Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own, etc.

Summary: See Previous Chapters

Chapter Two

There were times that Jasper Fitzwilliam felt an overwhelming urge to kick his cousin, hampered by the fact that Darcy was well over a hundred miles away on his wedding tour.

It was not that he wasn't grateful to Darcy, for pulling him aside and alerting him to Miss Lydia's true age - tall and full-formed, she was easy to mistake as older than her years, especially with the gravitas that came with being a Warrior against the Dark - before he did anything to embarrass himself. But knowing that Miss Lydia was still some months shy of her sixteenth birthday, far too young to consider marriage, was not actually helping his efforts to view her as he did Georgiana.

Girls could marry at fifteen in Scotland, even Gretna Green turning away brides younger than that, and it was not unheard of for daughters of the nobility to be presented at the age of sixteen, though many waited until seventeen or eighteen. Being presented younger allowed the young lady to enjoy a season or two before seriously applying herself to the hunt for a husband. Almost-sixteen was old enough to be Out in Society, to dance and balls and assemblies and enjoy the thrill of being the centre of attention, but Jasper firmly believed that a young lady should be at least nineteen before she settled on a husband.

He had seen too many young marriages among his brother officers, mistaking youthful spirits and charm and infatuation for a strong character, offer for a young lady entranced by a red coat and the chance to go before their sisters. Following the Drum was not precisely the adventure romance novels made it out to be, and it was not as easy to remove from a spouse as it was to withdraw from a house party or quietly leave a ball. Marriage was a rather more permanent state of affairs, as many couples discovered too late.

Some young army wives rose to the challenge, improving themselves in the process. Others lived with their families and saw their husbands only when the officer had leave enough to visit for a month or two. No, barring some extreme circumstance, Jasper Fitzwilliam was determined that his future wife would be at least nineteen, old enough to know her own mind and what she wanted, rather than accepting the first handsome uniform to look her way.

Jasper was not so very old himself, being less than a year older than Darcy, and age gaps between spouses were not uncommon. It was inevitable, really, Gentlemen were educated at University until at least twenty-one, if they did not pursue further studies, and while the Navy accepted boys younger, a young man had to be at least eighteen before he or his family could purchase a commission. No member of the Ton wanted his son to be a mere Private.

Then, the gentleman in question took time to establish himself before seeking a wife, unless there was a longstanding betrothal or arrangement already in place. Bingley was an outlier, marrying rather younger than most at four-and-twenty, but Jasper would hardly fault him for that. The new Mrs Bingley was exceptional, and there had been no pressing reason for a long engagement.

Well, it was not as though Jasper was in any great haste to rush to the alter himself. His older brother had recently married - Mother had started to become insistent when the Viscount passed two-and-thirty with no hint of settling down - and the new Viscountess was expecting, so there was no great need for Jasper to be producing spares in expectation of inheriting the Earldom himself.

With a quick mental shake, Jasper decided that he could dwell on that matter later. Darcy had sent a coded note informing him that they had rented a house in Brighton - a lesser property belonging to another Warrior against the Darkness that was leased out at need - and a longer letter, inviting Jasper and the other Bennet sisters to join him. Scarcely an hour later, another note arrived from Mrs Forster, inviting Miss Lydia to join her in Brighton for a month or so, as she would be starved of company without her particular friend.

Mrs Bennet, with the security of two daughters married to wealthy gentlemen, had become far less insistent about marrying off her younger daughters at the first opportunity. The chance for a trip to a popular holiday destination for the fashionable, a town that would also be teaming with Militia Officers, however, was simply too good for her to allow Mr Bennet to pass up. The gentleman did make an admirable effort, including detailed questioning on the particulars of the holiday, but Mrs Bennet had detailed counters for all of his objections.

The girls would be under the protection of their new brothers, who would keep them safe. If the Colonel of a regiment and his wife could not be trusted to watch over a single young lady, who could? They would have their married older sisters as chaperones. Who knew when a similar opportunity would come again? Mr Bennet had had his Grand Tour of all the great libraries of the kingdom and the Continent; why should his daughters not have the same opportunity to see something of the world outside Hertfordshire?

It was quite the departure from her usual somewhat silly personality, but Mrs Bennet had not been raised as part of the Gentry before she married into it. Perhaps she had begun by imitating those gentlewomen she had encountered - good hostesses and incurable gossips - and rallied the determined spirit inherited by her daughters only at need. Certainly stranger things had happened.

Colonel Fitzwilliam was quite familiar with all the thousand and one problems that could crop up while attempting to move a regiment from one place to another, and cheerfully did his civic duty by keeping a close eye on Wickham, much to the other man's frustration. Colonel Forster - or at least his quartermaster - was ensuring that debts were paid before they decamped, and garnishing the wages of any man who did not have the funds to do so directly. Wickham must be short on funds, indeed, though many of his fellow officers, also conspicuously absent from the Inn of a night, were likely floating in the same boat.

For now, he was escorting Miss Lydia on her visits to Mrs Forster. There was nothing so objectionable to the duty, other than continued bafflement at how the two young women managed to retain such a wealth of information without writing it down. Jasper might have to revise his opinion of the writers of the Ton's scandal sheets as wardens of information; if the Intelligence Office could only harness the kind of information Georgiana had built among the other Gifted and Gently-Bred ladies of her acquaintance, they would more than double their efficiency.

Perhaps that was something he should suggest in his next report...

One morning, Miss Lydia approached him for a turn about the garden, and got straight to business as soon as they were away from any eavesdroppers. "I am sorry to ask this of you, but could you find an excuse to remain behind when Kitty and I walk to Meryton this afternoon?"

Briefly, Fitzwilliam wondered if he had done something to offend the sisters. "Certainly, but may I ask why?"

A slight furrow appeared in her brow, and Fitzwilliam had the sudden urge to smooth it away. "We cast a scrying spell last night. It is something to do with Wickham, but attempting to see what was like peering through a thick fog, which is often a sign in itself that the Darkness is trying to conceal its activities."

Wickham fell into fuming silence whenever Fitzwilliam was about, but had never been able to resist being impressed with himself in front of a young lady, especially if there was the chance of seducing her. "You think he will be more forthcoming if you approach him alone?"

Miss Lydia nodded, "I will bring Kitty with me as re-enforcement, naturally, but we have a carefully cultivated reputation as empty-headed flirts, and are the perfect mechanism to make himself an inconvenience to my new brother. The other Officers also have far looser tongues when a superior is not in view."

It was a good argument, and Wickham was not likely to try anything in public. "Very well, I am due a report to my superiors, in any case."

She beamed at him, and the garden seemed a little brighter.

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A/N: I fell behind a bit on actually posting the chapters, sorry about that.

The full, edited version of book one is available for purchase through the links on my profile, and I'm hoping to have this one finished in time for Christmas.

As always, comments are appreciated.