As if in response to his thoughts, she set herself on the ground. As the small whirlwind settled, a thick fog rose from the ground to wrap itself around the house. The fog was like a white sheet, thick and murky. He could not see beyond his own hand. It was impossible to gauge distances through the white soup surrounding him.
It was not hard to guess her destination. She must be going to the stables. It was the only way she could possibly get away.
He headed in that direction, setting up a Tunnel through the whiteness so he could see where he was going. As soon as the stable came into sight, he built up Wards around it, making sure they were airtight so she would not be able to use Elemental magic to get away. The magic was just taking hold when he heard the clatter of hooves against the cobblestones. A ghostly figure of a horse carrying a lady in a green riding habit emerged from the fog, frighteningly close.
She must have had her mount readied and waiting. She had not gone to the stables.
She laughed.
“You should have bespelled the horses,” she said, “not the stables. You still have a lot to learn.”
As Darcy lunged forward to grab the reins, she threw a thunderbolt at him. Fortunately, she had overused her magic and it had weakened her, and Darcy was able to deflect it, but not before a spark burned through the sleeve of his shirt and into his skin.
He swallowed the cry of pain and struck out, sending a spell to block the horse from moving, but she had already spurred the horse onwards and disappeared into the fog.
Behind him, Matlock was chanting a Dispersion spell, and the fog was starting to disperse, but she was already riding through the Wards.
“Saddle the horses! We will give chase.” It was Timothy Tonkin.
Several of the Council members began to run towards the stables.
They would not be able to catch her, not without being seen by the whole neighborhood and having their cover destroyed.
“We cannot risk being exposed,” Darcy said, urgently. “Matlock. You must hold them back.”
Matlock was bent over double, trying to take control of his breathing. “I am not as young as I used to be.” But he nodded agreement. “You will have to shout.”
“Stop!”
They turned to look back, and Matlock raised his hand to get their attention.
“By the time you saddle the horses, Lady Alice will be long gone. We cannot take the chance of being spotted. We will send word to London. Hopefully they will apprehend her there,ifshe is brazen enough to show up.”
Darcy, only realizing now how much the duel had depleted his energy, staggered to the closest wall and leaned heavily against it, fighting dizziness. Then, a moment later, he felt a sharp stab of alarm as he remembered that Lady Alice had not acted alone.
“Is there anyone with Sudbury? I hope someone thought to prevent him from escaping.”
“Devereux and the gardener have him.” His uncle indicated Darcy’s neck and his burnt shirt sleeve. “We will deal with him. Better have the Healers look at your injuries.”
“I would rather speak to Sudbury first. I need to understand exactly what happened, and why he was trying to kill me.”
They returned to find that Devereux had blocked the arched doorway of the walled garden. Sudbury’s eyes widened when he saw Darcy’s grim expression.
Darcy walked straight up to him. “Look me straight in the eye, Sudbury, and explain to me why you wanted to kill me.”
Sudbury blanched, his usual calm demeanor gone. He took out his kerchief and mopped the beads of perspiration that mottled his forehead, looking anywhere but at Darcy.
“I never plotted to kill you. On my word of honor, I did not know this was going to happen. Lady Alice did not inform me of her plans..”
“Then you had better have a good explanation of exactly what you thought she intended.”
“When Lady Alice was banished from Founder’s Hall, I believed her innocent. She was never given an opportunity to defend herself, after all, and there was something shoddy about the whole business. So when she came to me in London to ask for my help, I agreed to help her impersonate Pickering. I thought she had every right to sit on the Council. I was the one who suggested Pickering as a new member. I knew he kept to himself. He has become a hermit, and few of us know what he looks like these days. That was all I agreed to. To help her regain her seat on the Council. I swear it. I had no idea she would be drawing on my magic for anything else, certainly not to attack anyone.”
He looked stooped and broken. He had aged ten years in the last hour.
“Then, today, she almost destroyed my magic. She would have used it all up if you had not caught her out. I had to maintain the Illusion of Pickering while she was using her own magic on Devereux. Do you know how difficult that is? She would have killed me. I do not even think it mattered to her if she had.”
He was genuinely stricken. Darcy did not doubt him, but he had been almost killed, and it was hard for him to feel any sympathy. The Council had ostracized Elizabeth for connecting with Bingley and the Waldons in a desperate moment as she was trying to stave off an attack. Yet here was Lady Alice, deliberately using Sudbury’s magic to fool the Council for her own nefarious purposes. She had certainly not hesitated to learn Elizabeth’s connecting skills and bend them to her purpose.
