CHAPTER FOUR
Dreaming...
Lizzie was in a unfamiliar circular room. The walls were covered by large heavy bookcases filled with books, crystal orbs, and colorful bottles; the stone floor, cold against her bare toes was a pale green. There was no door to be found only two diamond shaped arch ways that led outside to a balcony.
"Where am I?" she mused unsure of how she had reached this place of in-between; and a place of in-between it was.
"Yer, in my study, Lass." a male voice with a Scottish burr replied.
Lizzie turned to the diamond archways expecting to see a tall burly man with black curling hair, and a thick beard; instead she saw a man of medium height with white shoulder length hair. His face was beardless, but had the lean mature look of a adult. The Man wore a pale green tunic with long bell sleeves that almost brushed the floor; his black pants were so tight they could have been leggings, and over his leggings he wore a pair of tall dark green almost black boots with brass buckles.
"Who are you?" Lizzie asked taking a step closer to him.
The man grinned as if amused by this question; the silver hoop in his lip suddenly becoming apparent. "I'm Elliot Darcy; otherwise known as the Green mage of Scotland."
"I'm sorry; the only Darcy's I know are William and Georgiana. Are you their cousin?" Lizzie asked; already knowing that he wasn't there cousin, and that he wasn't even from their era.
"Nay, girlie. I am their ancestor." He said shaking his head; his green eyes looking at her sadly. "'Tis my fault, that their parents are not here now; and the reason young Will kenna be near his own bairns."
"What's going on? Can I help?" Lizzie asked desperate to find out what everyone in the house was hiding; and why exactly William was so cold to his own children.
"That m'dear is your choice; and I kenna tell you the basis of the matter. All I can say is; 'colored glass, and history, tell of the key to saving the beast'."
"W-what does that even mean? Please give me another hint." Lizzie begged, confused, and feeling the prickles of waking up poke her skin.
"I kenna, sorry Lass. Yer world is calling you back; you must answer les you be stuck here for ever. Go! Yer a bright one you will find the solution."
"But-"
"Lass, remember; 'colored glass and history, tell of the key to saving the beast'."
Lizzie jerked awake covered in sweat. The sound of the Mage's Scottish bur ringing in her ears. "Colored glass and history, tell of the key to saving the beast." She muttered reaching over to her nightstand to retrieve the journal she had been writing in before bed. As she looked for a clean page; her eyes glanced at her journal entry from the previous day.
Nov, 18; 2013.
I finally met THE WILLIAM DARCY let's just say he was as much as I expected. Bossy, rude and arrogant, being his most domineering qualities, and this was after being presence literally all of five minutes. I take back what I said about he needing to be around Flynn and Sterling; the last thing those children need is his overbearing influence; it will make them even more self conscious. But in other news I got a glimpse of the bathhouse and let's just say it was gorgeous; in particular I liked the stained glass mural of a Lady Knight laying her sword at a Beast's feet. It was so haunting. I must make a trip back to get a closer look without that arrogant wretch being there.
Lizzie could hear her heart pounding in her ears. "Colored glass!" she practically shouted. This couldn't be a coincidence; first off she didn't believe in coincidence, and second; something very strange was going on in this household. It was time for answers, and Lizzie knew who would have them.
Lizzie found Mrs. Bell sitting in the room, where she had been interviewed for the nanny position, sitting near the fireplace sipping a cup of tea.
"Hello, dear; won't you have a seat?" Mrs Bell asked nodding her head towards the couch across from her chair.
"Yes; thank you." Lizzie said taking her seat; unsure of how to start interrogating Mrs. Bell. She wanted answers desperately, especially if this nonsense affected Sterling and Flynn.
"I can tell by the thoughtfulness in your face; you have a question for me." Mrs. Bell observed; breaking into Lizzie's thoughts.
Well this makes interrogating her a lot easier. Lizzie thought amused; before answering.
Lizzie confided everything in Mrs. Bell including the dream. She had no fear of sounding insane or even slightly off kilter. There was a very large secret in this household and everyone knew about it; except Lizzie and possibly Sterling and Flynn.
"I want you to tell me what is going on." Lizzie finished; with a determined nod of her head; as to say I won't take no for an answer.
Mrs. Bell set her tea on the floor beside her chair, before straightening up and looking Elizabeth in the eye. "I cannot lie that there is very dark magic surrounding this household, but I am also physically unable to tell what exactly is going on. It's in the-" she broke off suddenly grabbing her throat; as if choking.
Lizzie jumped from the couch, but just as she moved from the couch to Mrs. Bell's chair; she stopped choking and motioned for Lizzie to sit back down.
