If Jane was taken aback by the question, she did not show it. Perhaps she welcomed the chance to talk about it.
“Not at all. It was the only thing I could have done. I did not want him to marry me out of a sense of gratitude that I had helped him recover from his illness.”
“You know that is not the case. He really cares for you. You should put the poor gentleman out of his misery. Just go to him and tell him you have changed your mind.”
“Lizzy!” said Jane, pink with embarrassment. “Lower your voice. You are embarrassing me.”
“You know I’m right.”
“I do not,” said Jane, giving Elizabeth a little punch in the shoulder.
“You do know it,” insisted Elizabeth, returning the punch.
As they used to do when they were girls, they shoved each other, giggling as they did so. It was so nice to be carefree for once.
“Oh, I have missed you, Jane. My life has become altogether too serious.”
"What are you laughing about?" said Mary, approaching them. "You sound like Lydia and Kitty."
Elizabeth did not want to make Jane uncomfortable by mentioning Mr. Bingley to Mary, so she reverted to their earlier exchange. "Jane wishes people snubbed me so that I could spend more time with her."
“Lizzy! That is not what I said!” Jane voiced her objection with a laugh.
Mary looked from one to the other. "That is not very kind, Jane. Poor Lizzy cannot help it that she is in demand. She is working so hard."
"I know," said Jane. "But I mean it, Lizzy, I do think the Prince Regent is pushing youtoohard."
Elizabeth could not deny it. She had very little time to spend with anyone these days, including Darcy, but the Prince Regent had impressed upon her that it was crucial to develop a way to use mirrors that could help in the war. Sometimes she wished Riquer had never been captured. Her life before his arrival was far from perfect, but it was much less demanding than the present.
“There is no point telling Elizabeth what she already knows. She has to do whatever the Prince Regent commands. She cannot disobey his orders. Just as at the beginning Elizabeth did not want to marry Mr. Darcy. She had to do it, like it or not."
"True," said Elizabeth with a smile. "You are very fortunate, Mary. You can do whatever you choose. Are you enjoying your research?"
“I am, but it can also be difficult. Sometimes, I wade for hours through old illegible manuscripts copied by monks, only to find there is nothing relevant in them. Still, I must be methodical, otherwise I might miss something important. But I have found some new information. I have discovered there once was a category of mages called Disillusion Mages, but they were believed to have died out.”
Elizabeth was gripped by excitement. Could Mary possess a long-lost magical Talent? How wonderful that would be!
“So did the Disillusion Mages have similar abilities to yours, then?”
Mary considered the question gravely. “Not exactly. From what I could tell – and I’m still at an early stage in my studies – Disillusion Mages were used tobreakillusions. I cannot deliberately do anything like that. I am simply immune to Illusion magic. It is not the same thing. One of the manuscripts I am reading right now—"
Elizabeth quickly lost interest. Mary tended to go into excessive detail describing what she was reading, unawarethat not everyone shared her interest in minute and obscure descriptions of magic.
Her thoughts returned to Riquer. She could not postpone talking to him any longer. He ought to know the Prince Regent’s plans at the very least.
The clock chimed the hour, and Elizabeth realized she could catch Riquer before his next lesson if she hurried.
“I am very sorry,” she said, her chair scraping as she moved it back, “but I have to leave. There is something urgent I must do.”
Her sisters looked at her in astonishment.
“I thought you were spending time with us.”
“I have something I need to do. It can’t wait. I will make it up to you, I promise,” she said, hoping fervently that she would be able to keep that promise.
Elizabeth went in search of Riquer. As she expected, he was just finishing his first lesson.
“Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”
