by APRIL FLOYD
Mr. Darcy stopped and turned to gaze into Elizabeth’s eyes. If he were truthful, he had found the idea of Bingley’s infatuation with Jane to be a passing notion. And he did recall advising his friend against falling in love with the lovely Jane Bennet.
He found now that he had an opportunity to know the Bennet sisters better and could measure their bearing and behavior to that of Caroline Bingley, he would no longer be able to caution Charles against his hopes for a life with Jane.
He turned and continued walking with Elizabeth, breaking his silence on the matter.
“Do not be concerned with Caroline Bingley. Charles may appear to be easily swayed, for he is a most agreeable man. I doubt you might find a gentleman more affable than my friend. But he is smitten with your sister, as I am certain you have noticed. Miss Bingley will only move his heart further in Jane’s direction with her penchant for finding fault where none lies.”
Elizabeth nodded. Secure in her belief that Jane would soon receive a proposal from Mr. Bingley, she turned her thoughts to Mr. Darcy. She wondered if he would be so accepting of her status as Bingley was of Jane. Mr. Darcy was a dear friend to Charles Bingley but they were not of the same circle.
“Shall you remain at Netherfield, Mr. Darcy? Jane did mention that Mr. Bingley expects you will return to London soon.”
He sighed and held her arm closer.
“I am not decided, Miss Elizabeth. Netherfield has its charms, to be certain. Life is much less demanding here than in Town. I find myself longing for Pemberley. Perhaps I might take you there one day?”
Elizabeth gazed up at the handsome man beside her wishing that a turn of her pendant might seal their fate. As a woman, without considering her magical ability, she felt he was at odds with himself. Perhaps confused that a young woman not of his circle held an attraction for him beyond the connection that sang whenever they touched.
11
Elizabeth sat alone in the parlor at Netherfield wishing Jane would keep her company. The Bingley sisters stopped at the parlor door and Elizabeth heard them whispering in the hallway.
She was tempted to cause the door to slam and startle them but she did not wish to vex Caroline further. They would leave Netherfield tomorrow and her outburst earlier in the day regarding their mother’s letter had been quite enough.
When they moved away, Elizabeth sighed in relief. She returned to her small book and read the words with interest. There was a notation regarding an enchantment.
She whispered the words over several times wondering if she might use them to encourage Mr. Darcy. Jane would have forbidden her right away but Lizzy wondered what harm could be done.
Thine eyes and mind
Shall be as one
And then a match
Will been done.
Mr. Darcy entered the parlor and Elizabeth closed the book quickly, her hand flying to her pendant. She felt a current flow through her body and settle at her toes. A tingling sensation was the end of it but she wondered what had happened.
Mr. Darcy turned to her, a smile upon his face.
“Miss Elizabeth, where is your lovely sister?”
Elizabeth glanced at the book in her lap and her heart raced as she lifted her gaze once more to Mr. Darcy.
“Jane is upstairs,” she said slowly.
His brow creased and he sighed.
“I was hoping that she and I might speak before dinner. She is a lovely young woman and I find myself unable to bear her absence.”
Elizabeth’s mouth fell open and a look of confusion marred her countenance. Thine eyes and mind. She had been thinking of Jane when Mr. Darcy walked in! Mother would be furious with her!
Elizabeth jumped from her seat and excused herself. Mr. Darcy watched her exit the parlor and a devilish smile played across his lips.
He knew exactly what Elizabeth Bennet had done and he had decided to act as though her spell had been successful upon him. Jane would certainly be unable to resist since she lacked any magical ability. Only his power as a mage had spared him. It would do Elizabeth well to learn now that her book contained exacting enchantments.
Elizabeth hurried up the stairs, ignoring the Bingley sisters as she passed them without a word. She rushed to the room she shared with Jane and flung open the door.
“Jane, are you well?”
Jane fussed at Elizabeth for her abrupt entrance and then sat at the ornate dressing table.
“I am, Lizzy. Whatever could be wrong?”
