“You would have to ask them that. I did not waste their time with questions.” It would have been a good response to make to a Sidhe – true but misleading.
“Come, come, Darcy. I imagine you have some idea.”
Darcy shrugged. “You want ideas? Perhaps they bribed a servant for the information. Or it could have been Eversleigh. You saw him turn invisible. Maybe he has been peering in the windows. He might be standing right next to you now for all I know. Perhaps Prince Aelfric has some fay method of silent communication and was able to tell the fay where he was. Choose whatever theory you like best.”
“Eversleigh is an interesting possibility. I am impressed he can conceal himself so well. I can do so, too, but it requires sorcerous power. But who is to say Eversleigh has not availed himself of the same power?”
Darcy gave a scornful laugh. “I think not.”
“One never knows. You have been taken by surprise by sorcery already, I would guess.”
He inclined his head. “Indeed, it was only a few months ago that we learned you were a sorcerer. Sir Lewis, that is. You hid that well.”
Debenham looked pleased. “I know. Matlock sent me a groveling letter to apologize for having missed the signs. It was most amusing.”
“No doubt. I have been curious how you managed your disappearance, though. How did a blind man find a way to make himselfdisappear with his notebook and enough money to live on? The servants must have seen you, if nothing else. Lady Catherine never reported discovering a theft.” Perhaps he might discover some useful nugget of information.
Debenham chuckled. “You are missing the obvious, my friend. Lady Catherine arranged my disappearance. She took one look at my ruined face and decided she would rather have a dead husband than a blind and disfigured one. She was willing to give me anything I asked, as long as I vanished.”
Lady Catherine had a great deal to answer for. “Why did you agree to leave? It was your house and your money.”
“It was an opportunity to devote myself to my research. Not be interrupted by long dinners, callers, estate business, bah! And I did not want to be pitied for my affliction. I knew I would have eyes again soon enough, so Sir Lewis had to appear to die in any case. That was as good a time as any.”
“So you left?”
“After a few weeks of recovery in the attic.” Debenham smirked.
But still, blinded mages could not perform magic. “How could you do spells without your eyes?”
“Good luck, or perhaps good planning on my part. I had a servant whose mind was already under my control, and I learned quickly how to see through his eyes. It is astonishing how much progress one can make when truly motivated.”
“I suppose you practiced on the servants until you found Debenham. Or were there others in between?” The words left a foul taste in Darcy’s mouth.
“A few. I needed to become proficient before I tried it on a skilled mage, one with powerful enough magic to accomplish my goals.”
Now the question Darcy really wanted the answer to. “How long have you been Debenham?”
The sorcerer took a moment to think. “About eight years. Since poor Debenham had that odd apoplexy. He was never the same afterwards, you know. Even his speech sounded a little different. Everyone was very sympathetic and congratulated me on my miraculous recovery. I moved to Ireland before anyone started asking questions about the odd gaps in my memory, and I have stayed there ever since, apart from brief visits for Collegium business. Those meetings were very useful for recruiting other sorcerers. And that fool Matlock never saw what was going on under his own nose! I am half-tempted to tell him the truth, but there is no point in taking the risk.”
Darcy leaned back in his chair. “Yes, I imagine you are eager to keep Biggins and Wickham in the dark. Otherwise they might not be so cooperative if you try to take their bodies.”
“Precisely. And you will not tell them, Darcy.” Debenham’s smile was a threat. “You know now what I am capable of.”
“If you think I care about what horrible fate awaits either Wickham or Biggins, you could not be more mistaken.”
“I knew you were not a fool, Darcy.”
Why was Debenham revealing so much to him? Surely he could not think Darcy would ally with him, after Anne’s death and knowing that he was a stealer of bodies. And while he might be telling his secrets, he did not act like someone wishing to gain Darcy’s trust.
The answer came to him abruptly. Sir Lewis had not been able to tell anyone his story since he left Rosings all those years ago. He wanted to boast of his achievements and show how clever he was. Well, if he wanted to talk, Darcy would give him that chance. Sooner or later, the information might be useful, and it was not as if he had anything else to do. “I have a question, purely to satisfy my own curiosity. What do you hope to do when you take over the government?”
“I do not plan to take it over, just to ensure that certain decisions are made. I have no desire for the work of ruling the country and fightingwars.”
“What do you want, then?”
Debenham smiled, his eyes dilated. “Apart from riches? Repeal of the laws against sorcery. I refuse to spend the rest of my life hiding my talents. I have great plans for England.”
Darcy shuddered inwardly. The man was out of his mind. England would pay an enormous price for his insanity, and there was not a damned thing he could do to stop it. “You will have to accomplish them without my help.”
