Foundation of Love: The Gypsy Blessing 2 (17 page)

Jane’s already wide eyes widened further. “What’s going to happen?”

“I don’t know that yet.”

William stood and walked over to the window to stare out for a minute. He raked his hand through his hair several times before he turned around quickly. “How many pictures have you received so far?”

“I’m not sure... a few.”

“I want to see them,” he demanded.

Elizabeth paled, thinking back over the photos. Was there anything in there that he shouldn’t see? “I don’t see why not.”

When Jane saw the gift on the balcony, she exclaimed, “You showed me this one, Lizzy! You thought the picture was from Anne and that she had come to Meryton for your birthday. But that was last year.”

“Yes, I did, but I only thought that because of the next picture.” She looked up at William. “It’s strange—the next few pictures happened in order, but I never did get this gift.”

“That’s—” William looked like he was about to become ill. “Is there a date on this picture anywhere?”

Elizabeth nodded and handed him the phone. “It’s in the bottom right hand corner.”

William’s mouth dropped open, and he shook his head. “I don’t understand any of this. It doesn’t make
sense
!”

“Will, what is it?”

“I...” He rubbed his eyes with both hands and looked at the picture one more time, then met Elizabeth’s wide-eyed gaze. “I know this paper and the shape of the box. It’s from me—and Georgiana. I was there when she wrapped it, and she tied the bow just like that. We forgot to bring it... left it at our brownstone in the city. I called Mrs. Reynolds this morning to ask if she could bring it with her when she comes. She won’t be here until tomorrow.” He looked at Jane. “I was going to ask you to put it on the balcony outside Elizabeth’s window so she’d find it and be surprised.”

Elizabeth smiled widely, her gaze darting between Jane and William. “Then you believe me!”

“Of course I do, Lizzy.” Jane smiled warmly at her sister.

William closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. “Let’s see the rest of the pictures.”

Elizabeth hesitated. She knew they’d need to see them, but she wasn’t sure how William would react to some of them—especially the one with Georgiana and Wickham. “Okay, but please understand that I have no control over what’s in these pictures. I did not take them.”

Both Jane and William nodded, though William still seemed a little pale. Elizabeth wedged herself between them on the couch so they could all view the pictures at the same time.

“The first was the gift. The reason I thought it was from Anne was because this one came along with it.” She flipped to the first picture of William. “Maybe it was supposed to mean that the gift was from you, but at the time I received the pictures, I didn’t know you. I had only seen pictures of you in Anne’s room and talked to you on the phone a few times.”

Elizabeth would have to ask Jane later which of them blushed a brighter shade of red upon remembering that time period.

William groaned. “I don’t even want to
think
about what your reaction was to receiving a picture of me. I don’t do well on the phone with people I don’t know.”

Elizabeth chuckled. “Really? I never would have guessed.”

At seeing William now, Elizabeth determined she wouldn’t need to ask Jane, after all—out of the corner of her eye she could see that William definitely won the blushing contest. She had a feeling he was holding something back, but then again, so was she. What a complete turn-around her feelings had taken since she received this picture.

“What’s next, Lizzy?” Jane asked.

“Oh, sorry.” Elizabeth pressed a button, moving on to the photo of the Bennetts around the dinner table. “I didn’t show you this one, Jane, but it came in with the other two. These were sent to me while I was out with some friends earlier in the day, but it happened that night.”

“That’s why you seemed so upset and ran up to your room!” Jane exclaimed. “We were all so worried about you.”

“Yes, I went to check the picture to make sure it really did show exactly what happened. For a while, I figured I was going nuts... seeing things.”

“I’m so sorry, Lizzy.” Jane slid her arm around Elizabeth and hugged her. “It looks like the picture was taken from up high, almost at the ceiling. I’m not in the picture, but, if I remember correctly, I went into the kitchen to get something to clean up the mess. Nobody else was there. Who took this?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I know exactly when these pictures come true—time sort of slows down, and I get dizzy. I checked... nobody was there taking this picture.”

“Time slows?” William furrowed his brow.

Elizabeth nodded. “Yes, it’s almost like a movie in slow motion.”

“That happened to me at the restaurant today!” Jane cried out.

“Me, too,” William whispered.

“It makes sense to me since you both saw the pictures.” Elizabeth moved on to the next, steeling herself. “These came later that day, but it didn’t happen until William was at our dorm helping us move in.”

Elizabeth could feel the heat coming off William in waves as she paged through the next two.

“That’s when we met. You got these
when
?”

“On my birthday last year.” She could hear William grinding his teeth.

“
Weeks
before it happened.” William sighed.

“Eight weeks, to be exact. Sorry if I seemed rude at the time, but I became very upset and I ran out of the room to look at my phone. I couldn’t believe there were more pictures coming true.”

“I was acting like such a jerk that day. I thought you couldn’t stand being in the same room with me.”

Elizabeth tried to bump his shoulder with hers, but they were so squished into the couch that it was more like leaning into him. “I have to admit, my first impressions of you weren’t very complimentary.” She smiled teasingly. “You definitely weren’t as charming back then as you are now.”

“Well, your opinion couldn’t have gotten much worse, could it?” He met her gaze for a minute and then looked away abruptly. “Can you delete those, please?”

Elizabeth’s smile faded. “I’ve tried—especially the next one—but I literally can’t delete them.” She hesitated. “Maybe I should skip the next.”

“What is it?” Jane asked.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “While I was studying, I had a bad feeling that Georgiana was in danger. I started calling around to find someone to help me look for her, but nobody answered their phones, and Richie’s plane hadn’t landed yet. Security laughed at me when I said she was only an hour late. I probably should have lied, but I was too worked up to think of it. When I got the next photo, I rushed right out to find her.”

