A Touch of Night

by Sarah Hoyt

  Darcy turned abruptly from his stance before the fireplace, his face dark with anger. "What would you have me do, Bingley? Break the unwritten code of all weres?"

  "He did it when he turned Sevrin in."

  "Wickham is more vile than anyone I know -- I will not stoop to duplicating his behaviour. I will not be known as the traitor of my persecuted kind."

  "But you know that he must have been the one who set Miss Bennet free in London and put her life in danger."

  "Of course. Even before she mentioned weasel I had my suspicions. But how did he find out about her? And what was his purpose in letting her loose in London in her were form? And now this -- he cannot want to marry the chit -- why is he beleaguering the Bennet family?"

  "And still you refuse to denounce him?" Bingley sputtered.

  "Denouncing him would serve no purpose except to put everyone we love the most in mortal danger. He obviously knows the truth about Miss Jane Bennet. He knows the truth about me. For all I know he is aware of your secret as well. Both Georgiana and Miss Elizabeth Bennet would also be in peril, just for having given support to the siblings that they love. No, there must be some other way to work on Wickham. I must at all cost prevent him marrying Miss Lydia Bennet and somehow return her to her family without the scandal becoming widespread." He rubbed the middle of his forehead, in the gesture of someone attempting to massage away a persistent headache. "The happiness of all we know depends upon it."

  "And your happiness perhaps, as well?" Bingley asked. This was the strange thing about Bingley that his easygoing manner hid a very sharp mind -- a mind rarely displayed, but then with lethal accuracy.

  Darcy felt color rise to his cheeks and thought it must look ghastly there, for he did not doubt he was pale as the dead. "My happiness is of little account. You must know I've long ago given up any hope of ... of a normal life."

  "And yet, I am sure the lady's feelings..."

  "Don't, please, Bingley. This is a matter in which neither of our feelings are of the least consequence. We are both of us devoted to the safety and happiness of others who have greater claims on us. If everything... If I could hope to bring it all off as it should be, and to make sure no stain of this falls upon anyone and that Whickam will not slither his way into the Bennets' family, then I will dare to hope. But not before. For now I must think how to bring this miracle about."

  "We," said Bingley, clapping his hands upon his friend's shoulders. "I am as much in this as you."

  Darcy smiled tightly in acknowledgement, though the smile did little to brighten his expression. "Good, we have no time to lose," was all he said, and then he summoned a servant and ordered his carriage.

  * * * *

  Elizabeth and Jane had been home at Longbourn for two days without any word from their father in London. Mrs. Bennet continued to keep to her room, but her mood swings still kept the entire household on tenterhooks. Kitty no longer cried and even attempted to help, in atonement for her previous behaviour. She now realised that keeping Lydia's confidences private had greatly hurt her standing in her family -- her father had threatened to highly restrict her social activities -- and possibly even sullied her own reputation. So she came down to breakfast the day after her sisters' return, contrite and biddable, and even now, a full day later, ran every errand she was asked without question. She was however, she said, bewildered, for though Lydia had confided in her that she adored Whickam above all other men, she had never -- Kitty swore to it -- given indication of wishing to take such a fatal step as this must be. She had spoken of meeting him, sometimes, for what she called "sweet whisperings" but that was all.

  They had just got up from the breakfast table and were sitting down to a basket of mending in the parlour when the approach of a carriage was heard upon the sweep.

  "It must be father come home!" cried Jane. "He has found Lydia and brought her back!"

  Kitty was up and peering through the curtained window, but could see nothing.

  "Oh do sit down, Kitty. We shall find out soon enough if Jane is right," said Mary. "But if it is Lydia, I do not suggest welcoming the prodigal by killing the fatted calf. She has a lot to answer for, to her family as well as to the Lord."

  "Mary!" said Elizabeth. "It is probably just some neighbour trying to find out what they can. Rumours are bound to have spread. After all, Aunt Phillips had been a regular visitor and you know what a tattle monger she is." However she could not prevent her heart from beating erratically at the possibility that it was Mr. Darcy calling upon them, however much she knew that it could not possibly be he.

