.”

Her hand sought out the correct part of the neck cloth
,
now despised by them both, untying it in one swift stroke.
After t
aking a step closer,
she unbuttoned his coat,
her hands slipp
ed
inside
, and she went to work on his waistcoat
fastenings
, looking up at him through her lashes
.
“
When you have changed,
you
may
meet me in my rooms
.
”

He
nodded
.

She smiled
invitingly
a
s she
notic
ed
the rate of
his
respiration
had
increase
d dramatically
since she had begun
undress
ing
him
.
Leaning
toward
him
until
her lips
were barely
a breath away from his, she con
tinued, “After which
...”
Elizabeth
stepped up on her toes and kissed him lightly, “
...
perhaps
...
”
S
he kissed the spot on his neck that
she had found
always
seemed to make
him gasp
.
H
er expectation
s were
not disappointed.
“
...
w
hile we have this time
alone
...
”

S
lowly
kissing
her way to
his ear
, she nibbled
its
lobe,
and
felt
quite proud of herself when she noticed his
shiver.
Elizabeth
pulled away
and
looked into his eyes as she
said
very seriously,
“
Shall we
s
neak down to the ballroom
for sword
practice
for an
hour
or two
?
”