nudged her again. “Stop that. You are not going to force me to do something I do not want to do.” But he ignored her complaints and continued pushing her with his nose until he had backed her up to the doors.
“You are not a werewolf at all. You are a stubborn mule or worse, a bully, who is used to having his own way. Don’t you need to go chase some rabbits?”
But then Lizzy looked around, and she realized that with the light of a full moon shining down on the landscape, he was completely exposed, and if anyone were to walk between the house and the stables, they would see him. Nell confirmed this by inching closer to the manor while making whimpering sounds to warn Darcy that he had gone too far and needed to retreat.
“All right,” Lizzy said exasperated. “I will go into the house as soon as I see you and Nell safely back into the woods.” Darcy ran circles around her to show his approval for her decision before sprinting toward Nell. But then he came to an abrupt halt, turned around, and ran toward her at full speed. Just before he reached the terrace, he leapt so high into the air that he was almost vertical, and then he made a dash for the treeline.
“I don’t believe this!” Lizzy said with her mouth hanging open at the spectacle she had just witnessed. “I am being courted by a werewolf!”
Chapter 5
It was nearly noon before Lizzy came down to breakfast. Her face was gaunt with dark circles under her eyes, and she felt a listlessness that she had never experienced outside of the sickroom. She poked her head into the breakfast room and found Anne waiting for her.
“All the dishes have been cleared away, but I can have Mrs. Bradshaw make something for you if you would like.”
“No, thank you. I am really not hungry.” The events of the previous day had completely unsettled her, and the very thought of eating made her queasy. “It seems that I have slept half the day away, and you should have done the same. You look very tired.” But Lizzy understood that Anne would not rest until her cousin had returned to his human form.
“Do not worry about me. I intend to have a very quiet evening, and if it makes you feel any better, Georgiana is still in bed. On an average day, she can easily sleep ten hours, and since it was so late when she finally fell asleep, I do not expect to see her until after two o’clock. But her absence will provide an opportunity for you and me to visit. I imagine that you have a great many questions for me.”
“After last night, I have even more.” Lizzy related the scene on the terrace with her nocturnal visitor.
“Forgive me for laughing,” Anne said, “but there is something quite funny about William putting on such an exhibition, although I should not be completely surprised. You may find this odd, but until a few years ago, my cousin was fairly content to be a werewolf for those two days each month. Because he is one of England’s most eligible bachelors, mothers and fathers are always seeking him out on behalf of their daughters, but because of his unique situation, he can show no emotion, as it would be interpreted as a sign of interest in one of the ladies. And, of course, that cannot happen. So you can imagine what a release it must be for the staid Mr. Darcy to run wild and free.”
“Mr. Darcy is content to be a werewolf? Are you in jest?” Lizzy could hardly imagine such a thing.
“Why wouldn’t he be? When he is a wolf, he is free of all societal restraints. For twenty-six days of the year, he becomes a part of Nature with no responsibilities other than to his pack.”
“You said he was content to undergo this transformation ‘until a few years ago.’” She turned around to see if anyone was listening. “What has caused him to change his mind?”
“He wanted to find a mate and have pups.” Anne said, repeating a phrase that her cousin found amusing, but Lizzy’s expression showed that she did not.
“I know that sounds awful to the ears of someone who is fully human, but no matter the words, what William is saying is that he wants to get married and have children.”
Lizzy felt her heart sink. Children? She had not given any thought as to what the offspring of Mr. Darcy would be like because she was still dealing with the idea of what it would be like to be his “mate.”
Anne could see from the expression on Elizabeth’s face that she believed that as Mr. Darcy’s wife, she would give birth to a litter of pups, but she explained that that would be impossible.
“A werewolf can only sire human children, and they can never become werewolves themselves. In the womb, they develop an immunity to whatever transmits the characteristics of the werewolf.”
“How do you know this? How can you be so sure of such a thing?”
“Because there is a medical doctor in Edinburgh who has been married to a she wolf for thirty years and has spent many hours researching his wife’s condition. All the werewolves have a gathering at an estate in Scotland every July, and all of this information is shared.”
For the next hour, Anne shared with Lizzy all that she knew about werewolves. Lizzy learned that they had the ability to recognize one another on sight, a trait that allowed them to assist members of their community in moving safely about the country and beyond, and that the length of their transformation depended on how deep the initial wound had been. For some, the change lasted as long as five days, but never less than two.
“If I understand you correctly, the wife of the werewolf would not have any such immunity, and if bitten, she would become a werewolf as well.”
“That is correct, and because of that, William is rarely in the house during his transformation. It is only in the worst weather that he remains indoors in a room accessible through a hidden panel off the study. During that time, he has no contact with anyone other than Mercer and Mr. Jackson, and it is only when he is in his altered state that there is any danger to a human from a bite. But rather than discussing William, why don’t we go see him. Mr. Ferguson, the gardener, has cleared an area high on the ridge where he and Nell romp during the day.”
“Mr. Darcy romps?” But then a picture of an enthusiastic Mr. Darcy nearly jumping over the tea table at Longbourn came to mind, and Lizzy decided that it was possible that Mr. Darcy actually did romp.
“Then that settles it. We must go up to the clearing, and I shall speak with Mr. Jackson immediately. We shall take the phaeton, and, yes, I do know how to drive one. So, my dear, go change into your traveling clothes. We are going on an adventure.”
“How appropriate that Mr. Darcy was transformed on the eve of All Saints’ Day,” Lizzy said to Anne as they traveled up toward the clearing. “That is when ghosts, goblins, and witches come out.”
“Surely, you do not believe in such irrational drivel,” Anne said.
“Until yesterday, I did not believe in werewolves either.”
Anne looked at Lizzy with the most quizzical expression. It was as if she was saying, “How absurd for you to believe in such superstitious nonsense.”
“As far as ghosts are concerned, the dead cannot rise without the assistance of a higher power,” Anne began, “and there are no such creatures as witches and goblins. They have been invented by people who use them to explain that which is not easily understood. On the other hand, werewolves are a combination of two living beings.”
Before continuing, Anne shortened the reins as the road grew steeper and more rugged. “Have you read about Mary Anning, the young girl in Lyme, who discovered a crocodile-like skeleton unlike anything known in our time? What happened to these creatures? The answer is that they became something else.”
“How silly of me to put werewolves in the same category as ghosts and goblins,” Lizzy answered, and she placed her hand on Anne’s. “If everyone had such devoted friends, the world would be a better place.”
They soon came to an area where the phaeton would be obscured from any travelers by a boulder and huge trees with moss hanging from their branches, creating the perfect hiding place for the conveyance. After giving each of the horses a bucket of oats, Anne led Lizzy over fallen trees and past stone formations to a narrow path that cut through the thick vegetation. Without a guide, it would have been impossible to find the path.
Once clear of the thickets and other obstacles, they looked down upon a large open area where two wolves were playing lupine tag, and Nell was “it.” If Lizzy expected Mr. Darcy to be a gentleman, or a gentle wolf, and let Nell win, she was in for a surprise.
