Read Online A Touch of Night by Sarah A. Hoyt - Free Book Online

there anything I can do for you, Elizabeth dearest?"
    All Elizabeth could think was that she needed to be out of doors, under the stars, with fresh air caressing her face. "Will you sit with Charlotte while I take some air?"
    "Would you like me to accompany you outside?"
    Elizabeth smiled wanly. "I think I need solitude more than anything else."

    * * * *

    Elizabeth walked out onto the terrace. The moon was an oval, nearing fullness, casting silver light upon the manicured lawns of the garden. Beyond the flowerbeds and topiary was a stand of trees, barren branches raised up to the stars. Even further she could dimly make out the brick walls of the kitchen gardens and the conservatory where all the fresh fruits and vegetables were grown in the middle of winter. The glow of the braziers that warmed these glasshouses tempted Elizabeth to walk out to them. She had always wanted to explore such places but while she had been at Netherfield she had never the opportunity. Now was the time.
    The smell of charcoal, moist earth, and growing things assailed Elizabeth's nostrils as she entered the first house of the conservatory. She could dimly make out a tangle of vegetable plants, peas and haricots she realised upon closer scrutiny. The next house was devoted to fruit trees -- peaches and apricots sweetened the night air.
    Elizabeth's head was feeling much better now. There was nothing to bring one down to earth and away from the fantastical like beetroots and turnips, strawberries and raspberry canes. She entered the last house and stopped still just inside the doorway, a scream frozen in her throat.
    Two strange shapes rose up from unearthly clumps of rhubarb. It took a moment before Elizabeth registered that what she was seeing for the first time in her life was the unclothed male body. Actually two unclothed male bodies, but the closer held her attention more so than the other. It was tall and lithe, muscles firm and accentuated, with none of the softness of the female body. A trick of the light cast by the brazier through the rhubarb leaves tinted the skin green and gold. Mercifully the rhubarb grew lush and tall and hid both bodies from the hips down. Her eyes traversed up the abdomen and chest, to the face.
    "Mr. Darcy!" she cried in shock. And then the other body came into focus, as it crouched amid the leaves. "Mr. Bingley!"
    Both men appeared dazed. "Miss Bennet," said Darcy, not moving a muscle. Mr. Bingley attempted to hide himself completely in the rhubarb plant.
    From all the diverse thoughts that jumbled in Elizabeth's head she was able to grasp at only one thing. "It is just as Wickham said, you are . . . unnatural . . ."
    Mr. Darcy paled. "Wickham told you? Miss Bennet, please, I pray, listen. This is not what . . . Please. We are no threat to anyone. What can you gain from making this known? I'm begging you to keep our secret."
    Elizabeth did not wait to hear more. She turned and ran through the conservatory, snagging her gown upon netting and poles, gasping for breath.

    * * * *

    The ball ended and all the guests went home, but Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bingley were too much concerned with what had passed in the conservatory to give it any notice. How she got home, Elizabeth never knew, but she sat in her window, staring out at the treacherous night, tears streaming down her face at the shattering of all her hopes and dreams for Jane and Mr. Bingley. She saw the dragon fly by, a lonely, haunting voyage through the sky as it danced sorrowfully among the stars and then did one swooping pass alongside her house, close to her window. The sadness in the dragon's eye was more than she could bear.
    In the morning Bingley ordered that all their belongings be packed and the house closed as soon as they quitted it. Caroline was surprised at her brother's insistence, but glad to be leaving Hertfordshire just the same. She had worried that Charles would be entrapped by that upstart Miss Jane Bennet and her deceptively sweet