Elizabeth closed the door and approached Jane. She picked up the brush and began the ritual of attending her sister. Elizabeth had always been soothed by their camaraderie and now she wished for it more than ever. Her heart pounded in her ears as she noticed the smile on Jane’s face.
“Mr. Bingley has been most kind in allowing our visit,” she said hoping Jane would reply with words of admiration for the man.
Jane sighed and placed her hands in her lap.
“He is a kind man, a very dear friend and neighbor. I believe he might be a good match for you Lizzy.”
Elizabeth dropped the brush and backed away from Jane. Somehow she had worked that enchantment from her book on Jane and Mr. Darcy!
* * *
At dinner that evening, Elizabeth watched as her sister smiled shyly at the attentions of Mr. Darcy. Bingley sat quietly, his face betraying the consternation at this turn of events.
Elizabeth tried time and again to capture Jane’s attention but failed miserably. She turned to Bingley instead, hoping to distract him from the scene that played before them. She was grateful for the fact that his sisters had insisted on dinner in their rooms. She dared not think of their reaction to her spell wrongly spoken.
“Mr. Bingley, I do hope we shall have the pleasure of your company at dinner soon. My mother shall be eager to repay the kindness you have shown.”
Bingley smiled at her and nodded.
“I would be most pleased to dine at Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth. However, my kindness was not given in hopes of repayment. I find myself happy to be of aid.”
His eyes wandered to Jane and a frown creased his usually smooth brow. Elizabeth found her head was pounding and her stomach churned at the idea of passing the evening with such behavior from her sister and Mr. Darcy.
“I must say, I am not well Mr. Bingley. Jane and I ought to retire for the evening. I am eager to leave for home on the morrow.”
Elizabeth took Jane by her sleeve. “Sister, I would like to go up and lie down. Please come with me. I do not wish to be alone.”
Jane rose and glanced longingly at Mr. Darcy before she left the room with Elizabeth.
Mr. Bingley raised his voice so that Elizabeth could hear quite plainly that he was angry with his friend. Jane turned and glanced at the dining room doors.
“Do you think we ought to leave them in an argument, Lizzy?”
Elizabeth pulled Jane forward toward the stairs. “Indeed sister. They are men and the best of friends. I daresay they have argued before in the course of their long friendship. You and I have no business in it.”
Jane followed Elizabeth up the stairs, her eyes gone soft and dreamy.
“Do you think Mr. Darcy prefers me Lizzy? He was most attentive during dinner. Mama shall be most pleased.”
Elizabeth thought of it for a moment, her heart pounding as it dawned upon her that Mrs. Bennet would indeed prefer that Jane married a man of Mr. Darcy’s wealth. She’d want Elizabeth to set her cap for Mr. Bingley but the man was in love with her sister!
12
The morning came much too soon for Elizabeth Bennet as she had tossed and turned for the better part of the night.
Her desire to intervene in Mr. Darcy’s feelings had ended in a most disastrous fashion. Wasn’t Charlotte always warning her about using her magic with him?
Elizabeth would never risk such again if she could only reverse the spell. She doubted she would be able without the assistance of her mother. And now she was uncertain of whether Mrs. Bennet wou
ld think the misdeed required correction.
As much as she liked Mr. Bingley, she had not a romantic feeling for him. Mr. Darcy had managed to find his way into her heart over the course of their stay at Netherfield. And her disregard for her mother’s warnings about the spells in that book had caused his affections to be altered.
Her hand went to her pendant from habit but she dropped it as though it were a burning coal in her hand. She rose quietly from the bed and took the small book in hand, her grip unsteady.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the pages again and searched for a spell that might undo the disaster she’d wrought.
Love is fickle, strange but true
No witch with lowly powers may the heart undo
Only cause a heart to change
That had no love assured
Elizabeth thought over the words. Jane had not yet been certain of Bingley’s love nor had he vowed his love to her, yet.
