Eversleigh bowed to her. “It would be most ungentlemanly of me to forbid a lady to be in a particular room.” He paused, as if deliberating. “I am notoriously careless with spell books. I often leave them open in my room rather than locking them with spells. It is a failing of mine.”
Lord Matlock said ominously, “Eversleigh, if you are trying to tempt my daughter into your bedroom –”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Frederica. “He is merely commenting on his natural untidiness.”
Eversleigh was perhaps the tidiest and most organized person Darcy had ever met.
“Darcy, while Miss Elizabeth and I are preparing the wards, could I ask you to write letters for Collingswood, Winston and Elliott telling them I require their immediate assistance here on a matter of sorcery?”
“Certainly.” But he was glad Frederica would be with them. He did not trust Eversleigh alone with Elizabeth.
Chapter 10
“It worked!” exclaimed Eversleigh. “Well done, Miss Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth rocked back on her heels, admiring the unearthly glow of the four chess pawns they had used for the wards. “So that is how wards are made. I have always wondered.”
“Common wards are easier. It is simpler to keep out malicious fay than to keep out magic – or to keep it locked in, as we have done here.”
Elizabeth touched her forefinger to the glowing head of the nearest pawn. The two walls, inner and outer, flared to visibility. Eversleigh’s wall was made of moving words, while hers was a fisherman’s net covered with vines and darting fireflies. “Our walls look very different. Will that be a problem?”
“It should not be.” He tilted his head to admire their work. “Mine is a very traditional mage’s barrier. Yours is pure wild magic. I understand the net, but what are the vines?”
“Deadly nightshade. It sucks magic out of redcap bites, so I think of it as blocking magic.”
“And the fireflies?”
Elizabeth gave a rueful smile as she reached for one of the pastries Eversleigh had ordered earlier. “I do not know. The magic put them there.”
“How could the magic put them there?” demanded Lady Frederica.
Eversleigh turned to her. “Wild magic is full of surprises, unliketraditional spells which have been channeled and tamed. I knew exactly what my wall would look like, and it will always look that way with that spell. If Miss Bennet made another wall tomorrow, it might be an impassable jungle of vines instead.”
Frederica frowned. “Why bother with spells if wild magic can do the same things?”
Eversleigh smiled at her. “Properly constructed spells strengthen the magic and make it more predictable. Most mages do not have magic strong enough to use wild magic, so they need spells. Miss Bennet’s magic is strong, despite what I was told by Colonel Fitzwilliam, which leads me to believe she had not used it to its full extent before these last weeks. Magic, like muscles, requires exercise to be strong.”
“Of course I did not practice my magic!” exclaimed Elizabeth. “I tried to use it as little as possible. I never used to get so hungry after using my magic, either.”
“The more of your magic you use, the hungrier you become,” said Eversleigh. “Lady Frederica, you have the potential to use wild magic. Darcy’s elemental magic is wild, but he can use spells, too.”
Something about Frederica’s smile reminded Elizabeth of a satisfied tiger, and she said, “Lady Frederica, I hope you can wait until tomorrow before asking me for more lessons in using wild magic. Between healing your father and these wards, I doubt I have any magic left.”
Eversleigh laughed at Frederica’s crestfallen look.
LADY MATLOCK SAID REGALLY, “Lord Eversleigh, I understand that under the circumstances you wish my husband to leave Rosings Park. I could not agree more. We will leave tomorrow morning once he has had a good night’s sleep.” She made no reference to Eversleigh’s earlier plan thatthey should leave immediately. Only Lady Matlock could make disagreement with a fixed plan sound so much like agreement.
Eversleigh bowed to her. “Your ladyship shows great wisdom. Now that the wards of power are set, I can see no harm in a slight delay.”
Naturally, Lady Matlock was not done. “Miss Bennet, it is lovely to meet you at last, and I understand we are now in your debt for saving my husband as well as Lady Catherine. I hope you will be so generous as to return to London with us and stay at Matlock House. My nerves could not possibly survive the strain of worry over my husband’s heart if I did not know you were at hand to assist him should his symptoms recur.” She sounded not the slightest bit nervous.
Elizabeth looked taken aback. “I had planned to return to Faerie, although I could visit my uncle in London instead. My mother will be visiting him soon. Given the recent damage to my reputation, it might be wiser for me to stay there. I would not wish Lady Frederica’s name to be associated with mine at present.”
“Nonsense,” said Lady Matlock kindly. “Staying with us will help to rebuild your reputation. Given that you have suffered this exposure in the course of helping our family, it is the least we can do. You can easily call on your uncle and mother from Matlock House.”
Elizabeth was shaking her head when Eversleigh said quietly, “I think it is a good idea,shurinn.”
She looked as if she wished to argue further, but she said, “Very well, your ladyship, I will accept your kind invitation. I will first need to inform Titania of this change of plans, since she is expecting my return to Faerie soon.”
