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The insistent jingling of a doorbell brought an unnatural stillness to the house. All activity ceased as the inhabitants of Netherfield held a collective breath with the same questions running through their minds. Who could possibly have broken through the Wards Darcy had set up so carefully around Netherfield? They were strong enough to keep away any of the inhabitants of Meryton driven by curiosity. Surely anyone with the ability to break through the Wards would not deign to ring the doorbell.
Darcy had sensed the disruption in the Wards several minutes ago, and so had Elizabeth, who had hurried to tell him. He informed his uncle at once. Matlock did not ask for the alarm bells to be rung, but the apprentices were sent to their rooms, and everyone else took up their battle positions. Elizabeth was ordered to come downstairs with Darcy and Matlock to face the intruder.
“You should Bond now. I will use Elemental magic, if necessary, but you may be called up to protect me.”
Elizabeth nodded. They muttered the words of the spell together. They were growing accustomed to initiating the Bond by now, and Darcy felt it form between them almost immediately. As it took hold, Elizabeth’s warm magic flowed and mingled with his. An intense longing washed over him. He ached to share this closeness with her, to lose himself in that Bond.
With a huge effort of will, he forced himself to focus on the mission at hand, to treat the Bond impersonally, as he had done with his other Twins.
Matlock took up a position behind the door. “Wait in the hallway, beyond sight. I will signal you if it is safe. If there is any danger, sound the alarm.” He gestured to the footman to open the door. There was no butler, of course, because they had not expected to need one.
The doorbell clanked once again. Darcy waited, his heart beating faster, prepared to act quickly. Through the Bond, he could feel Elizabeth’s tension as if it was his own.
The door opened slowly, bringing with it the growl of thunder and the beating of heavy rain against the cobblestones.
“I am very sorry to intrude.” The woman’s voice sounded familiar. “I would like to speak to Mr. Murray. May I step in out of the rain?”
Darcy recognized the voice at the same moment that Elizabeth let out a gasp.
“It is Jane.”
She was about to step forward, but Darcy held her back.
“It may be an Illusion. We need to wait for Matlock’s signal.”
Matlock stepped out from behind the door.
Unless this was an Illusion, they were safe. Matlock gestured to Darcy, and he stepped out as well to make certain it was not a Conjurer’s trick. He had met Miss Bennet only briefly, but she looked real.
Her eyes widened as soon as she saw him.
“Lord Matlock? Mr. Darcy?”
She curtseyed politely and smiled. He marveled at her composure even as his mind tried to come to terms with the fact that she had passed through the Wards and had now discovered the truth about the inhabitants of Netherfield.
“Jane!” Elizabeth came forth now. “What are you doing here? Is someone ill?” Her voice fizzled out as she realized her sister could not possibly have known where to find her. “How did you know I was here?”
Miss Bennet turned the same composed smile on her sister.
“I did not. I came to offer my assistance to Mr. Murray. I am a Healer.”
Darcy and his uncle exchanged looks.
Matlock turned to the footman.
“Tell everyone to step down and return to their activities. There is no danger.”
“Come on inside, Jane. Goodness, you really are soaked through. Did you walk all the way?”
“No, I came on horseback.”
“We will send someone out to take care of your horse.”
Darcy did not have the heart to tell Miss Bennet to ride back home in the rain. Nor would he wish to refuse Elizabeth the chance to be with her sister.
He looked to his uncle. Matlock could put a stop to it if he wished. He could be ruthless. But Matlock merely shook his head.
As Elizabeth tucked her sister’s arm under her own and led her inside, Darcy approached his uncle.
“Why did you not stop her from coming in?”
“It was too late the moment she saw us. We would still have to deal with the repercussions, one way or the other.”
There would be a high price to pay for this.
***
AS THE GENTLEMEN FOLLOWED them inside, Elizabeth stopped and turned to them.
“May I ask where you are going, gentlemen?”
“We may ask the same of you.” Matlock’s tone made it clear that this was not open to discussion. “We are going to the breakfast room. Together.”
As she bristled at Lord Matlock’s tone, Darcy put a hand lightly on her arm. “We need to question your sister, Elizabeth.”