Mr. Darcy had not reacted at the ball to her enchantment spell leading her to believe he was in love with another, yet his heart had fallen for Jane once she spoke the more complicated spell at Netherfield.
She had incorrectly judged Mr. Darcy at the assembly or he was a mage of great power who could resist her charms. Their moment in the hallway when he hid them from the Bingley sisters clearly meant he was a mage. But if so, how had he fallen for Jane?
Perplexed and growing angry, Elizabeth thumbed further through the book and stopped at a beautiful representation of a young couple.
To help a man along in love
The lady must speak the words of affection
Where all may hear
The declaration made without reserve
Elizabeth must cause Jane to admit her love for Mr. Bingley where all might hear. Not likely now. She closed the book and thought of how she might coax her sister into such an admission.
* * *
Downstairs, Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst bid their brother farewell and prepared to leave Netherfield before they might be forced to sit through breakfast with the Bennet sisters.
Caroline placed a hand on her brother’s arm before she turned to leave. “Charles, darling, do reconsider this infatuation with Jane Bennet. No good will come from an alliance with either of those young ladies. Mark my words.”
He nodded to his sisters, happy they were both leaving and wishing only that they had gone days before. His argument with Darcy the night before had been most bizarre. His friend was inexplicably taken with Jane Bennet and seemed most sincere in his declarations.
Perhaps his sisters were not so foolish in thinking the Bennets to be witches, for they had certainly bewitched himself and Darcy within the space of a week’s time.
He turned at the sound of his friend’s voice and they entered the breakfast room without incident. Bingley wished to speak with Darcy further regarding Jane but since the young woman would leave his house this morning he did not wish for her to carry the unpleasant memory of harsh words with her.
Upstairs, Elizabeth combed Jane’s hair once more. Her sister was quite lovely this morning and her countenance as serene as ever.
“Jane, I believe we ought not stay to breakfast. I know mother will send a coach for us but I would so enjoy a walk. We’ve been kept inside for far too long.”
Jane smiled at her sister and took her hand.
“We shall walk home if you wish Lizzy and have our things brought back by the coach. I do wish to sit at breakfast, though, so that we might give Mr. Bingley our thanks yet again for his kindness. And I would not mind the attention of Mr. Darcy.”
Elizabeth sighed and knew Jane was right. They must not leave without a proper farewell. The idea of dining with Mr. Bingley’s sisters while she attempted to undo her error was daunting. And her plan to trick Jane into speaking words of love for Mr. Bingley looked to be impossible with Jane’s mind on Mr. Darcy.
Perhaps she had best leave things as they were before she made them increasingly worse. How that might be she could not imagine. She followed Jane from the room, her heart full of dread for the coming hour.
They entered the breakfast parlor to find Mr. Bingley’s sisters had left for London not half an hour before. Elizabeth sighed her great relief at the news and sat happily across from Mr. Darcy. When Jane went to sit beside the man, Elizabeth called to her.
“Jane, please come sit by me.”
Jane returned Mr. Darcy’s smile and glanced at Elizabeth. If she did not know better she would think her sister to be jealous of Mr. Darcy’s preference for her company.
As their meal progressed, Elizabeth thought again of the last spell she had read upstairs. Watching Jane and Mr. Darcy as they ignored Bingley settled her mind. She took her pendant in hand, hoping against hope that she could turn Jane’s heart back to Bingley.
She concentrated on her sister as she spoke happily to Mr. Darcy. She whispered the words at first but Jane’s attention was fixed upon Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth had never experienced such resistance from her sister’s mind.
She leaned closer to Jane and her voice lifted to compete with the words Mr. Darcy spoke. Jane turned and the room grew silent as Elizabeth repeated her sentence once more.
“I love Mr. Bingley.”
13
Charles Bingley turned to Elizabeth with a light in his eyes the she recognized as the air left her lungs. She shook her head in despair as Charles left his seat and came to kneel beside her.
“Miss Elizabeth, I am quite pleased you have admitted your feelings. I was afraid to seek your approval but I am deeply in love with you.”
