Page 2 of The Magic of Pemberley (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mage #2)

Chapter 2

S omehow Darcy managed to persuade Georgiana to leave her room and come down to dinner, as long as she could sit between him and her companion. That part was easily arranged, and the girl seemed as comfortable as she ever was among company, which was to say that she hardly uttered a word to anyone else.

There were too many guests at the dinner table for Darcy’s taste, too. Until tonight they had all clustered together at one end of the long table, with Elizabeth beside Darcy, but now there were enough guests that she had to sit at the opposite end, with an epergne blocking Darcy’s view of her.

It was unbecoming to sulk simply because he could not be near his wife, but, dammit, they had little enough time left together.

And something seemed to be bothering her. Earlier she had been warm to him, even after Georgiana’s surprising arrival, teasing him about Lady Amelia’s advice. But tonight, when he brought her into dinner on his arm, she was stiff and her smile artificial. Was she offended that he had asked her to keep Cerridwen away from Georgiana? Or perhaps Lady Amelia or Georgiana had said something to upset her. Whatever it was, he wanted to fix it.

When Elizabeth rose at the end of the meal, signifying the departure of the ladies, she did not even meet his eyes. This was not good. Could she possibly have managed to guess the truth about Georgiana? He could not imagine how, but he did not understand that unusual Talent of hers. Or what her dragon was capable of. The idea made his chest ache.

He had to find out, so after a token glass of port with Roderick, Darcy suggested that they rejoin the ladies. He could not wait until he was alone with Elizabeth in her room. For all he knew, she might already have revealed the secret to the others.

In the drawing room, he went straight to her side and bent down to ask her quietly to join him outside. She gave him a cool glance, but nodded and followed him into the next room.

“Yes?” she prompted. No little touch to his hand or his cheek, as she so often did when they had a moment alone.

“Something is troubling you,” he said.

“How observant of you.” Her smile showed her teeth but held no warmth.

“May I ask what it is?”

“Last week, when you went to Nottingham for your meeting with the War Office…” She left the sentence unfinished.

“What about it?” he asked cautiously. Perhaps this had nothing to do with Georgiana after all.

Her eyes narrowed. “What did you think of Nottingham?”

He had no impressions of it, since he had never been there. “I thought only of returning to you as quickly as possible.”

“How then, did you manage to call on your sister, who was in London?” she snapped.

Devil take it! He should have asked Georgiana not to mention that, but it was too late now. “The War Office asked me to disguise my destination, in case Napoleon’s spies might be watching me.”

“And since I might be a spy, too, you could not tell me the truth.” Her words dripped with sarcasm.

He rubbed his forehead. “No, of course not. But my instructions were to tell no one. ”

“I suppose I am just like everyone else, then. Did it ever occur to you that I might have wished to go with you? What it would have meant to me to spend even a few hours with my family?”

He winced. “It would have drawn attention. I traveled by mail coach under a false name and spent the night in a part of town frequented by gamblers and thieves. No one knew I was there.”

She tapped her foot. “Except Georgiana, because you did have time for her.”

Her tone made his ire rise. “I am well aware I should not have called on her, that it was a risk. I was worried because she had not been answering my letters.”

“So this journey, which was so secret could not tell me about it, was still known by your sister and Miss Lowrie. And, presumably, by your valet, and the coachman who left with you.”

“They were only aware that I did not go to Nottingham.”

“They still knew more than I did.” She turned away from him. “If you will excuse me, I have left our guests for too long.” She was out the door before he could stop her.

Damnation! The last thing he wanted to do was spoil even an hour of their last weeks together with a quarrel, but did she not understand that he had to follow the War Office’s directives?

Darcy had prepared his words carefully for his arrival in Elizabeth’s bedroom that night. He could not afford to blurt out the wrong thing this time, as he had so often in the past. And it was a good thing he had, for when he entered her room, she shot him a cold look which would have stolen his ability to think.

“I have considered what you said, and I understand why you are angry. I should have told you the truth.” He watched closely but saw no signs of softening. “I tend to treat orders from the War Office as if they were a military command I could not refuse, but I need to rethink that.”

Her shoulders relaxed, and a genuine smile peeked out. “Thank you. I want to feel that I can trust what you say.” She patted the spot beside her on the sofa, an unspoken invitation.