  It was not Mr. Bennet with Lydia in tow, nor was it Mr. Darcy, nor was it even one of their inquisitive neighbours. It was their cousin, Mr. Collins, come to condole with them in their hour of need, or so he said.

  "Your sister has brought disgrace down upon you all with her shameful actions," he said once he had done with his fulsome greetings and they were all seated again. "That is not to say I did not suspect something of this nature would happen, for it did not evade my notice that Miss Lydia was prone to indecorous behaviour. Lady Catherine encouraged me to write and advise your father time and time again, but I am afraid I was behindhand in my duty. So when we heard, through those grapevines of information that families are known for, that there was some mystery surrounding Longbourn and it had to do with Miss Lydia and her aborted stay in Brighton, and that your mother had taken to her bed and your father, after visits from Colonel Forster himself, had rushed off post paste to London, Lady Catherine turned to me and said, 'You must visit your cousins in their time of need.' So here I am, at that good lady's wish and command."

  "It is very good of you," said Jane.

  "We cannot help but feel, Lady Catherine and I, that there might even be more involved here than scandalous behaviour of a most appalling kind -- I need not be more explicit because there are some things a gentleman must not say in the company of refined young ladies, which I trust you still are, as the taint of your sister's indiscretion has not wholly corrupted any of you as of yet -- though in time none of you will be safe from the spreading leprosy of her actions."

  "It is a wonder you thought it safe to visit," said Elizabeth. "Lest you pick up some of the infection yourself."

  Mr. Collins looked taken aback for a moment, and then continued. "In my walk of life I must find myself in all sorts of places, but by virtue of vocation I carry protection with me wherever I go. I wish it were the same for you, cousins, I most sincerely do. Little do I rejoice in knowing that such close connections of mine have to bear such a stain on their reputations. But as Lady Catherine and I believe, it might be infinitely worse. Your sister may not have simply eloped, which is scandalous enough in itself, but she may be guilty of something even worse. Something of the blood that cannot be eradicated. She may have had to flee because she was found out."

  "What exactly are you insinuating, Mr. Collins?" asked Elizabeth, two spots of red flaring high across her cheeks.

  "That she . . . is cursed."

  "That she is a were?" asked Jane, her lips trembling.

  "She is no were!" cried Kitty. "I am her sister and share a room with her and all manner of secrets," here she blushed, "so I would know."

  "How dare you come here and make unsubstantiated claims of such a defamatory nature?" Elizabeth was standing now, her face white with fury. "How dare you say you have come to condole when you have only come to accuse? You would be wise to keep such thoughts to yourself -- you would put us all in danger if your insinuations were to become public. My sister Lydia may have acted indiscreetly but I will have you remember that she has been taken advantage of by a man whom we considered to be a gentleman. Why should she and her family be destroyed for something that is more Mr. Wickham's responsibility than anyone else's? And he, as an officer of the Royal Were-Hunters, would hardly take it into his head to elope with a young lady who changed into the type of a creature he has sworn to protect society from. The idea is ludicrous. I must ask you to lea
ve this house at once, and to tell your precious Lady Catherine that our family's business is not her business."

  "I did not mean to say . . . that is . . you do make sense. I quite see that Mr. Wickham would not philander with a were. Not an officer of the RWH. But I cannot absolve your sister of wrongdoing. The lady is always much more at fault than the gentleman. Sometimes, with officers, one must turn a blind eye to what is not much more than a flirtation, but a lady . . . a lady's reputation is as brittle as glass."

  "Oh I do agree!" cried Mary.

  Elizabeth was not to be mollified. "Good day, Mr. Collins."

  "I had wished to find you more reasonable, cousin," said Mr. Collins, as he took his hat and coat from the servant that had been summoned, "but Lady Catherine warned me how it would be, with your willful nature. I hope that you are not past redemption, but I sincerely doubt the Good Lord will find it possible to bless this house any longer. I shall endeavor to pray for what is left of your lost souls." And with that he took his leave.

  "What pomposity!" cried Kitty when the door was closed behind him. "Do you think it can be true that we have lost all of God's blessings just because Lydia has run off with Mr. Wickham? It does not seem such a terrible thing to have done."

