by Emma Osborne
“Charles… We should go back to Netherfield at once.” Darcy caught sight of another dark shape as it flashed by. For the first time he noticed that the birdsong had ceased, and the forest was eerily quiet.
“Nonsense, Darcy. I am determined to see these deer. I promised Louisa that I would find them, and find them I shall.” Darcy let out a frustrated breath, but he did not press the issue. The moved forward through the trees, Charles gesturing excitedly at shadows between the trees that could have been deer, but more likely were not. Darcy could not relax, all of the calm that had settled over him as they had ridden through the countryside had fled, and he was consumed with the silence and the strangeness of the forest and how his horse was reacting to each change in the wind.
All at once there was a faint sound on the air, and this time Charles heard it too. A rumbling like faraway thunder. Darcy felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead, and his horse pranced nervously beneath him, snorting and whickering in agitation. The noise grew louder and all at once Charles’ horse let out a high pitched whinny and reared slightly as the herd of deer that Charles had been so longing to see plunged out of the bush, running at breakneck speed through the forest towards them.
“Charles! Go!” Darcy shortened his grip on the reins and wheeled his horse, spurring it into a canter. The horse needed no urging, and it fought for its head, but Darcy kept his grip firm, knowing that if he let the animal give in to its panic, they would careen through the forest unchecked, and the likelihood of being thrown from the saddle was too great to risk it. Darcy looked over his shoulder to make sure that Charles was behind him, relieved to see the other man’s horse at his mount’s flank. The deer flooded around them, their eyes wide with fear, and their hooves pounding the earth beneath them in a deafening roar as they barreled through woods.
Darcy fought to control his horse, but the panic of the wild animals around them had whipped his steed into a panic, and Darcy could not slow their progress through the trees. Branches caught at his jacket, and he ducked a low-hanging limb that threatened to unhorse him. He shouted to Charles, and his friend narrowly avoided the same branch, but lost his hat in the process. Darcy looked ahead, desperately seeking a break in the tree line so that they could pull away from the frightened herd and head towards the safety of Netherfield.
“There, Charles! We have to get out of the trees!” He had spotted an opening, and Darcy pulled hard on the reins to turn his mount. The deer scattered around him, opening a path, and he spurred his horse forward with a shout. The animal lunged and took off at a gallop towards the break in the tree line, its breath came in powerful bursts and Darcy tried to focus on the motion of the horse’s body as its hoof beats thundered in his ears. Bingley followed close behind, but he had a feeling that something else was following them too.
There.
A dark shape in the brush beside him. A flash of yellow eyes. A snarl and the sound of snapping teeth to his right. The frightened whinny of his horse as it plunged through the forest towards the blindingly bright daylight beyond the trees. Bingley shouted something he could not hear, but Darcy pushed his horse harder towards the break in the trees, refusing to look at anything else. His cheek stung where a branch had whipped it, but their escape was so close and he could not falter.
The horse plunged through the brush and broke into the sunlight with Mr. Bingley hard on his heels. Darcy turned his horse sharply, pulling hard on the reins so that he could look back at the woods. It was only a shadow in the trees, but he thought he saw something. Something he would never have expected to see in a hundred years. Bingley’s shout made him turn, and he nudged his horse back into a gallop to follow Charles down the emerald grass towards Netherfield.
As they galloped into Netherfield Park’s courtyard, the sun had begun to set and the sky was bathed in a red light, which caused the house to glow. But Darcy and Bingley were not concerned with such trivialities. They leapt from their horses and stood on unsteady legs. The animals were trembling and snorting with the exertion, their flanks streaked with foam. Bingley shouted to the footman to fetch a groom, and threw the wide-eyed young man the reins before striding towards the house. Darcy followed suit, jogging to catch up as Bingley’s long steps carried him through the open doors. He glanced over his shoulder at the forest they had just fled and tugged at his coat.
“Darcy. What the devil was that?” Charles’ voice was harsh, but it was hushed so as not to alarm Mrs. Hurst and Miss Bingley. Darcy shut the door to the drawing room behind him. Charles threw his jacket down upon a chair and paced before the window. His face was pale and drawn, and Darcy knew that his friend’s mind was whirling with what they had just endured. It was scarcely to be believed.