Thank heavens! He sat, placing his arm around her shoulders and drawing her to him. How very right she felt beside him! “I would hate it if you lied to me, and I am sorry I did that to you. I know you have kept things from me, information about the dragons and about your family in Wales, but that is different from a deception.”

She snuggled in close to him, and he thought his heart would burst with happiness and relief. “Well, I may have told you a few untruths in the beginning, before I came to love you.”

He leaned down to kiss her lingeringly. “Things are different now.” How wonderfully, unimaginably different from anything he had ever expected. “I will not hide the truth from you again.”

She nibbled at his lip. “Does that mean you will tell me what Granny said to you this morning?”

He could not help laughing at how neatly she had trapped him. Good Lord, that had been one of the most embarrassing moments of his life! How was he even to explain it without shocking her? “Perhaps I should start with what Roderick taught me a few days ago. He said I should stop trying to picture the illusion I am casting, and instead think of how pleased you would look if I succeeded at it. It seemed a ridiculous idea, but it worked.”

Her eyes opened wide. “That was your breakthrough? To think of me instead of the illusion?” She sounded disbelieving, as well she should. It sounded utterly ridiculous.

“Astonishing, is it not?” He lowered his voice. “Lady Amelia told me to take it one step further. Not merely to picture your face, but to think of an intimate moment between us, when I am focused on your pleasure.”

Elizabeth’s mouth fell open, her cheeks growing even rosier. “She said that ? ”

“Rather more colorfully, but yes,” he said ruefully. “You saw the result, so I can hardly complain. Though whether I can manage it in front of the emperor of France is a different question entirely.” And when his own life was on the line.

Her brow furrowed for a moment before her face smoothed into a teasing smile. She ran her hand slowly up his chest, pressing the fine linen against his skin and sending a trail of fire into him. Nipping his earlobe, she whispered, “Then I suppose the only way to prepare is to…practice.”

Once again, she had amazed him. He lowered his head, trailing his tongue along her lips to tease them apart. If making love to his wife constituted training for his mission, he was ready to work very hard indeed.

Afterwards, as he held Elizabeth in his arms, she said, “Do you know, with all this disruption over the dragons and Granny’s arrival, I have not had the chance to ask about your meeting with the War Office.”

The sensuous lassitude that had filled him fled. How he wanted to avoid her question! But that had backfired before, and he did not want to make the same mistake. “There has been a change in my travel plans,” he said reluctantly. “Apparently there is a spy at the War Office, but they have not discovered his identity yet.”

She gasped. “Oh, no! Does Napoleon know about your mission?”

“They believe not. Several agents in France were betrayed, but not the men I will be working with.”

She bit her lip. “This makes it even more dangerous, does it not?”

How could he answer this truthfully without frightening her even more? “They are taking great care. My new itinerary will be known only to two men.”

“A spy in the War Office. I hate to think of it.” She shivered .

“I expect they will catch him soon.” At least he hoped so. It was one thing to risk everything to end the war, but not if he would be arrested as soon as he set foot in France.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said resolutely. “Is there anything else you have been keeping back?”

His stomach clenched. Of course there was. Which should he honor, her request that he trust her, or his instinct to keep it to himself?

She frowned. “There is, I can tell.”

“I would rather not say this, to be truthful. But I will.” He drew in a deep breath. “There is a good chance Napoleon will be back in Paris in a few weeks. Which means my mission will start very soon.”

And then her face crumpled, her bright eyes filling with tears. “No,” she whispered as if in disbelief, her voice trembling.

He folded her tightly to him, helpless in face of the devastation he had caused by coming into her life – and of his many, many bitter regrets over leaving her behind.

Still heartsick over Darcy’s news, Elizabeth stepped into Granny’s room the following morning, seeking comfort in the same way she had as a child. Back then, her great-grandmother had always been able to cure whatever ailed her. This problem was beyond anyone’s ability to repair, but at least Granny would listen and sympathize. And Elizabeth needed that understanding so very badly, so she could go on pretending to the rest of the world that everything was normal.

Granny sat in bed with a tray of hot chocolate. She lifted her cup with a hand that trembled slightly. “This is something I have missed in Wales – having someone bring me chocolate on a chilly morning! I suppose I could have learned to make it, but it would look very odd to the people there. I am enjoying this visit back to the lap of luxury. ”

Elizabeth kissed the dry, wrinkly skin of her cheek, wishing she were eight years old again and could crawl in beside Granny. “I am glad we can indulge you.”