"I'm fine." she coughed; her face going from maroon back to it's normal shade of ivory. "But you see; I cannot mention what happens in this household. The only one that can tell you is William."
Lizzie laughed at this. "That's very unlikely." she said dryly.
"I know William is very difficult-"
"More like a pompous as-I mean jerk."
Mrs. Bell nodded her acknowledgment at Lizzie's attempt at a less harsh word, with a smile. "He can be difficult to get a long with; and even harder to get to know, but Elizabeth, keep in mind his life has been full of betrayal and heartache."
Lizzie started to protest, but stopped when Mrs. Bell held up her hand. "I agree that's not an excuse, but I beg you to keep an open mind."
Lizzie wanted to say no way was she going to give him a second chance, even if he was her employer, but instead she found herself nodding in agreement. "Fine, I'll give him the benefit of a doubt, but if what you say turns out to be wrong I will say I told you so."
Mrs. Bell nodded her agreement. "Fair enough." She paused long enough to pick up her tea cup, and then continued. "Now on to important matters; are you planning on attending the ball tomorrow evening?"
"Yes, I guess. I mean I bought a dress, and everything so I suppose so."
"Excellent." Mrs. Bell beamed. "Do you mind modeling it for me?" she asked, and Lizzie could see the youthfulness of a young girl in her face; one who liked to dress up and look beautiful.
"No. Of course not; I-I mean of course I'll model it for you." Lizzie said smiling.
"Good, good."
Then Mrs Bell did an odd thing, she looked over her shoulder into the darker part of the room and said; "you can come out now; we're done speaking of adult matters."
Before Lizzie could ask who she was talking to; Flynn appeared out of the shadows looking very embarrassed.
"How did you know I was hiding; I took care to be quiet." she said looking slightly impressed at the housekeeper.
"I have been around the block a time or two; I know children; especially girls have a tendency to be slightly nosy." Mrs Bell replied; before gesturing to the couch. "Take a seat, Miss Flynn; and tell me would you like to see Elizabeth model her dress for us."
"I helped her pick it; so I've already seen it." Flynn replied in that blunt way only children can seem to get away with.
"I have a feeling this dress will not be the one she modeled for you." Mrs Bell said cryptically, but before Lizzie could ask her what she meant Mrs Bell was ushering her out of the room.
When Lizzie returned she looked devastated she held up a tattered black rag for Mrs. Bell and Flynn to see.
"Someone cut up my dress." she said quietly; trying to hold back both her anger. "Who would someone do something so malicious."
"Something tells me Miss Caroline had something to do with this." Mrs Bell said with an arched black brow.
"Why would she?" Lizzie asked feeling not entirely disbelieving at the accusation. It seem to be exactly Caroline's brand of revenge.
"She wants William of course. Since she's been a young girl Miss Caroline has wanted William for herself, and of course William has never had a romantic thought towards Caroline; and you're a pretty young girl so she feels threatened." Mrs Bell explained promptly.
Lizzie took a deep breath trying to keep from going upstairs and ripping Caroline from scrawny limb to scrawny limb. "I suppose now I won't be able to attend the ball; I can't afford to get another dress or take the time to even go to town and find one."
"Flynn and I discussed this while you were getting your dress." Mrs Bell said with the barely concealed excitement of a child. "Isn't that correct Miss Flynn?"
"Yes!" the child practically squealed. "Mrs. Bell said she feared Caroline would try something like this; and had a back up dress just in case." Flynn explained, before bursting out. "Lizzie this dress is even better!"
Lizzie sat heavily upon the couch beside Flynn. "Well where is this dress?"
Flynn looked to Mrs. Bell as if asking for permission; and when Mrs. Bell gave slight nod; Flynn went scrambling from the room.
She came back less than a minute later with a dress that was as tall as she was. Mrs. Bell was quick to rise and place the dress on the chair she had been occupying a moment before.
Lizzie approached the dress only to have her breath taken away. "It's beautiful." she gasped.
Mrs Bell nodded. "As will you be."
The ball was set to start officially in less than an hour; and William was feeling pleased with the end result of it. Mrs. Bell had originally been in charge of the planning, but when it seemed to be becoming to much on her; Charlie had suggested bringing in a party planner from America. She comes highly recommended; he had told William. Which was completely needless William trusted Charlie's opinion completely, and for good reason.
William heard the rattle of carriages; as he looked into the full length mirror and straightened his cravat. The idea of this ball was that everything needed to be from the Victorian era; cars were not to be allowed carriages only. The Ballroom was lit by candlelight only; the only modern thing that was to be allowed was the band that was playing. They used a lot of electric guitar and Will refused to have an acoustic band or even plain classical. He wanted heavy dramatic music; and he had found just the band to give him this.
