First of all, I'm so sorry I've taken so long to do this chapter, but I've been abroad and just gained my American Citizenship so now have Dual Nationality!!! I've also been very busy with schoolwork and all the rest.

Secondly, I'd like to say sorry to anyone who noticed that, er, well, I've been using the spelling Bennett. It's Bennet (or so my brand new Pride and Prejudice book tells me :-)

From now on I will be using the new spelling.

Thirdly… I think I need some constructive criticism on my writing people, so please feel free to help…

Lastly, and finally… I don't own Pride and Prejudice, if I did, I wouldn't be sitting in a kitchen curled up by the aga because of the cold weather, I'd be rolling in money somewhere

xxx

Darcy, Fitzwilliam, was pulling up at the Bennet's drive in his car.

Bennett, Elizabeth, was about to make her grand entrance.

They both did it at the same time, and managed to completely and utterly miss one another. Elle was so busy with playing hostess, introducing new people and making sure that the drinks were given out correctly and no-one was taking too much (that old man in the corner looked a bit stoned, to her) that she didn't have time to see that her sister Jane had turned a corner, and bumped into Charlie.

"I..." Jane went red

"Wha---?" Charlie spluttered

"Am..."

"Are ---"

"Sorry"

"Youdoinghere??"

"You go first" they both said at the same time.

"I'm just here..." Jane lied "What are you doing here?" (And who the shell invited him?)

"I was invited; my brother used to know a girl who grew up here a long time ago, so he got a special invitation" Charlie explained

Jane grinned "I think I know who the girl might be...."

While Elle was playing the perfect hostess, Tom was far from playing his part as the perfect host. He and Georgie had seemed to vanish completely from reality.

Mr. Bennet, while trying to greet people; shake both left and right hands at once; telling the waiter to "Stop chatting up the ladies and carry on with your work!" was keeping an eye on Elle and therefore saw when her face completely drained of colour.

He looked the same way she was looking but all he could see was an extremely handsome young man walking through the dining room door, his face expressing complete annoyance and disgust.

He rudely cut off Amy Winehouse's father in the middle of his sentence and backed off to join Elle keeping his eyes and a scowl on the delinquent waiter.

He put a hand on his daughter's back and looked into her face

"What's up Elle?"

She didn't answer, and he realized that Mr Handsome-But-Annoyed had engaged in a staring match with his daughter.

Well? What could he do? One moment Elle and this Mr. Whoever were staring at one another like they could have had him/her for breakfast. Two milliseconds later, the stare changed to antagonism and hatred, and Mr. Bennet thought he had better join the fray. He began to stare at this imposing person as well…

(I said he was a film star, I never said he was a particularly bright film star ;)

After what seemed to be an age, Mr. Bennet was forced to admit to himself that this man seemed to have no interest at all in staring back at him, and indeed (!) didn't even seem to be aware of the offence he was causing the famous film star by 'dissing' his daughter with such a horrible stare. So, Mr. Bennet strolled across the room.

"Thomas Bennet" he put his hand out.

Reluctantly, the tall stranger broke his gaze away from Elle, who was now looking at her father with horror, and took Thomas's proffered hand.

"William Darcy"

Mr. Bennett fingered his lapels, something he always did when he was surprised or confused, and stared disbelievingly at William Darcy

"The lawyer?"

"You have heard of me??" Darcy asked, surprised "I've always wanted to meet you!"

"Thank you" Thomas said politely "Are you the lawyer that Elle hates?"

"Elle???"

"My daughter Elle" Thomas Bennet explained patiently "The lawyer in your case"

"Uh, dear?" Constance reached up to take her husbands arm, realizing that he was about to spill Elle's secret to someone who they didn't trust as of yet

"Could you go and find Borris? You, know, the waiter? I haven't seen him bring any more drinks out or anything, you know..."

Thomas Bennet excused himself from Will and moved on

"Sorry for that. My G-d, that waiter keeps causing so much trouble. I'm Constance Bennet" Will noted with relief that her face had a lot of smile lines, and her expression wasn't as full of hatred as the rest of her family" He decided to make her his confidante, as otherwise he had no idea.

"Um, Mrs. Bennet?" he started, wondering how to say this without sounding like he was calling her family crazy man-haters.

"Yes?"

"Why do your husband and daughter hate me?" he blurted out the minute he saw her sympathetic face. The sympathetic face took on a very bewildered look

"What? They don't... - wait, before I actually say that, I should ask who you are"

"Sorry, I assumed that you knew" Will extended his hand. Mrs. Bennett took it "I'm William Darcy" She looked at the proffered hand, and promptly dropped it, trying her best to hide her bewilderment and confusion

"I'm sorry, you said William Darcy?? The lawyer?"