The elderly lady put a finger under Elizabeth’s chin and studied her. “What is making your pretty eyes so red? Come tell Granny all about it.”

Elizabeth pulled a chair close to her bedside and sank into it. “My husband will be leaving for France sooner than I thought. Only a few weeks, perhaps.” She barely got the words past the knot in her throat. “And chances are that he will never return.” Her voice broke on the last words.

Granny patted her hand. “I did wonder about that.”

“I do not want him to die!” It was almost a wail. “I have done everything I can think of to improve his chances, but it is not enough. I cannot bear it.” She buried her face in her hands, choking back sobs.

“What have you done so far?”

Elizabeth swallowed hard, struggling for the remnants of her composure. “I bonded to the land so I can feed him more power, and I taught him everything I learned from my books. And I conceived his child so he can draw on his land Talent while he is in France.”

Granny nodded. “A good start. I may be able to teach him a trick or two that could help, but you are right, it is a dangerous situation.”

It was not what she needed to hear. “I will appreciate anything you can do,” she said, trying to sound grateful instead of hopeless.

“You are a dear child.” Granny took a thoughtful sip of her chocolate. “Now, we must speak about your final bonding to Cerridwen.”

What? Her final bonding was the last thing on her mind. Did Granny not even care that Elizabeth was losing her beloved husband?

It was a painful realization, but perhaps she simply did not. Granny had outlived three husbands and most of her children, and likely she thought Elizabeth was making a great deal of fuss over nothing. And Granny had other worries about the safety of the dragons.

If Elizabeth’s heartbreak meant nothing to her, then there was nothing to do but to accept that bitter pill. She slowly straightened in her chair and raised her chin. “What about it?” She struggled to keep her voice even .

Granny gave her an indulgent smile that seemed out of keeping with her dismissal of Elizabeth’s concerns. “The ceremony itself is a simple matter. The two of you appear before the Eldest, and you promise to protect Cerridwen and the Nest. They make a little celebration of it, and all the dragons come to watch. At the end, the Eldest offers you a boon of welcome.”

“A boon,” Elizabeth echoed. Did Granny think that Elizabeth was a child, to be cheered up by some trinket the dragons might give her when she was losing the man she loved?

“You can ask for anything. Oftentimes it is healing for a loved one, or something of monetary value – a farm or a flock of sheep to provide income for a companion who might worry about keeping a roof over their heads. Those of us who are wealthier are often given an Artifact.”

“What did you get?” Elizabeth was intrigued despite herself.

With a rusty chuckle, she said, “I was difficult, naturally. I asked the Eldest to stop me from being forced into marriage. She did it, too, although not in the way I hoped.”

“What do you mean?”

“She arranged my flight to Wales, gave me the tools I needed to escape my family, and sent me to the Gwynedd Nest.”

“Truly? I always thought you wished to go there.”

Granny sniffed. “I was young and foolish. I wanted them to keep my father from marrying me off while I stayed at my lovely fashionable home, but the dragons would not intervene in a human’s mind for anything short of their safety. It turned out better this way. I could have returned to my family once I was wed to a man of my choice, but by then I liked my freedom in Wales too much.”

Then realization struck her. If the dragons had made it possible for Granny flee from her family, could they not assist Darcy in escaping France alive? “How did they help you?” She held her breath.

A triumphant smile lit her wrinkled face. “Finally, the correct question! You always were a clever one. They gave me a minor spell of confusion to keep anyone from noticing when I left, and an Artifact that created what appeared to be my dead body. That was the only thing that would stop my family’s pursuit.”

Her mind raced. Something like that could help Darcy, too – but only if she could convince the Nest to accept Cerridwen and to complete her bond before he left for France. “How quickly can my final vows be arranged?”

Granny looked pleased. “It should not take long, once my Sycamore gives his blessing to Cerridwen leaving the Gwynedd Nest for the Dark Peak. He should be here later today, though his first priority will be speaking to your husband about the dragon attacks.”

Once again, Granny had come to her rescue – and clearly she had known exactly what she was doing. Elizabeth threw her arms around her. “Thank you so much. This could make all the difference.”

“Oh, tush, girl! You are the one who is doing everything.” She held her finger up to her lips, her eyes twinkling. “I never said a word about boons.”

“Not a single one!” Elizabeth agreed, beaming with impossible hope.