“I see.” But his opinion alone was not enough.
She did not reply for some time. “How is Miss de Bourgh?” sheasked with forced cheer.
He had upset her. “She is well. I am glad to report that an adult woman can learn control of the elements far faster than a young boy. She has made good progress, although it still gets windy at night now that Pepper has left. Eversleigh has asked Aelfric to visit her every few days to help her with any problems that may arise.”
“Aelfric?” She sounded dubious.
“It seems the Sidhe have elemental magic, although they do not struggle to control it as I do.” A passerby gave him an odd look. “It is easier in...the place where Aelfric lives. I felt no pressure from the elements there.”
“Has Miss de Bourgh met him again, then? Dare I hope it was not a disaster?”
“She seems to like him, and she listens to his advice more than she does to mine.”
“I am glad I was not there to see that! You might not have resented it, but I would have done so on your behalf.”
“Oh, I resented it.” That made her smile. “I did not mind resigning my teaching duties to him.”
“I would imagine not!”
Since they seemed more in accord on the subject, he continued, “He may be able to help her where I could not. Her strongest abilities, unmaking and air, are my weakest ones. I have never unmade anything by accident, for which I am profoundly grateful.”
“That would be an uncomfortable skill.”
“Indeed. Aelfric has promised to bring her some fay-made bedding he claims is resistant to unmaking. It will make life easier for the maids.”
Elizabeth giggled. “I suppose it is impossible for her to disguise her abilities from her staff.”
“Quite impossible.”
She asked in a more serious tone, “Will that be a problem for her?”
“I think not. I brought in a curate from a neighboring parish to talk to the staff, since they would not talk to me, and it appears they were well aware of Lady Catherine’s abilities and Sir Lewis’s experiments. Once they learned Anne was responsible for Sir Lewis’s demise, she became a heroine to them. Elemental abilities are substantial improvement over...” He glanced from side to side before saying quietly, “Sorcery.”
“I should say so!” she exclaimed. “But if they knew what was happening, why did they say nothing?”
“They thought we would not believe them. Although I do not like to admit it, they may have been correct. We were so convinced we had made England safe from sorcerers, and Sir Lewis’s behavior was nothing like Oliver Cromwell’s. It has been a lesson for us.”
“A frightening one.”
At least they were talking, but it did not answer his most important question. “I asked Eversleigh to explain fay kinship to me.”
She looked up at him through her lashes. “Are you thoroughly confused yet?”
“I am confused about your bond.”
“So am I! When I was a child in Faerie, I knew about kinship bonds, but I did not think I had any apart from my bond to Titania because I was one of her mortals. I did not know Oberon was myshurinn,but I trusted him very easily, even when I should not have. I have vague memories of playing with a Sidhe child who must have been Aelfric. I remember feeling unusually close to him, but I did not realize those were kinship bonds. It is a new experience for me now. I have never had a brother, and suddenly acquiring two of them, both with kinship bonds, is very strange. But it has been useful in making me feel at ease with Eversleigh.”
He could not help himself. “Do you plan to marry him?”
Elizabeth halted in place. She carefully extricated her hand from his arm and said coldly, “Mr. Darcy, if you think I could behave as I did that night while planning to marry Eversleigh or any other man, I have nothing further to say to you.” Her voice shook on the last words. She hurried away from him without looking back.
He stared after her in dismay. What had he done? Should he go after her and try to explain?
She hesitated when she reached the corner, looking back and forth between the street straight ahead and the one to the right.
He caught up with her in a few strides. Stopping behind her, he said quietly, “Matlock House is to the right.”
She did not acknowledge him, but turned and blindly darted out into the street, right in front of a high perch curricle drawn by a pair of matched bays at a fast trot.