Her face didn't exactly take on the same antagonism as her husband's face had done previously, but it did become very, very wary. Darcy looked around him in surprise

"What have I done?" he asked

Constance suddenly remembered that he was completely unaware that their daughter used an alias at work, [so she wasn't harassed as badly as she'd been at college.... there was that one guy, she remembered...] and poor Darcy was in the dark.

"Are you the little boy who used to play with Ellie when she was a little girl staying here?" she asked, her smile lines creasing back, looking very becoming, (as Mr. Darcy thought through his stoned eyes, noticing her for the first time)

"Yeah, I used to come here with Ellie, all those years ago - do you know her?"

"Yeah, I do, she's my daughter. Sorry Mr. Voight, yes I do know what happens when you give your children too much slack, I'm going to learn from your lesson, excuse me. Sorry Will, that guy seems determined to think that since Angelina turned out terribly my girls will"

"Elle? Is your daughter? Why does she hate me then?" Darcy's face took on a rather lost boy look, making Constance want to hug him out of impulse.

She'd already been introduced to a 'Mrs. Darcy' today and quite understood his mother.

"Tell you what" she said to Darcy "I'll go and introduce you to her, and see if you happen to recognize her. Jane???" she called as she glided through the hall. Darcy stared in surprise; she was such an unusual woman. He wished she had been 'his' mother.

"Jane" Constance beckoned with her hand "I've found the boy who Elle used to know"

"I know Mom!" Jane squealed "His brother is the med. student I'm going out with!"

Constance smiled a brilliant smile and added in a quick hurry

"And... he's Will Darcy that horrible lawyer she doesn't like"

"Oh. My. Goodness" (only she didn't say goodness, but I'd rather not actually blaspheme)

"Jane. The problem is, he's... nice!"

"Mom, there is no way that Elle could mistake someone like that, so much. He is the one supporting the nice guy on the side of this story and he is making her life a misery."

Constance beamed again

"I think she just 'says' that she hates him and really likes him. Have you met him?"

Jane blushed before saying "No, but if he's anything like his twin brother, I'm with you on that theory. Shall I go and get her, and you can get him and we'll take them to the kitchen?"

(The Bennet's had a proper kitchen of course, for the chef etc, but they also had a small kitchen where the girls could make tea without disturbing the maids, and get themselves ice-cream)

"Quickly! We've got to get them together and have them met by the time Jerry arrives, and according to T.A.J - The Time According to Jerry we've got ten minutes" Mrs. Bennett said after consulting her watch.

After all, readers, you can't be called Mrs. Bennet and not have a matchmaking streak in you somewhere, however nice you may actually be!

*

"Sorry I took so long" Constance glided back to Will "Come along this way, Elle is being collected. How are you keeping now-a-days?"

Darcy just couldn't seem to get over his awe of her, after watch her pass off Jon Voight and all those other celebrities so easily, so he just stuttered "F-f-fine!

Constance stole a glance at him sideways as he walked before asking

"How is your mother? Much the same?"

Darcy's head shot round to look at her, before realizing that it wasn't an insult to his mom, it was a query as to whether she had left her stoned husband yet. He could see the sympathy in her eyes yet again.

Suddenly she shot out to pull him into the kitchen, and he was overwhelmed by a suffocating need to loosen his tie. And it wasn't Constance.

"Jane, I don't want to meet him, okay? I don't care if you are going out with his twin brother, and Mom thinks he's perfect, I don't want the embarrassment" Elle's voice came clearly and musically across the hall before Jane shoved her into the small kitchen

"I'll just leave" Constance smirked. The door closed behind her and her high heels could be heard clopping fast as she ran down the hall with Jane. Elle had no doubt that they were both laughing

Elle's P.O.V

I mean, come on. You can't do this to me????!!!?!?!? O!O!O!

I felt like my protests were echoing down the hall in vain, as I turned round to face this Will, who, in my futile imagination was some type of Mr. Collins from the BBC 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice.

"Sorry about them" I said, without lifting up my eyes.

H didn't say anything, so I looked up at him and gasped. Okay, this was no Mr. Collins.

He was gorgeous.

He was hot!

(He was looking at me with this way that even gave me butterflies)

He was familiar.

He was him

"YOUUUU???" I said at exactly the same moment his gaze focused - I wouldn't say that it had exactly been focused up until then - on my face and he dropped his jaw

"Liz"

He then gave this silly bow that I'm sure I taught him.

Oh puh-lease. Why do I want to kiss him?

Darcy's P.O.V

I didn't want to look anywhere but out of the window as her mother shoved us both into that tiny kitchen. I suppose she thought that she was being kind, but I haven't spoken to this girl in YEARS so how do I speak to her?

