Richard grimaced. “Our aunt is not fully in her right mind yet,and perhaps that accounts for some of it, but I believe the primary reason was to protect her secret. She knew Miss Bennet must have guessed she had her own magic, but since none of us had mentioned it, she thought we had not been told. If Miss Bennet was the only one who knew, she wanted to dispose of her and discredit her. It seems not to have occurred to her that I would take Miss Bennet’s side against her.”
Darcy’s feet started moving towards the door. He had to reach Elizabeth.
“Where are you going?” asked Richard sharply. “Do not do anything rash.”
Frederica chuckled. “One of the Fighting Fitzwilliams telling Darcy not to be rash. Impossible.”
“I will have you know I was remarkably restrained, Freddie,” said Richard. “I broke my riding crop in half when she told me, but I did not thrash Mr. Collins until after I had arranged a safe place for her.”
“I am going to the Dower House,” said Darcy icily.
“I will come with you,” said Richard. “Freddie, you might want to stay there with Miss Bennet.”
“I have never met her, but I am quite certain I will prefer her company to Lady Catherine’s,” declared Frederica.
Richard said, “Darcy, one more thing. Miss Bennet has been very concerned about your reaction to the news. If you can at least appear calm, that will help her.”
“WELCOME,” ELIZABETHsaid stiffly. “Lady Frederica, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Richard laughed. “You need not worry about Freddie, Miss Bennet. She is in disgrace with our father, and I promise you there is no one more in agreement with you on binding spells than she is.”
“That is why I am in disgrace,” Frederica said candidly. “I had not known about the binding spell on Cousin Anne until Darcy mentioned it, and my reaction was a bit unseemly.”
“Explosive is the word I might have used,” said Darcy. He had to appear calm for Elizabeth's sake.
“Well, yes. Mama thought it would be wise to send me away to calm down, but I do not know how she thinks that will happen when I have to see poor Cousin Anne’s sufferings every day.”
“Mother must have had an ulterior motive,” said Richard resignedly. “She always does.”
Elizabeth canted her head and looked at Darcy questioningly. “Permit me to guess. Colonel Fitzwilliam told you to appear calm.”
Darcy sucked in a sharp breath. “I beg of you not to tease me on this matter. I am sorry I was not here when you were in need.”
“I am just as glad you were not here to see what I looked like yesterday.” But she said it in the kindly manner.
Frederica stepped close to Elizabeth and held a hand at the level of the tops of their heads. “Good. We are much of a height, and I imagine my clothes will fit you well enough.”
Elizabeth's cheeks colored. “I am not accustomed to asking for the assistance of strangers, and I wish I could say that it is unnecessary, but sadly, it would be a help. I do not need much, just a few things until I can obtain new ones.”
“I have too many dresses, anyway. You may ask anyone.” Frederica's gaze traveled down to Elizabeth's feet. “Shoes. Are you in need of shoes?”
Elizabeth looked away suddenly, blinking rapidly.
Richard said softly, “There were none among the things Mrs. Collins sent.”
“What? You had to walk to Rosings in those?” Frederica sounded outraged. “Richard, I hope you hit that man very, very hard.”
Elizabeth said quickly, “Mr. Darcy, did you meet with any success in your conversations with Lord Matlock?”
He hated to give her more bad news. “Lord Matlock was very interested in trying to preserve the faerie groves. He took me to Whitehall to meet with Mr. Pitt to discuss what the government could do, but that was less successful. At first Pitt said he could not help since it is impossible to legislate how landowners could use their land. Then he discouraged us from even raising the issue because it would only lead to greater destruction of faerie groves.”
“But why?” cried Elizabeth.
“Because most landowners consider the fay a nuisance. Now they have become an active danger as well. Why protect the rings and hope for the best when you could destroy the rings and remove both the danger and the nuisance?” Darcy rubbed his forehead. “I am sorry. I did my best.”
Richard frowned. “There must be a reason why the fay come to our world. We need to find out what it is.”
If only he had an answer! But Darcy had been wracking his brain for reasons why contact with fay should be protected. His uncle wanted it so he could indulge his researcher’s curiosity. Darcy did not even have that much of a reason, only a sense that the fay were a natural part of England. But foremost in his mind was Elizabeth. Faerie was part of her.