  "I believe in God's goodness," said Elizabeth, "so why would he He turn his back on us when we need him the most?"

  Kitty nodded. "To tell you the truth," she said, "I don't even see how it could be such a sinful thing if Lydia was really a were, because it would be no fault of her own, would it?"

  Tears came to Jane's eyes. "No fault at all," she whispered.

  "But she is not," said Elizabeth sensibly, "so we can forget that Mr. Collins ever made such wild accusations."

  "I think we should all get down upon our knees and pray," said Mary. "None of you are taking this situation as seriously as you ought. We must protect ourselves as best we can from the evils of man in this sinful, sinful world."

  Suddenly a bell began to ring its strident peals through the house.

  "Mama!" cried Elizabeth. "I will go to her." Anything was better than having to stay in the parlour with Mary, shrouded in sackcloth and ashes, praying for salvation from eternal damnation.

  * * * *

  When Mr. Collins returned to Kent and reported to Lady Catherine how poorly his interview with his cousins had gone, she did not seem as affected by it as he would have expected.

  "They will learn the error of their ways soon enough," was her only comment.

  * * * *

  Elizabeth was roused from a deep sleep by strange sound. A sort of rattling shower. She sat up and heard it again. Pebbles against the window. That was it. Immediately she thought of Jane -- but it was the wrong time of the month -- the moon was no more than a sliver in the night sky. Jane had more control than to be overpowered by such a weak tug as a sickle moon could exert. Her heart pounding she tiptoed to the window and stared outside.

  It was very dark, but dimly she could see a female figure standing upon the lawn below her window. Not Jane, but Lydia. Lydia! Elizabeth ran downstairs at once and let her in. She led her up to her room in silence and then closed the door before asking any questions.

  "Where on earth did you come from? We thought you in London!"

  "I was in London!" said Lydia in a loud whisper. "I have had such an adventure!"

  "Adventure? You run off with Mr. Wickham and throw your family into turmoil and call it an adventure?"

  "I didn't run away with him -- I'm not quite that brazen a hussy -- he kidnapped me."

  "He took you against your will? What of the letters you left behind. I read them -- they were in your hand and your carefree style."

  "I wrote them, certainly, but under duress," said Lydia.

  "Where is Wickham now? How did you escape him? How came you here, to the garden? I will not believe that you walked from London."

  Lydia laughed. "Lord no! You will hardly credit it, but I was given a ride by a dragon. Oh, you cannot imagine how glorious it is to ride upon a dragon!"

  As it was Elizabeth could easily imagine that gloriousness, having longed for the feel of the dragon's silky scales pressed close to her body ever since her last ride upon the Darcy dragon, but she didn't admit this to her sister. "A dragon!"

  "Now don't go and get all missish and tell me I should never have accepted the ride because it was wondrous and truly the safest way for me to get back home with no one being the wiser. I did not need to go to an inn or buy tickets for the stage or anything of that sort. Anyway I did not have any money, though why Mr. Darcy could not have given me some, I have no idea."

  "Mr. Darcy!"

  "Oops! I was not supposed to have mentioned him -- and I had promised so faithfully too. I shall say no more about him."

  "But . . . I don't understand . . . the dragon?"

  "Oh! Do not worry -- Mr. Darcy never saw the dragon. He simply offered to take me to my uncle's house, but I told him I had no wish to listen to sermons after what I'd been through and I would find my way home. No sooner had Mr. Darcy left, than this dragon appeared. I know I ought to have been frightened, but after putting up with Mr. Wickham for a week, I was game for anything. The dragon landed beside me and offered me his shoulder, so I climbed on and asked him to take me home. I knew that anything that beautiful could not harm me."

  Well did Elizabeth know that beauty and the trust those green eyes engendered. She did not doubt for a moment that it was Mr. Darcy as a dragon who had brought her sister home. And yet, she felt she must chide Lydia. "But you thought Mr. Wickham handsome and look what a fiend he turned out to be."

  "There is no comparing Mr. Wickham and the dragon! Really Elizabeth -- you must rid yourself of these silly superstitions that weres are bad. If there is anything I have learned during my time with Mr. Wickham, it is that the RWH is full of very bad men. And if they are mostly so very bad, doesn't it follow that weres must mostly be very good?"