“One minute we were riding through the woods, and the next we are running for our lives with the very creatures we were trying to track! What the devil happened? What frightened them? Did you see anything?” Charles rubbed at his face and looked at Darcy as though seeing him for the first time. “My god, man, you’re bleeding.” Darcy reached up to touch his cheek, wincing as his fingers found a cut crusted with dried blood. Wretched branches.
“I cannot say what I saw, Charles. It was too dark, and moving too fast. The horses were terrified, and so were the deer. A pack of dogs perhaps? Hunting dogs broken free from their pens? They were large, and I could swear that I saw yellow eyes...”
“Yellow eyes? That makes no sense, Darcy. It had to be dogs. I will have to enquire with Colonel Forster, he is very proud of his hunting hounds. Perhaps it is they who are the culprits. I cannot abide the harassment of the beasts that live on this estate. Marauding dogs indeed. What if Caroline or Louisa had been riding with us?” Charles clenched his hands into fists and Darcy nodded and pulled his hat from his head, tossing it onto the chair with his friend’s coat.
“We will send word to Colonel Forster. We must explore all possibilities, and alert him to anything amiss in town.” Charles nodded emphatically.
“Yes. Yes, at once. And we will not speak of this to Louisa or Caroline. I do not want to alarm them. Louisa has a gentle disposition, and I fear it would distress her too much to hear of what happened in the forest today. I daresay it distressed me.” Darcy agreed readily, he had been shaken by the experience, and he could not chase the sight of those burning yellow eyes from his mind.
Chapter 4
“Lizzy, have you heard? It is as Mrs. Forster promised!” Lydia ran into the parlor with a creamy card clutched in her hand. Kitty followed closely, her cheeks pink with excitement. Elizabeth looked up from her book and sighed inwardly as her sisters crowded close. Lydia shoved the piece of paper into her face and Elizabeth plucked it from her hand and held it at a readable distance.
“We are invited to a ball... Oh, Jane... a ball at Netherfield Park? How strange. I had heard that it was let, but I did not know that they would be so intent on acquainting themselves with our society. Lady Lucas made it sound as though they were London society through and through... too fine for our country dances.” Elizabeth raised her eyebrow as she read the invitation. There it was, in a delicate hand, and invitation to all the members of the Bennet household to come to a ball at Netherfield Park nine days hence.
“Nonsense, Lizzy! That Netherfield Park is let has been the most popular topic amongst all of the ladies of my acquaintance these past few weeks.” Mrs. Bennet swept into the room, her face aglow with triumph. “Netherfield Park has been let to a one Mr. Bingley, lately of London, and he is a man of good fortune no less! How exciting for us all! We have so little time to prepare; I fear that I may go mad with expectation! Jane, Lizzy, you will take the younger girls into town. Mr. Bennet has been kind enough to permit us to purchase some new finery just for this event.” She smiled magnanimously at her daughters as Kitty and Lydia squealed and clapped their hands with delight.
Elizabeth sighed, but she could not deny that the prospect of a ball was exciting, especially as she had been looking forward to seeing the inside of the
grand estate ever since she had heard that it was occupied. A Mr. Morris had owned the estate for more years than she could count, but he had gone abroad to the American colonies, and the house had been vacant for some time. Since the disruption of Charlotte’s party, the prospect of another elaborate party was just what was required to set the mood of the town back to it’s original cheer.
As Lydia and Kitty began to squabble and exclaim over what they were going to purchase in town, Elizabeth’s mind wandered back to Mrs. Forster’s last visit, and the item she had brought with her. She had thought of the tooth often, and wondered if Mary might be right... what if there were wolves in the woods that surrounded Meryton, or even Longbourn. It was a ridiculous notion, the thought of wolves running through the trees like the furry villains in a fairy tale... but something about it stayed with her. She tried to shake off her unease, and put a smile on her face once more.
