Regina Jeffers - Vampire Darcy's Desire

“You remembered, Sir?”

The old man had a playful nature.“I have an eye for a fine book or a fine lady.” His eyes twinkled with humor.

Elizabeth blushed.“I am Elizabeth Darcy of Overton House.” It was the first time she had said those words. “My husband’s sister and I would like to make several purchases.You will send the bill to Mr. Darcy afterwards.”

It was a statement rather than a question, and the man nodded. “I knew you to be a fine lady from the first moment I saw you. I am never wrong about a book or a woman.”

“I assume that means you will honor my request,” Elizabeth responded good-humoredly.

“Naturally, Mrs. Darcy. I am Mr. Henley. May I show you something, or would you prefer to browse?”

“I would like a piece on the British navy,” Georgiana piped up.

“Certainly, Miss Darcy. Follow me.”

The man led the way through the narrow aisles. Georgiana whispered to Elizabeth, “My uncle loves to harass my cousin, the colonel, with the victories of the navy. It makes for good dinner banter.”

“Oh, this is the section where I found all those books on spiritualism,” Elizabeth observed aloud as they came to an abrupt halt. The man pulled out three books for Georgiana’s perusal, ignoring Elizabeth’s comment.

Georgiana rejected two right away as being ones His Lordship might already own. She retained the last one in her hand as a possibility, but she asked to see others. Dutifully, the bookseller replaced his original choices and stepped farther down the row to offer up more.

As if they held a great power all their own, Elizabeth turned to the books directly over her right shoulder. One title seemed most compelling— Vampire Burials called to her. She pulled it from the shelf and began to page through it. She read,“A corpse swells with gas, making the body appear to be full of blood. Believers in vampires, although the Church is sore to accept these pagan rituals, often stake the decomposing body, releasing the blood left in the corpse. The escaping air makes a sound often associated with a groan, causing believers to assume that the vampire is still alive.”

“Obviously, the author of this book never met a real vampire,” she mumbled.

Unimpressed, she carefully returned the book to its place. Next, she selected Tales of the Vampire, containing the poem “DerVampir” by Heinrich August Ossenfelder, Gottried August Bürger’s “Lenore,” and Goethe’s ballad “Die Braut von Korinth.” Elizabeth slipped that book under her arm.

Now on a mission, she began to select others. She pulled out one on pagan worship of the upyri, adding it to her growing stack. Vampires: Folklore and Myth became her next choice because it included a chapter on how to prevent the corpse from turning into an undead revenant. Maybe something other than removing the head, she thought.

Suddenly, Georgiana rejoined her, having made her selection. “Elizabeth, what are you doing?” Georgiana hissed, seeing the subject of her choices.

Elizabeth eyeballed the seller, who was close by. “If you would

“Certainly, Mrs. Darcy.”The man disappeared into the depths of the store.

When he was out of earshot, Elizabeth took Georgiana by the arm. “I saw all these books, and I needed to read them, to know more.This may sound bizarre, but I believe that we need to confront Wickham, not wait for him to come to us.The thing is….we know little about vampires. For example, how does this iron crucifix work? When Wickham kidnapped me, I wore this cross. It prevented him from making me one of his own, but it did not stop him.Why? These books are filled perhaps with facts, perhaps with myths and legends—things we do not know. When we arrive at Pemberley, I plan to start compiling all the specifics we know about Mr.Wickham. Maybe from the compilation and from these books we might have a better idea of how to rid ourselves of the curse.”

Georgiana wanted to believe in what her new sister proposed. “Do you actually think it possible?”

Elizabeth reasoned, “What have we to lose? The cost of a few books?”

Georgiana looked about, making sure that no one was near. “We cannot simply buy books on vampires. The man knows our name; he may talk.”

“We will choose a variety, suggesting that we are looking for information on local well-dressing ceremonies. Let us choose some Celtic folklore to make the ruse more believable. We will say that with your brother’s marriage, he feels a new responsibility to the village traditions and beliefs.”

“You are so clever,” Georgiana remarked.“No wonder my dear brother loves you.”

“Let us hurry, Georgiana.You choose some on Celtic religion and maybe one on Scottish beliefs and culture. I will pick out a few more of these.”

Georgiana moved along the aisle to the religious tomes. Quickly, she made three choices.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, selected two more volumes. To balance out her search, she chose a history of Scotland and a similar one on the British Empire. Impulsively, she even selected a novel by Mrs. Ratcliffe, trying to create an eclectic look to her choices.

Just as she reached the end of the aisle to turn towards the front, she spotted a book lying on the floor. The old man treated each book he touched with reverence, so she wondered if Georgiana had unknowingly dropped it. Jostling the stack she carried, Elizabeth bent down gingerly to retrieve the volume from the floor. Bringing it up with her, she laughed when she saw the title: Apotropaics . “How appropriate,” she murmured, and added it to her choices. Perhaps the book would fulfill the promise of its title and turn away evil from their lives.

Arms loaded, Elizabeth made her way through the twists and turns of the shelving. Arriving at the front, she found Georgiana pacing back and forth. “Elizabeth, Fitzwilliam must be waiting by now. He will be frantic.”

“Go, then,” she urged her.“Take Belton and hurry to meet your brother. I will wait here for the two of you.”

Georgiana was already moving towards the door.“Are you sure?”

“Of course. I will be fine. I will take care of the transaction. With your permission, I shall have your choice for His Lordship and mine for Papa sent to Overton House; the others I will forward on to Pemberley.”

“Fitzwilliam and I will return momentarily.”Then her sister was gone, hurrying towards the waiting carriage.

CHAPTER 14

When a distracted Georgiana stepped off the walkway to cross the street, she took no note of the broken slat of its wooden frame. She stepped fully on it, and a protruding nail easily penetrated her day slippers.“Ow!” she screeched, before limping out of the way of the street traffic.

She fought back tears as Belton rushed to her side. “Miss Darcy,” he inquired urgently,“are you hurt?”

“I do not think I can walk,” she whispered.

“Shall I carry you, Miss?”

“My brother would be furious,” Georgiana responded. “Help me to the bench behind me, and then go find my brother. Have the carriage come here.”

Belton straightened before protesting, “Mr. Darcy will not like my leaving both you and Mrs. Darcy behind.”

“Belton, my foot is bleeding into my slipper. Now, hurry, please.”

Belton helped her take a few steps to the bench outside the storefront.“I will return with the carriage and your brother, Miss.” The man took off at a near run.

Elizabeth thumbed through the book she had found on the floor as the clerk totaled her purchases and prepared them for shipping to Derbyshire. She noted references to the crucifix, the rosary, and holy water, as well as beliefs about mirrors. She remembered Wickham’s blurry reflection in the window in Meryton, and suddenly things made sense. Darcy had told her about using the vial of holy water when Wickham approached Georgiana at Ramsgate. On another page, she discovered the Germans believed the head should be buried between the feet to release the soul. It seems as though Darcy was right on that point, she thought.