Vampire Darcy's Desire (16 page)

Elizabeth giggled nervously with the absurdity of what he said and the absurdity of the situation in which they found themselves. “I cannot accept even one from you, Mr. Darcy.”

“That is where you are wrong, Miss Elizabeth.” He continued to fasten the brown cloak’s clasp at her neck.“I will insist. It is my and Mr. Bingley’s fault we could not salvage your other one.” He hooked the button under her chin. “I will claim extreme shame
at having failed you.” Darcy smiled at her, enthralled by Elizabeth’s closeness.

“After the riding habit, Mr. Darcy, I put nothing past you.” She sighed. “Come, Mr. Darcy, we will finish this conversation in the garden.” She led him out the front door; they proceeded in silence along the gravel walk that led to the copse.

Once seated among the trees, Darcy slipped her hand into his. They sat with their backs to the house; no one would notice them from the window views.“Do you wish to speak of today, my dear?”

“We should.” Beneath it all, Elizabeth felt fearful, but she was unsure of the source of her apprehension. Part of it was the terror of the afternoon, but some of it also lay in her growing feelings for the man who sat next to her.

His apologetic manner spoke of his true feelings. “Elizabeth, I am deeply sorry I inadvertently placed you in danger.” His slightly husky voice was serious and passionate. “It will be on my conscience until the day I die. I hope someday you forgive me; you deserve so much better than the horror I brought into your life.” He caressed her hand, stroking her palm with his fingertips.

“Fitzwilliam, you did
nothing
. Nothing at all to
harm
me.”

His icy blue eyes remained fixed on hers.“Tell me what George Wickham said to you,” he said in a quiet, dangerous voice.

Through tear-filled eyes, she related her complete conversation with Wickham. “I was wrong to speak to him without your knowledge.” Darcy did not push further; he simply waited for her to continue.“Wickham spoke of your cruelty to your cottagers and to the villagers. I am ashamed to say there was a time when I would have believed him.The man has a way of playing on a person’s sensibilities. We need to do something, Fitzwilliam.”

Darcy knew she would reach this point eventually. He had the argument with himself often enough that he expected it from her. “And what would you suggest, my dear?”

“We tell the authorities.”

For years, Darcy had avoided emotional involvement with any woman. It was all in the past now, however; this woman looked
into his heart. It was difficult for him to fathom how much she meant to him in such a short time.“It is not that simple, Elizabeth. You tell the authorities that George Wickham is a vampire. And they ask you how you know this to be true, and you tell them I assured you of that fact.Then they say,
How does Mr. Darcy come by this information?
And you disclose that my family is cursed, thanks to our ancestors’ love affair, and I could be as evil as Wickham if I chose.We would be ruined. My reputation—Georgiana’s future—your future and your sisters’ futures—your entire family’s status in the neighborhood—some will believe the tale and believe I am also evil. Others will consider your words madness.”

She glanced at him, her thoughts scattered.“You are right,” she finally acknowledged,“but we cannot let him get away with killing that woman.”

“From what I know of Wickham’s pattern, he will not strike again for a week or more, other than the occasional animal—a dog or a sheep.”

“I cannot believe you speak so lightheartedly about this wickedness,” she said challengingly.

Darcy’s face reddened with anger. “You are mistaken if you think I find no contempt in this situation. I have lived with it longer than you. It has been my existence, and what I relay are the absolute facts. Forgive me if I am aware that evil corrupts absolutely.”

Elizabeth wondered momentarily what she would be doing right then if Darcy had not entered her life—certainly not considering how to kill a vampire before he struck again. “So we cannot go to the authorities.What do we do, then?”

“First, I need to lure Wickham from the area—get him away from you. His normal mode of operation means he comes looking for easy victims. He chooses very vulnerable targets; rarely does Wickham select a woman of circumstance. If he did, he might draw more notice from the local law officers. In most small villages and towns, the law is incompetent, at best. By the time someone makes a connection, he is gone.”

“That does not make these women not worth saving!” she
protested. Her eyes widened and then shimmered with tears.

He spoke coldly and curtly.“I never meant to imply otherwise, Miss Elizabeth.” He belatedly realized his rudeness.

“Did Wickham kill Vivian Piccadilly?” she blurted out in frustration.

Darcy spoke unguardedly.“I always assumed he was the perpetrator. Miss Piccadilly’s body was found close to a stream. Her father was devastated by the condition in which he found her. I always felt the shame in my part of his pain.”

“
Your
part?” Elizabeth seized upon the words. “What part did you play inVivian’s death?”

Darcy seemed reconciled to his role in the murder. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to
me,
Fitzwilliam.” Elizabeth stood suddenly, staring at Darcy as if seeing him for the first time.

“If I tell you, you will turn away from me.”

Suddenly, she saw things in a sharper focus; she remembered her aunt’s description of Vivian’s body. In a voice of resigned contempt, she said,“You prevent them—Wickham’s victims—from following him, do you not?” She was acknowledging as much to herself.

“The only way I know to stop them from becoming one of the walking dead is to break the connection between the body and the soul…letting the soul out, so to speak, to make its way to heaven, rather than dwell in hell.” His words pierced the air, increasing the cold, which invaded their bodies.

“How can you
do
such a thing?” she insisted.

“It is the most responsible thing I do. I offer prayers of redemption for the victim’s soul and forgiveness for mine, and then I do what must be done.” His eyes were dark with anger at the injustice.

A frown creased across her forehead.“Did you do the responsible thing today?” she whispered.

“It is done.”

“Oh, Fitzwilliam!” She collapsed onto the seat beside him and took his hand in hers; he needed the comfort now.“You have been placed in the most tragic scenario. It is no wonder you try to withdraw
from society—giving us a skewed picture of you.” Her slim, strong fingers intertwined with his.

