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000

Tom Bertram paused and looked around at his audience. He hated speaking in public but the new measures that he was planning on introducing had to be communicated to the staff and it had been decided that having a public lecture was the best way to do this.

At least the room was dark; he couldn't actually see all the people looking at him, although the dark gave them an advantage – they could him very well. The best thing about this talk was that he was speaking on a topic about which he was very passionate – making money so he could speak from his heart without consulting the notes that he'd been forced to make. He tried to steal a glance at his watch but he couldn't quite make out the time; he had dreaded the speaking part but now realised that he hated the question-and-answer session more, he didn't quite know what to do with his hands and there was no lectern to hide behind.

As he looked around the almost darkened room the light shifted and he could actually make out some of the faces; most of the audience seemed animated and were having mini discussions as they came up with questions; that is, apart from Mary Bennet.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

She was fast asleep.

000

"Wake up, it's time to leave."

Mary slowly lifted her head and squinted at Bertha who had shaken her awake. "Oh, dear, I just meant to close my eyes for a second or so."

"You must have been very tired," Bertha told her, "you slept through it all."

"I slept through it all?" Mary asked her in shock. "How long was it?"

"Give or take two hours."

"I slept for two hours," Mary moaned, "and you let me."

"I did try to wake you on more than one occasion," Bertha told her, "but you always went right back to sleep."

"How was the talk?"

"Very good, actually," Bertha enthused, "your Mr. Bertram is good."

"He's not my Mr. Bertram," Mary denied immediately. Ever since Tom Bertram had sent word to Bertha that she should never send Mary to his office again, all her friends had begun to call him her Mr. Bertram. It annoyed her no end.

"Let's hurry before all the good stuff is eaten," Bertha told her.

They made their way to the dining room where tables were laden with food and drink. Mary was at the tea table deciding if she wanted chamomile or eucalyptus tea when she spied Tom Bertram making his way towards that table; all the people he passed were congratulating him on a good talk and saying that they were sure this ideas would revolutionise St. Agnes.

"Good talk," she told him when he stood next to her and picked up a mug.

"I didn't figure you for a liar," he replied.

"A liar?" Mary was angry. How dare he call her a liar? What made him think that she was a liar?

"You couldn't possibly know how good the talk was," he smiled at her, "since you slept through it."

Mary's cup slipped and would have fallen to the ground if Tom hadn't acted quickly. As it was, they were both scalded by her eucalyptus tea.

"I'm sorry," Mary murmured; she looked at his trousers which were becoming wetter by the second and figuring that there was nothing she could do to make the situation any better, excused herself and hurried out of the room.

"What happened?" Bertha hurried after her. "Did he say something?"

"No."

"Mary," her friend stopped her, "you didn't pour tea on your Tom on purpose did you?"

"Of course not," Mary was affronted, "it was an accident."

"So what happened?"

"Bertha, he knew that I was asleep."

"No way," Bertha said, "not unless he has night vision of some sort, the room was mostly dark."

"He told me," Mary hissed.

Bertha couldn't help herself; she burst out and laughed.

"I'm going home," Mary said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

000

"So he saw sleeping during his lecture," Kitty said, "big deal, I'll have you know I intend to sleep through most of mine."

Mary glared at her younger sister.

"I'm sure he didn't take it personally," Elizabeth said, "and if he should ask you had a very good reason for sleeping. You were tired; you hardly got any sleep last night."

Kitty had finally found some cheap accommodation and Mary and Elizabeth were helping her move. Elizabeth and Kitty had arrived the evening before from Pemberley, Elizabeth's home, where Kitty had been staying for a week, and the three of them had spent most of the night shopping and moving Kitty into her room.

"He could get me fired," Mary said, "this is my second strike; the first time we met he made it seem like I was overly interested in him and then this."

"Sleeping through his lecture definitely tells him that you're not interested in him at all," Kitty said. "So he should be happy."

"Kitty, I think you're missing the whole point," Elizabeth told her gently.

"Well, she's not interested in him," Kitty said, "she's never interested in any of the guys, although I must say that Tom Bertram is quite the looker."

"How do you know?" Mary asked. "That he's a looker, I mean."

"There's this little thing known as the internet," Kitty replied, "you should use it sometime."

"I'm going to check on the food," Mary said, and would have left the room but Kitty helpfully reminded her that they had ordered Chinese.

"He wouldn't get you fired," Elizabeth reassured Mary as they ate, "I refuse to believe that he is that petty."

"I didn't think I can ever face him again," Mary confessed, "why did I have to pretend that I had heard what he'd said?"

"You were trying to be polite," Elizabeth said, "and that at least he should take as a compliment."

"You're just saying that Lizzie," Mary said, "you know I've never liked this job but I can't imagine not having one."

"You're not losing your job," Elizabeth said, "if he tries to get you fired we'll sue him."

"Enough with Mary's woes," Kitty told them, "the singing's about to begin." She increased the volume on the TV and the three of them began to watch the contest.

000

"She was actually fast asleep?" Edmund asked again.

"Yes she was," Tom replied.

"Wow, what a blow to your ego."

"It's not a blow to my ego," Tom said, "it's just plain rude."

"You said you saw her in the shops late last night, didn't you?" Ed asked him, "she must have been tired, I mean, the talk was at three o'clock in the afternoon, I would have slept through it too."

"Thanks Ed."

"She must be something this Mary Bennet," Ed told his brother, "I've never seen you riled up over a woman like this before."

"I'm not riled up," Tom denied. "Like I said, it was quite rude of her to sleep through the talk; I'm trying to help them."

"Is Bennet with a single 'T' or double 'T'?"

"Single 'T', why?"

"I'm looking her up, that's why," Ed replied. He scrolled through his phone. "Wow, no wonder you can't stop talking about her."

"What do you mean?"

"Just look at those eyes," Edmund told him, "they must be even more stunning in real life."

"Shut up Edmund," Tom mumbled. He was not interested in Mary Bennet.

"Good night, Tom," Edmund pulled on his coat. "I guess Dad was right as usual."

"Good night, Edmund."

000