  Elizabeth thought this rather simple logic and flawed at best, but she was just glad and relieved that Lydia wasn't about to report the dragon that had helped her to the authorities. In her mind there was no debating who the dragon was -- appearing as he had upon Mr. Darcy's heels. And besides, she doubted there were many weres who were dragons. It didn't seem like a very likely form for weres in England to take. She decided the safest thing to do would be to steer Lydia to the beginning of her escapade, so she wouldn't make the connection between the dragon and Mr. Darcy either.

  "That is as may be, but why did Mr. Wickham kidnap you?"

  "Oh la! Why does a gentleman who is not truly a gentleman ever kidnap a lady? Because that lady has not been forthcoming!" She giggled. "I see I have surprised you, Elizabeth. You expected much less from me. Oh well, I suppose it is because I do love to flirt so. But anything more I would not give unless the gentleman had gained my father's permission to marry me. I do know my worth!"

  "I am relieved to hear it. I hope you elucidate Mary at your soonest convenience so that we may be spared her sermons."

  Lydia giggled and threw herself upon the bed. "I suppose what you really want to know is how Mr. Wickham managed to kidnap me."

  "Please," said Elizabeth, fighting her exasperation at her sister's method of telling her tale.

  "Well, while I was staying with the Forsters in Brighton, I had ever such a good time flirting with all the officers. There were so many dances, and walks upon the beach and to the lending library. At first Mr. Wickham paid me little heed. Then he was away for a few days. When he returned he began to ingratiate himself with me. I found it quite amusing, and decided to carry on a flirtation with him. I knew he could not possibly be in earnest because it was common knowledge he was hanging out for a new heiress since that ugly, freckled little Mary King gave him the slip."

  "Lydia!"

  "Lord! It was simply to be a lark. One must do something to pass the time. And it was pleasant enough. How was I to know he had discovered that one of my very own sisters was a were? "
>
  "What?"

  "Yes, that is what he told me. He said if I did not go with him he would denounce my sister -- and of course I knew it must be you, because he had spent so much time in your company when he first came to Meryton, and you do love to go for solitary walks and you are secretive and, well, you full well could be a were. I didn't want to see you killed Elizabeth!"

  Elizabeth sat down on the bed and put her arms around her sister. "Oh Lydia! You put yourself under that man's power for me?"

  "And I would do it again, only, I'm not sure if he might not denounce you now after what I did to him." Lydia suddenly looked stricken.

  "He can denounce me all he wants to," said Elizabeth. "I am not a were."

  "You're not?" Lydia sounded truly disappointed. "So all I did was for naught?"

  "No, Lydia. You showed yourself to be a loyal sister, and much less silly than I ever gave you credit for. I am very much in your debt."

  Lydia smiled and hugged Elizabeth in return. "He took me to a very disreputable hostelry in London. I have to admit that I was not about to share his bed, even for you, Elizabeth. I made friends with the landlady's daughter and told her I had been abducted by a blackguard. She saw to it that he had enough blue ruin to pass out as soon as he lay upon the counterpane and I stayed in her room for the night. After a couple of days and nights of this he became quite demanding and I was afraid for my virtue, but the final evening I managed to fight him off. I was lucky -- I directed a well placed kick upon a very delicate part of his anatomy. When Mr. Darcy arrived Mr. Wickham was curled up like a ball. It was quite an easy task for Mr. Darcy to tie him up at that point. Oh no! I mentioned Mr. Darcy again. Please ignore that, for I did promise."

  Regretfully, Elizabeth agreed to ask no more, and the two lay down to sleep. Lydia was soon dreaming deeply but Elizabeth spent the night tossing and turning, her sleep haunted by dragons and puzzlement as to how Darcy came to be at the hostelry where Wickham was holding Lydia and why he had brought her home upon his back. But most of all she was consumed with sadness that he had not passed by her window after depositing Lydia upon the lawn. She would have given anything to see that glowing serpentine body again; anything for a last chance to look deep into those knowing emerald green eyes.