Darcy meant to be kind, but he had the same steel in his voice as his uncle. Elizabeth had never realized how alike they could sound. Well, they were about to find out that she could be stubborn as well.
“I am afraid you will have to wait.”
Matlock lifted his eyebrow and raised his lorgnette to stare at her. “It is of the utmost urgency to discover how she passed through the Wards.”
Elizabeth laughed. She had always found the distorted image of an eye seen through a lorgnette amusing. If this was Lord Matlock’s best effort at intimidating her, he was in trouble.
“Of course it is, Lord Matlock, but I will not have my sister catch her death of a cold while you question her like a criminal.”
“Your sister walked through our Wards. It does not make her a criminal, but it does put us all in danger.”
“It is extremely doubtful that anything will happen while Jane takes a warm bath and changes into dry clothes. Jane will happily answer your questions, Lord Matlock and Darcy, but only when she is presentable and warm.”
Lord Matlock swiped his palm across his face.
“Yes, yes. I am not an ogre, Elizabeth, despite appearances to the contrary. It is just that every mage in Netherfield will be descending on us any minute now, demanding an explanation.”
Elizabeth did not care about the other mages. Her priority was to get Jane out of her wet clothes and give her something warm to drink. Jane had a delicate constitution, and she had always been susceptible to colds. So, defying anyone to stop her, she tugged at her sister’s arm and pointed her in the direction of the stairs. Jane resisted, of course, torn between her instinct to please everyone and the acknowledgement that she really did need to change into something dry.
Elizabeth leaned towards her and whispered in her ear.
“Your clothes are wet and revealing, Jane. I am certain you do not want the gentlemen to see you like this.”
That was enough to convince Jane, her sense of propriety being stronger than her need to please everyone.
Elizabeth pulled her away from the two gentlemen and up the stairs before Jane could have time to reconsider. Once they reached the bedchamber, Elizabeth rang for Emily, ordered a hot bath, and picked out dry clothes for her sister to wear. Then she left Emily in charge of Jane and went to talk to the two gentlemen who were waiting impatiently for them downstairs.
***
DARCY TRIED TO HIDE his dismay until Elizabeth and her sister disappeared up the stairs, but when he and his uncle reached the breakfast room, he flopped down into a chair.
“I do not understand it. I checked the Wards today. I even added some extra protection.”
“Taking the blame again, Darcy? None of us anticipated this. I can only conclude that, because the Wards were partly woven by Elizabeth’s magic, they recognized a family affinity and let Miss Bennet through. The question is, now that it has happened, what are we going to do about it? Consider it a rude awakening. You and Elizabeth and every Warder at Netherfield will have to rebuild those Wards.”
He would do it if he had to stay up all night to do so.
“We should not have opened the door. She would have gone back to Longbourn, none the wiser. It was a stupid mistake to make, to satisfy our own curiosity.”
“Nonsense. We could not let someone who had walked through our Wards go back and let everyone know what they had done. The thorny question is what to do with Miss Bennet, now that she is here. She cannot be allowed to return and inform the whole of Meryton that we are here.”
“No. I agree. We cannot entrust a young lady with our safety. We could do a Tongue Twister spell. I know they are only meant for extreme situations, but I do believe it would be justified in this case.”
“There is a reason they are only used in extreme situations. Too many things can go wrong if you bind people’s tongue on certain topics, and they somehow always find other ways for them to communicate if they really want to. Besides people invariably resent them, which makes them all the more determined to find a way around them. I dislike Tongue Twisters. I have only done the spell once, and I hope never to do it again. Do you know the young lady well?”
“Unfortunately, I do not know her at all. I have exchanged no more than a dozen words with her. I have only been to Longbourn once.”
Memories of that day flitted through his mind. What joy he had felt when he discovered she returned his feelings! It was a golden moment that would remain with him until his dying day.
As if conjured up by his thoughts, Elizabeth appeared in the doorway of the breakfast room.
“Jane is ready now. You may question her upstairs where she is more comfortable. Meanwhile, if you will have the carriage brought around, we will send her on her way as soon as you are finished.”
“I am sorry, Elizabeth, but I cannot allow that.” Matlock sounded stiff and inflexible. “There is too much at stake.”