“Of course, we may go into town tomorrow. Thank you, Mama, and please tell Papa that we are all grateful for this gift.” Mrs. Bennet waved away Elizabeth’s words with her handkerchief, but a pleased blush spread across her cheeks.
“Yes, well. Let us hope that one of you girls will catch the eye of Mr. Bingley! That is the only reward I am seeking, Lizzy! Mark my words, he will be defenseless against your beauty and charm!” Jane smiled and Elizabeth could not help but feel a little of her worry melt away.
* * *
***
The day was bright, and Elizabeth tugged at her bonnet as they walked through town. Lydia and Kitty ran ahead, giggling and laughing over the shop window displays. They had spent the entirety of the morning going from shop to shop purchasing gloves, ribbons, and fans. Jane was laden with packages, but Mary had still not chosen anything, and Elizabeth was growing tired of her younger sister’s dismissal of each item that was pushed in her direction.
“Come now, Mary. The day is wearing on, and my feet are beginning to ache. You must choose something, for all of our sakes.” Mary sighed and followed Kitty and Lydia in to the final shop. Elizabeth exchanged a look with Jane, and her sister smiled and shook her head. Mary would never change, but she hoped that something would happen to brighten Mary’s spirits, or at least encourage her to warm to the idea of the ball as something to look forward to.
“Lizzy... Lizzy look!” Elizabeth followed Jane’s subtle point to see that she was looking at a group of officers approaching from down the street. They were tall and broad, and Elizabeth noticed that their uniforms seemed not to fit them as well as they should. There were six of them, and Elizabeth felt a shiver run up her spine as she watched them. They moved differently than the other officers of the Meryton regiment, and Elizabeth was unsettled by the way they stared, almost balefully, as they walked down the cobbled street.
“They must be the Prussian cadre that Mrs. Forster had mentioned.” Jane nodded in reply. There was no other possibility. The officers of the Meryton regiment were made up of sturdy young men, lithe and eager... these men were large and swarthy, one of them sporting a thick beard and a purposeful swagger caught her eye, and Elizabeth felt a blush rising to her cheeks. The group marched past them, and Jane gripped her sister’s arm tightly as they went by. Elizabeth did her best to avert her eyes, but she could not pull her gaze away in time. An officer at the edge of the group stared in return, and Elizabeth’s cheeks burned. “Lizzy!” Jane’s voice hissed in her ear, and Elizabeth twisted to the side, keeping her eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes.
“Lizzy! Jane! Did you see those officers?” Lydia rushed towards them, another package clutched under her arm. Kitty and Mary trailed behind, and while Kitty’s eyes shone with mischief, Mary’s gaze followed the officers as they continued down the street. “How exciting to have more soldiers in town! Do you think they will come to the Netherfield ball? Oh, I do hope so. If they are Prussian as Mrs. Forster said, perhaps they will have some new dances to teach us!” Elizabeth eyed the large men and raised an eyebrow.
“Do you think they will be as accommodating as the Meryton officers when it comes to dancing at balls?”
“I should hope so, Lizzy. Not all of them can be as sour as Mary. Perhaps she will find one who can tolerate her terrible sonatas.” Lydia giggled, but lost interest when Mary did not react to her barbs. “You may not think it is something special to have new officers in town, but I do, and so does Kitty. I bought a new fan, the shopkeeper, Mrs. Kennington, says it is very chic, you will be ever so jealous when you see it.” Elizabeth nodded absently as Lydia continued to talk about what she would be wearing to the ball, her eyes on the backs of the officers as they walked away.
“I know what you are thinking, Lizzy, I find their presence here unsettling as well. It is one thing to have the militia garrisoned here, but quite another to see foreign soldiers in our streets. It is troubling to think that there is a war being fought not far away from where we are... but we see nothing of it here.” Elizabeth nodded, but Jane’s observations were was not what worried her. It was something else. The officer’s uniforms were ill fitting, and appeared dirty, as though they had been drinking and brawling and were only now stumbling back to join the garrison. Perhaps it was the wild look in their eyes, or the overwhelming feeling that something was very wrong.