“I don’t think I want to see this one.” Jane looked away.

“Do you, Will?”

He nodded.

She shuffled the screen to the next photo—Georgiana struggling to get away from Wickham.

William shot up off the couch, uttering something under his breath. After a couple of minutes of staring out the window into the darkness, he said, “If I ever see that snake again, someone’s going to have to hold me back from killing him.”

When he returned to the couch, Elizabeth could feel he was trembling slightly. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she wasn’t sure how he’d take it. She briefly leaned into him again.

Once Elizabeth straightened, William put his arm across the back of the couch behind Elizabeth. Elizabeth sighed in relief. He didn’t hate her.

“Are there any more pictures—other than the ones we saw at the restaurant?”

“One more. Oh... and this one didn’t happen yet.” She showed them the picture at the baseball field.

William shook his head. “Where is this?”

“It must be the Founders Day picnic,” Jane replied.

Elizabeth nodded. “That’s what I thought, too.”

“I’m going to have a fight with Dan King?”

“Well, it certainly looks like Lizzy is the only thing keeping you and Dan from hitting each other.” Jane shifted so she could look at her sister more easily. “But I can’t imagine this happening. I’ve only seen Dan hit someone once in all the years we’ve known him. Remember, Lizzy? That night Collin Hunsford got drunk and was hanging all over you at the concert?”

“Yes, I remember it well.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “That was a horrible night, and it’s the reason he only bothers me now when Dan’s not around... or Richie, after that night he chased Collin away.” She gestured at her phone. “Maybe this serves as a warning, Will.”

William stiffened. “Well, I’ll try to keep myself from beating up your boyfriend.”

“
Boyfriend?
” Elizabeth laughed. “Dan’s not my boyfriend. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“You’ve got pictures of the guy all over your room, and—” he stopped short.

“What?”

William refused to continue.

“We grew up together and hung around in the same crowd. Dan took pity on me when I didn’t have a date for my prom and agreed to go with me as friends, but that’s about it.”

William looked uncomfortable. “He’s very...
possessive
of you.”

“Possessive? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He always has been,” Jane answered for William.

“But Dan’s like a brother to me...” Elizabeth was dumbfounded.

“I don’t think that’s how
Dan
feels.” Jane glanced at William’s arm, which was pretty much resting on Elizabeth’s shoulders at this point, and then at his face for a few seconds before returning her gaze to the picture. “I’ve changed my mind—I
can
see this happening.”

William removed his arm from the back of the couch, stood up, and walked over to a bookcase.

Elizabeth rose as well. “I’m going to take a look at what’s in that trunk. I doubt we’ll have time to go over her journals, but I want to see the drawings she received, at least. Do either of you want to see them?”

Without hesitation, Jane agreed, and the ladies moved to the desk.

While looking over the titles of her father’s books, William muttered, “Sure.”

~

Brilliant, Darcy!
William thought as he feigned interest in the books on Mr. Bennett’s shelves.
After seeing that picture of Georgiana and hearing Elizabeth’s explanation, I feel like an even bigger idiot than I did before. Now Jane knows how I feel about Elizabeth, too. And, by making Elizabeth aware of Dan King’s interest, I’ve practically pushed her into the man’s arms. What a productive meeting this has been!

He straightened and turned toward the desk when Jane exclaimed, “That’s really strange. It’s almost the same! There’s something written on the back—”

Jane gasped, and Elizabeth looked as if she was about to faint.

William rushed over to stand next to Elizabeth in case she did. “Are you all right?”

Elizabeth shook her head but didn’t look away from the page. Pointing to the bottom edge of back of the drawing, Elizabeth whispered, “Two of Elizabeth’s sisters were named Jane and Lydia.” She turned it over and showed him the drawing. “It’s almost the same as the picture at our dinner table. That’s Lydia with the stain down the front of her dress.”

Her body shuddered, and William had to keep himself from taking her into his arms.

“And look at this one! It talks about Elizabeth’s good friend, Charlotte Lucas.” Elizabeth looked up at William. “This
can’t
be real, can it?”

He turned over the page again and examined the sketch, spending a lot of time on one member of the family in particular. Noticing the stack of letters on the desk, he took one off the top, unfolded it, and could have sworn his heart stopped beating. Returning it to the desk, he somehow managed to ask, “Can... can I see that letter?”

When he saw the family crest at the top of the page, William had to sit down.

“Will, what is it?” Elizabeth asked.

His sense of shock had temporarily rendered him unable to speak. He handed her the letter, pointed to the family crest, then removed his ring and placed it in her hand.

After looking at both, Elizabeth sank into the chair across from him. “Why do you have that same design on your ring?”

Although William cleared his throat, his voice was hoarse when he spoke. “It’s the Darcy family crest.” He blushed a little. “The heir always inherits the ring—it’s a signet ring... like an official seal.” He pointed to a woman sitting at the dinner table in one of the drawings. “That is Elizabeth Darcy.” He huffed out a breath something like a chuckle. “I guess I should say Elizabeth
Bennet
Darcy.” He retrieved the page he had left open on the desktop. “And
this
is Fitzwilliam Darcy... the man I’m named after. The portraits of all my ancestors are in the gallery at our estate in Derbyshire, England. They date back hundreds of years.” He swallowed hard. “The portrait of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy is there, and I know it well. It’s directly across from the window seat where I used to sit and read during every summer vacation.” He looked up at Elizabeth. “The view of the grounds from that window is excellent.”