William took out his Iphone to see that it was nearly time for him to make his entrance downstairs. He took one last look at himself, noting that white streaks were starting to appear in his hair, along with his teeth and ears both becoming more notably pointed, but for tonight it just look like he was another crazy famous front man that was trying to get a reaction. There was nothing for it; he sighed and tied on his mask which gave him the appearance of a unhappy elf; and he supposed in a way that was what he was.
Charlie was waiting for him outside of the door; at Will's questioning gaze he was quick to explain his presence.
"I thought I would walk you down to protect you from Caroline." Charlie explained.
Will took one look at his friend and knew he was lying. From the time they were lads Charlie could never tell a lie; his face would turn crimson and he would speak much too quickly.
"Charlie, your lying." Will stated. "Who is she?" he asked knowing that if Charlie was hiding something from him; it had something to do with a female. Will was especially protective of Charlie when it came to women. Charlie had too much of a good heart and could not fathom that a woman might use him for his wealth or title.
Charlie broke down; "Oh, Will you always could read me like a book." he paused looking at the ground, as a sheepish smile broke out on his face. "It's the party planner I hired. I spent a lot of time with her; helping her gain an idea of what you expected; and I found that she was absolutely wonderful; just like an angel. She even looks like one."
"Charlie, you don't know this woman; she could be anyone. A news reporter, a social climber, or worse a gold digger." Will stated bluntly hoping making Charlie see reason would be easier this time; than it had in the past.
"Well, Will, here's the thing...She's not a total stranger. Lizzie-your nanny-" Charlie clarified at seeing the confused look on his face, "is her sister."
This did not settle well with Will, that nanny had been far from a Lady or even pleasant. She's was plain looking and absolutely beastly, he did not want to imagine what her sister would be like. "Charlie, I must protest, this Nanny, isn't pleasant at all, and I can only imagine what her sister is like."
Charlie looked at Will bemusedly. "Your speaking of Elizabeth Bennet? The same Elizabeth Bennet that watches your children?"
"Yes, yes, of course." he responded impatiently.
Charlie looked at Will with a half smile and shook his head. "I think your intuition is on the decline." he commented before giving Will a hard smack on the shoulder and strolling down the hall whistling.
My Intuition is on the decline? Will fumed to himself. Well at least I have intuition. He grumbled as he strode down the winding staircase that led into the great hall.
Thirty minutes into the party; and Will was done; while the music was impeccable the company on the other hand was not. Caroline and her entourage kept sidling up to him and trying to tempt him to dance, by throwing there bony shoulders back to draw attention to their nonexistent cleavage; he was more appalled by the blatant flirtation; than seduced. Will also noted that Caroline was looking especially smug about something, and didn't care to find out who or what she had hurt. Charlie on the other hand was spending all his time with the woman; he had described as an angel.
It was at this moment Charlie decided to introduce Will to this so called "angel".
"Will, I want you to meet my friend, and the reason your party turned out so well, the lovely Jane Bennet." Charlie said pulling Jane out from behind him.
She looks nothing like her sister; was Will's first thought. Jane was tall and slender with curly golden blonde tresses, and wide blue eyes; nothing at all like her sister's petite figure and fiery coloring.
"Pleased to meet you, I'm Will Darcy." he responded politely, if somewhat coldly. "Thank you; for putting this ball together." Will tacked on gruffly, feeling the slight prick of conscious at his cold greeting.
"It was no problem." Jane responded with smile. "Honestly, I just wanted to check up one Lizzie, but Charlie wanted to keep my visit a surprise."
Will didn't get a chance to respond, because at that moment the musicians had decided to take a break; and the doors to the ballroom were thrown open as if by a gust of wind.
Every eye in the room turned to those doors at that moment to see a beautiful woman standing in the doorway.
She wore a long tattered gray-white dress; the bodice of the dress shimmered in the candlelight; her dark red hair hung in curls framing a mask the same color as her dress. When she walked the skirt of her dress remind Will of a moth's wings. Her sudden appearance was both striking and pleasing.
"Who is she?" Will found himself asking; so distracted by her presence that he didn't notice the look Charlie and Jane gave each other.
"No clue, but you should ask her to dance." Charlie suggested, and if by magic the band choose that moment to strike up a song.
"Jane, do you wanna dance?" Charlie asked, and at her nod; he swept her away without another word.
But Will hardly noticed; he was too busy watching the girl shimmering in the candlelight.