The face of the young soldier who had died on the floor of the Meryton assembly rooms flashed in her mind, and Elizabeth could not suppress the shiver that ran through her body.
“Come along, Mama will be expecting us at home.” Lydia opened her mouth to whine, but Elizabeth’s glare made her shut her mouth. Jane urged the younger girls into the direction of Longbourn and they set off together. Mary walked beside Elizabeth, her expression thoughtful.
“I have been thinking about the tooth that Mrs. Forster brought to tea the other day.” Elizabeth looked at her sister in surprise.
“Have you, Mary? I have been trying my best to forget about it.” Mary nodded solemnly.
“As have I, but I cannot seem to chase it from my mind. I have been looking through Papa’s books, and as I suspected, it confirmed my suspicions that wolves had been hunted to extinction many years ago. The likelihood of there being a wolf in the Meryton woods is most unlikely. There were some reports of sightings in Scotland, but we are too far south, so it is not possible.” Elizabeth nodded but did not reply. Mary was right, it was impossible, but Lydia had held the tooth out for all of them to see. It had been pearly in the daylight that streamed through the parlor windows. Unmistakably predatory.
“Let’s try not to think about it, Mary. Perhaps it was a pack of dogs that had broken free of their kennels. I’m sure there is a good explanation for it.” Mary nodded thoughtfully, but she did not voice her agreement, which made Elizabeth worry that Mary had come up with her own answer to the unspoken question. If it was not a wolf... then what had killed the soldier and his horse? And even worse, what if there was more than one?
The days had flown by faster than Elizabeth had imagined they would. Preparing for the Netherfield Ball had consumed the household, and Mr. Bennet had conveniently found some business in London to keep him away from Longbourn. Elizabeth had spent much of her time in the Longbourn library instead of fussing over what dress she would wear to the ball. Her father had been collecting books for longer than she had been alive, and when her grandfather had passed away, Mr. Bennet had absorbed that collection as well. While many of the books discussed legal matters, there was a small collection of fanciful works, which Elizabeth had loved to read as a child. Over the past few days she had immersed herself once more in those books, relishing the shiver that ran up her spine as she read of the Black Forest and the creatures lurking between the trees.
“Lizzy! If you do not pull your nose from that book and get dressed, we will never be able to leave this house. Stop this nonsense at once. Your sisters are dressed and Jane needs your help to dress Kitty’s hair. I cannot abide by any of this foolishness tonight! You are almost as bad as Mary!” Mrs. Bennet’s exclamations startled Elizabeth
from her reading, and she closed the book quickly and tucked it out of sight under a cushion.
“Of course, Mama. I had lost track of the time. Please tell Jane that I will be there to help her as soon as I can. It will not take me long to dress.” Mrs. Bennet huffed and crossed her arms over her wide bosom, unwilling to accept her daughter’s excuse.
“How are we ever to find a man foolish enough to marry you if we cannot get to a ball on time? Will this be our legacy? Always late to the party with too many ladies in tow!” Mrs. Bennet wailed dramatically and swept from the room. Elizabeth smiled ruefully to herself and rose from the couch to follow her mother. There were always too many ladies in tow when it came to the Bennet girls, but Elizabeth had never felt as though she were in competition with her sisters. Lydia might feel that Kitty was her competition for the attentions of the young militia officers, but Elizabeth liked to think that when she found someone to love, that he would see only her, and there would be no need for competition.
Jane was in Lydia and Kitty’s bedroom putting the final touches on Lydia’s hairstyle as Kitty hovered nervously at her elbow, holding the ribbons that would be put into her own hair. Jane’s expression was one of tired patience, and Elizabeth shook her head at the scene. She went to the room she shared with Jane and dressed quickly. She had purchased a new paid of gloves with Mr. Bennet’s unexpected generosity, and as she unfolded the long ivory colored gloves and ran her finger along the delicate pale pink embroidery. She had spent more than she had intended on these gloves, but she knew that Mr. Bennet would not mind. Kitty had begged to borrow her velvet reticule, and Elizabeth pulled the item from its storage box. Her fan was old, but it would not matter tonight.