An obstinate look settled on Elizabeth’s face. She meant to fight for her sister. Darcy did not blame her, but she would not win this battle.
“You cannot keep her here, Lord Matlock. Her reputation will be in tatters if she stays overnight in a household reputed to be full of officers.”
She threw Darcy an entreating glance. Darcy steeled himself against the pleading in her eyes. He had promised to support Elizabeth no matter what, but he knew Matlock was right. There was more at stake than a young lady’s reputation.
Elizabeth must have realized he could not help her, because she turned to his uncle instead.
“You can trust Jane, Lord Matlock. You must remember her from the lunch we shared. She is a quiet, discreet young lady. She will never reveal our secret.”
“I have no doubt she is, but it is not that simple.”
She shook her head angrily and glared at them both.
“I am sorry, Elizabeth. Unfortunately, I agree with my uncle.”
“So what is your solution?”
Her fine eyes were rebellious. As always, Darcy admired her fighting spirit, but compromise was simply not possible under the circumstances.
“I will give you a choice between two evils. I will respect your choice, whatever it is.”
“Are there no other possibilities?”
“If you can give me a useful suggestion, I will be happy to consider it.”
Darcy suddenly thought of something.
“We cannot trust a young lady, but we can trust a fellow mage. We can write to inform Mr. Bennet of the situation and ask him to come up with a reasonable explanation for his daughter’s absence.”
“If anyone else knew she was coming here to offer her assistance, it will be all over Meryton before the day is over. While Miss Bennet may be too well mannered to gossip, Mrs. Bennet does not strike me as someone who can keep a secret. I hope I do not offend you, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth’s lips twitched.
“You need not apologize, sir. I am heartily in agreement.”
“Well then, if we are to follow my nephew’s plan, Miss Bennet will have a short reprieve. To make matters easier, I will send for Mr. Bennet so we can discuss the matter here.”
He sent Elizabeth a probing look. “If she was able to walk through because she is your sister, I suppose Mr. Bennet can walk through our Wards as well?”
“I have no idea.” The corner of Elizabeth’s mouth twitched.
“I sincerely hope not,” said Matlock, gruffly, “but we will find out very soon. And you need not look so amused, young lady. It is a grave matter. Meanwhile, since we seem to have a problem with keeping people out, I will suggest to the Council that we should set up a watch as well.”
Darcy shook his head emphatically. “I do not see how you can do so without alerting the whole neighborhood that we have something to hide. We are surrounded by open fields. Setting up sentries will make it clear that we are not what we claim we are. We cannot afford to do that.”
Matlock scowled. “It was a mistake to come here. We are too visible in such a small community. We should have gone somewhere with a large population.”
“There would have been difficulties wherever we went, and there is nothing we can do about it now.”
It would be ridiculous to move again for such a trivial reason. Darcy would do anything to avoid it. His uncle was making too much of one innocent intrusion. Miss Jane Bennet was hardly a threat to their existence.
“Only one person so far has walked through our barriers, Uncle, and that person is a Bennet, with a clear affinity to Elizabeth’s magic.” His gaze met Elizabeth’s and he gave her a half smile. “The Bennets have exceptional abilities. Before we panic and take drastic action, I will use the other Warders to reinforce the protections around us so that none of the other members of the Bennet family can simply walk in unannounced and ring the doorbell. When Mr. Bennet comes, we can test its effectiveness.”
“Very well. I will leave that part to you, since you are the Janus Warder here, and you know your business. I hardly need to remind you that the safety of the strongest mages in the Kingdom depends on those Wards.”
“No, you need not.”
“So what is the verdict regarding my sister?” Elizabeth had a stubborn look on her face. Darcy wanted to take her in his arms and reassure her.
“Let us go upstairs to speak with Miss Bennet before I decide on our course of action,” said Lord Matlock. “Once we are finished, I will send a note to ask Mr. Bennet to call on me immediately.” He sighed heavily. “And then I will have to call a Council Meeting. I am certainly not looking forward to it. It is certain to be unpleasant.”
Darcy snorted. “All the Council meetings are unpleasant.”
“Tut, tut, nephew, and there I was, thinking that you were beginning to enjoy them.”