Mr. Darcy smiled happily from his seat at the expression on Elizabeth Bennet’s face. She had not learnt her lesson from the disaster she had wrought the day before. He admired her desire to set things to right but her spell over Jane would not have worked. His magic was too strong for her to overcome. And now she’d tried another only to cause poor Bingley to become enchanted.
While he longed to break both spells and return his attentions to the lovely Miss Elizabeth, his desire for her to learn the strength of the magic she wielded was far greater. How her mother had allowed her to get to the age of not quite twenty and one without having tempered her ability with knowledge was a mystery.
Elizabeth quietly finished her breakfast as her sister and Mr. Darcy spoke of a walk in the gardens before the sisters would leave for Longbourn. Mr. Bingley took her arm as Mr. Darcy and Jane left the breakfast parlor with a maid as their escort.
“Would you care for a walk, Miss Elizabeth?”
She gazed longingly at the door and wished she might bolt and run all the way home without looking back. But instead, she turned to Mr. Bingley and smiled brightly at the man.
“I was hoping we might sit in the parlor and await Jane and Mr. Darcy. They will return soon, I hope.”
Mr. Bingley smiled and continued their progress to the parlor. “Darcy is smitten with Jane. I believe he might offer for her before too long, Miss Elizabeth. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a double wedding at Netherfield?”
Elizabeth held back the tears that threatened at the idea of Mr. Darcy married to Jane. She had no one to blame for this and it made her all the more sorrowful.
Bingley spoke at length of their lives together, how they would remain close to Jane and Darcy, how their children would grow up together and Elizabeth sat on her hands to keep from running out of the room.
Mr. Bingley was a handsome man in his own right, and with enough money to provide a comfortable life for his wife and children. His temperament was even and he was kind to a fault. He was the perfect match for her sister. But not for Elizabeth. Her heart was taken by the proud and dashing Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Her nerves worn by the lack of sleep and her own horrid mistakes, Elizabeth fought to endure her time in the parlor with Mr. Bingley. She heard each tick of the ornate clock upon the mantle and her ears longed for the footsteps that would mean Jane and Mr. Darcy were returned from the garden.
Mr. B
ingley rose from his seat and came to sit beside Elizabeth on the sofa before the fireplace. Elizabeth moved slightly as to keep a space between them and Mr. Bingley took her hand.
“Miss Elizabeth, the beauty of your eyes ensnares me and I pray you will not deny me the great pleasure of your gaze.”
Elizabeth lowered her lashes and smiled sweetly. How Jane must have felt to sit with such a handsome, endearing man at her side. His love for her evident but not yet declared. A sharp pain pierced Elizabeth’s heart and she deeply regretted, beyond the concerns of her own heart, the disservice she had done to Jane and Charles Bingley.
Mr. Darcy’s voice rang from the entry and Elizabeth stood to meet Jane. She would take her sister and leave as soon as they were able to make their farewells.
As much as she longed to be free from Netherfield, she looked forward to the hours ahead at Longbourn as one might anticipate the coming of the clouds against the sun. Her mother would be most unhappy with her mistakes.
Mr. Darcy entered the parlor with Jane on his arm and Elizabeth felt the piercing of her heart once more. Jealous of her own sister? It could not be! For Jane had done nothing to advance the match between herself and Mr. Darcy. She was as much at Elizabeth’s mercy as the gentlemen in the room.
Elizabeth took Jane’s hand and made their excuses.
“Jane and I would prefer to walk home to Longbourn this morning, Mr. Bingley. The coach may come once we have gone. Please have the footman load our belongings and return home.”
Mr. Bingley took her gloved hand and placed a gentle kiss there. “As you wish, Miss Elizabeth. I do hope I shall have the pleasure of your company soon.”
Mr. Darcy nodded as she and Jane left the parlor and there were no cross words between him and Mr. Bingley this time as the ladies stepped away from the parlor door.
