He cast her a meaningful look 'Hypothetically?'
She smiled.
'The mirror will demand a soul for a soul.' Randolph replied, 'and if Harry is to get his own body back, that soul must be Sir Francis's. We must therefore trick Sir Francis into staring at Harry's reflection long enough to effect the exchange.'
'The person presently answering to the name Harry Dashwood is many things, but he is not a fool. You said that without such a ceremony as Sir Francis arranged, a victim must be complicitous in his own entrapment. Sir Francis will never allow himself to risk re imprisonment.' Darcy said.
'In fact,' Elizabeth added, 'he schemes to rid himself of the mirror altogether. I heard him say that Lord Phillip Beaumont would retrieve it tomorrow.'
Lord Phillip? Darcy suppressed a groan. Why the countess's brother, of all people? Despite his skepticism over the whole enterprise and his recent rebuff from Lord Phillip himself, Darcy now felt himself obligated by his friendship wiih the earl to at least keep the mirror — whatever it might or might not be — out of Beaumont's possession.
'Why does Sir Francis not simply destroy the glass?' he asked.
Randolph pushed his spectacles back to the bridge of his nose. 'There is no account of any previous owner attempting to do so. Perhaps once released into a new body, a victim's continued existence yet depends on the mirror's enchantment. Or the victim may merely fear it does. However brief his new life may be, the newly freed prisoner is unwilling to risk it ending any sooner than it must.'
The archaeologist shrugged. 'Whatever his reasoning, let us be grateful for Harry's sake that Sir Francis has not destroyed the glass in all the time he's had to do so. But with Lord Phillip planning to take ownership of it, we now must devise a strategy quickly, as our task becomes far more difficult if the mirror leaves Sir Francis's proximity. We also need to rescue Harry before Sir Francis wears out his body. If Sir Francis dies, Harry could be trapped inside the mirror indefinitely. He would be forced either to wait until another unsuspecting victim fell prey to the mirror's curse, or to ask us to destroy the mirror with him in it, putting an end to the cycle '
'Let us formulate a plan, then, and go directly.' Elizabeth said.
'I will go.' Darcy corrected. 'You will stay here, out of danger and well away from anyone named Dashwood. '
She appeared about to object, but Professor Randolph did it for her 'Mrs. Darcy's participation may prove critical to our success. From her description of her encounter with Harry's reflection, it sounds as if he was surprised that she could see him. Indeed, I expect most people can't, or surely the servants would have noticed him by now, the way the mirror's been moved around lately. Mrs. Darcy may possess a sensitivity to her environment which surpasses that of the average person.'
Darcy disliked the reminder of a fact he preferred not to contemplate too often. If he acknowledged to himself that his wife's perceptions were legitimate, he must also acknowledge that there were forces in the world that he could not himself perceive and therefore could not protect her from. It was far easier to deny the existence of cursed mirrors than to admit his own powerlessness.
He felt the gentle press of her hand on his arm 'I promise to be very careful.' she said. 'And you shall be with me.'
He did not like this, any of it. Supernatural issues aside, the Mr. Dashwood who moved freely in the world — whichever Dashwood he might be — was an unpredictable rogue. Darcy would not put it past him to become violent if sufficiently provoked, and should that happen, he wanted Elizabeth nowhere near. Indeed, he would rather himself not be anywhere near. But somehow it had fallen upon them to make one final attempt to reclaim his soul — either from the mirror or from perdition itself. He took his wife's hand and went to sit near the professor again.
'All right.' he conceded. 'How do we do this?'
Randolph tapped the page he'd been studying. 'I have just thought of a strategy.'
'I came determined to know the truth; though irresolute what to do when it was known.'
'But my business with Mr. Dashwood is most urgent,' Elizabeth insisted to Harry's housekeeper 'I would never call upon him at this hour were it not.' She hoped she sounded convincing. Her errand was indeed urgent, though should Sir Francis know its nature he might hold a different opinion. Releasing Harry from the Mirror of Narcissus and becoming reincarcerated himself probably did not top his pnorities this morning 'Tell him Mrs. Darcy calls.'
'Oh, I know who you are. ma'am. The master is not at home.'
As Elizabeth pulled her wrap tight against the light rain, her hand brushed Professor Randolph's amulet, which she wore on a chain round her neck. She resisted the urge to steal a glance at the carriage, where the archaeologist and Darcy concealed themselves. Seeking admission alone had been her suggestion, one Darcy had resisted until the moment the coach stopped in Pall Mall. He had not wanted her to enter Mr Dashwood's townnhouse without him — and she had not even told him about Sir Francis's indecet advances yesterday. But relations between Darcy and Sir Francis had become so strained that she feared Darcy might no longer gain entree any time of day, and she hoped that Sir Francis might be sufficiently intrigued by her call, coming unaccompanied so early in the morning that he would receive her. Unfortunately, he had not yet been given that choice — first she had to pass Cerberus.
'May I please at least step in from the rain while you ask
whether he will receive me?' While the housekeeper was thus occupied, Elizabeth would let in the gentlemen, who would make their way to the room with the mirror and wait for her to lead Sir Francis there. That was the second part of the scheme Darcy disliked. Actually, he disliked all parts of it, particularly those that involved her.
To be honest, she was not bubbling with enthusiasm over the plan herself. Nervous about todays events, she'd gone to bed nauseated, woken up nauseated, and probably would remain so until the situation was resolved. She hardly looked forward to being once more in proximity to Sir Francis, the source of her indisposition.
'I'm telling you truly, ma'am, the master is not at home. He's not in his chamber, nor anywhere in the house—'
A woman's scream resonated somewhere deep in the house
'Beg your pardon, ma'am.'
The housekeeper hurried off, swinging the door behind her.
Before it shut, Elizabeth caught it and stepped inside. The hall was empty, and she could hear a commotion belowstairs. She went back to the door and beckoned Darcy and Professor Randolph to come quickly.
'The housekeeper claims Mr. Dashwood is not at home,' she said when they joined her 'The servants are all below — someone just screamed.'
'The scream came from downstairs?' Darcy asked.
'Yes,' she said. 'Go up to the chamber with the mirror, as planned. You will never have a better opportunity to reach it unseen, I will determine whether the scream warrants our concern.'
Darcy shook his head emphatically. 'You stay here with Professor Randolph while I investigate the scream.'
'And how will you explain your presence in the house?'
'That is immaterial.'
'Mr. Darcy, I must concur with your wife.' the professor said. 'If you reveal yourself now, our whole scheme falls to pieces. We cannot risk failure over a scullery maid spying a mouse.'
Darcy released an exasperated breath and cast his gaze about the hall. It came to rest on the dining room