“I did not succeed where you are concerned,Vixen.”

“You simply like a challenge, Mr. Darcy.”

“I suppose you could be right. I want what I cannot have.”

Taking to heart her role in this mad situation, Elizabeth demanded, “Explain to me what you plan to do.”

Darcy summarized his plans for the next few days.“I will come to you tonight. Tomorrow, we put in place some tried-and-true deterrents to vampires—to Wickham—at Longbourn. We will decorate the sashes of all the windows with garlands containing cloves of garlic, work iron crosses or bars at each door, and a few other such ornamentations. I will ask you to do so without raising the attention of your family members.Tell them these are gifts from Netherfield; I am sure your mother would wish to please Mr. Bingley. We must be careful. Wickham cannot cross the threshold of any house unless invited to do so. As he already was in attendance at Longbourn, we need stronger deterrents than usual. The garlands and iron will keep him from entering the individual rooms.Wickham may cross the main entrance, but his evil will not be able to seep into your lives.”

“I will see to it,” Elizabeth said in a businesslike tone.

“I suspect,” Darcy continued,“that Mr.Wickham will call upon you in the next couple of days.”

Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide with surprise.“He would not!”

“He will, Elizabeth, and you will respond graciously to his concern for your well-being. It will soon be common knowledge that Mr. Bingley and I found you, and the three of us discovered the body. Mr. Wickham will want to know how you feel about me after this incident.With your words and your actions you
must
convince him that although you appreciate my gentlemanly behavior towards you, your feelings have not altered. I am still the man who cut you at the assembly.”

“I doubt I can feign those feelings,” she asserted.

“You will do the responsible thing, Elizabeth, because what you
do will affect your family and many others.”

The truth of his words settled over Elizabeth like a cold fog.

Darcy continued, “Bingley plans a ball at Netherfield in less than a week; I cannot leave before that time without disappointing him severely. Without Wickham’s knowledge from where the suggestion comes, I will convince Colonel Forster to send Wickham to London for several days. After the ball, I return to Pemberley. With luck on my side,Wickham will follow; he is not likely to stay in the military, for it has too many regulations. I cannot imagine why he places himself in a situation where he is constantly watched and supervised.”

Elizabeth speculated,“Maybe he thought they would send him to the front. He has no fear of dying, and he would have access to plenty of bodies.”

Darcy considered her words. “As bizarre as it is, I do not think your theory is an unlikely one.”

Her jaw clenched as she studied him carefully; she could see the worry in his eyes.“
Must
you leave, Mr. Darcy?”

The emotion in Elizabeth’s words soothed his aching heart. She would miss him for himself—not his estate—not his wealth. Even with all the chaos, Elizabeth would feel the deprivation of his departure. It was a heady feeling; yet Darcy knew he could not stay. His preference for her put Elizabeth in danger. His primal need to protect her overruled his primal need to possess her. “We said our—our
flirtation
—would be for the memories. My staying would only make the situation awkward.”

“For the memories,” she repeated softly.

Darcy leaned over her, lightly kissing her eyelids, which fluttered open like the wings of a hummingbird. “Ah, there you are,” she mumbled.“I tried to stay awake until you came.”

“I am happy to just watch you sleep.” He kissed her temple before brushing a curl from her face.

Elizabeth rolled on her side and turned the coverlet back. “Come join me,” she invited him.

Darcy slipped off his boots and crawled under the bed linens. He settled her into his arms. “Rest,” he said.“I am with you.”

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him. “Someday you will tell me how you do this,” she mumbled, drifting back to sleep. “How you keep us in our own cocoon while the rest of the world is suspended in sleep.”

“It is not worth knowing, Sweetling.” Darcy kissed the top of her head. As she drifted back to sleep, he prayed to have this night last forever.

When the first rays of daylight broke through the draped window, Darcy gently rolled Elizabeth to her back. “Wake, my Vixen,” he whispered close to her ear.“It is nearly light, and I must leave you.”

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck, but she did not open her eyes. “It is so warm here under the blankets.” She kissed his cheek as she pulled him down to her. Darcy nuzzled her neckline playfully, and Elizabeth giggled.

Then those icy blue eyes slid over her in deepest approval before he began to kiss her in all seriousness. Elizabeth’s eyes drifted shut as Darcy rolled her to her back. His lips traveled from her face to her jawline and down her neck. Her pulse hammered there at its base, and he was drawn to the spot by an ancient hunger. His tongue circled the point, teasing her with its rough texture. Elizabeth’s skin was pale in the light of the dawn, and Darcy audibly groaned in an acknowledgement of what he most desired. He could barely tear his gaze from the spot. He burned to possess her, but he fought the urges coursing through him. At last, he snarled, “Sweetling, you are tempting, but I can maintain the spell for only so long.” Brushing his lips across hers, he whispered, “Before someone finds us together, we must part.”Then he rolled away from her, sitting on the edge of the bed to put on his boots.

Elizabeth crawled up on her knees behind him and slid her arms over his shoulders, her breath warm upon the side of his neck.
“When will I see you again?”

“You will not—unless danger is evident.” It hurt to say the words, but Darcy knew she was in peril. “A servant from Netherfield will bring the ornaments we spoke of as a gift from the Bingley household later today. Among them will be something special for you—a crucifix. It will be like the one I gave Georgiana; it is made of iron, something to which Wickham’s sect is most susceptible. Promise me you will wear it always.”

“I promise.” She withdrew to sit cross-legged behind him on the bed, but Darcy did not turn around. Even without touching, he felt her.