"Sorry about them" That voice is stunning familiar.

And that face??

That face is beautiful

Amazing...

Flawless.

OMG this is like a romantic comedy where you see someone else's face on the face of someone who you want to kiss.

Suddenly she screams "YOUUU?"

B - b - But... That's Liz Regan. Believe me; she is not supposed to be here!!

"Liz" I bowed the way that she had taught me all those years ago in this very room.

It should be illegal to look that good except on a magazine cover where I'm secure in the fact that she's airbrushed.

*****

"So..." Darcy said "That explains why your parents both took this horrible look onto their faces when I told them that my name was William Darcy"

It was a rather failed attempt at making her smile

"You - you - you - are here?"

At least it was part of an attempt at a conversation.

There was awkward silence for ten whole seconds before the door burst open, and Mrs. Darcy clopped in with a Zac Efron lookalike beside her

"Will!!!" she screeched "I've got young Jerry Hopkins here, and he is such a rich man! You should become his friend"

"Elle!" Jerry called

"Jerry" she smiled, tearing Will's heart apart

He held open his arms and she ran into them; he lifted her for a back cracking hug before swirling her around.

"It's been three weeks, how're ya doing?"

So Mrs. Darcy monopolized Will, and Elle went off with Jerry. Watching her go, looking up into Jerry's face and laughing at his jokes, with his mother screeching in his ear beside him; something cracked inside for Darcy.

From that moment on, until a point in time where a certain lady made him [and us] happy, the chatty personality and shy boyishness died. Will Darcy became a true Darcy. Inside he died, and a new outside shell that he was going to use from now on, was born.

"Let go of my arm mother" he said coldly

Fanny Darcy dropped his arm "What??" she could not believe that the son that had tried so hard to make her love him had actually said that to him. Will had always been the one that cared, the one that was always trying in some way to gain her approval, because he wanted someone to care for him. He was the one who looked after Georgina and Charlie, but no-one cared for him.

"You're hurting me" he said, and he spoke not only to his mother, but in a strange way to Elle, even though he had no idea why she hurt him if he'd only known her for such a short time.

Little did he know that Jerry Hopkins was the most platonic of all Elle's male aquaintances. He was like a GBF but he wasn't; he was just not her type, and she wasn't his.

Darcy decided to leave the party early and work on an idea that had sprung into his mind at the moment of transformation of character.

In six months he would be richer than the combined wealth of all the Bennett's fortunes, but that is a story for another day

***

Jerry was sitting opposite Elle on one of the expensive Italian sofas, with a coffee in his hand

"Well?"

"Well what?" Elle leaned back and took a long draft of her own coffee

"Aren't you going to ask your good old friend what I've done this time? Why I'm back to share my extraordinary secret with you" He grinned at her

"Ah, you see, now you've got me interested." Elle leaned forward and looked into his face "What have you done??? Do I need to get my good old punishment book out?"

Jerry swatted as if to a fly

"Nah, nothing like that. I only went and joined up"

All the colour drained from Elle's face.

"Don't joke about something like that Jerry, not after Ben" she pleaded "Don't joke like that"

"Elizabeth. I mean it" Jerry said as seriously as he could, being born of a sunny disposition

"Why???" Elle chucked her coffee at Borris who was still hanging around trying to listen to her conversation, in search of gossip for a newspaper no doubt

Jerry had turned white, and was squeezing his fingers, a sign of extreme nervousness for him

"I just have to do this Elle" he exclaimed "I can't go on any longer with things the way they are"

"What things?" Elle started before it hit her like a flash "You're in love with someone and they don't love you back!!!"

Jerry shot up "And if you dare tell a soul I'll kill you and lay you out on a platter like they did with Eva Peron for people to come and see and say 'Never tattle on Jerry Hopkins'"

Elle was sure she heard Tom snort with laughter somewhere nearby.

"Is there no chance she'll ever love you?" Elle pressed "How do you know that they'll never love you if you never asked, or did you ask and leave me in the dark"

"She got herself someone else. This is a 'Someone' who, although without my impending title and riches, is my superior in every way."

"Jerry. A million girls are out there screaming their heads off at Zac Efron, and you look like him - what's not to like?"

"I'm not "sensitive!" he held up two fingers on each hand "" to show how sarcastic he thought it "Plus, I'm not 'caring'"

Elle shook her head "Jerry, if you were anything less than sensitive, caring, nice, strong and handsome - do you think you'd be my best friend?"

"Well, she doesn't think so" Jerry said bitterly "It's like she's got her perfect Pride and Prejudice ending. He's even called Darcy."

A shot of pure, bitter jealousy struck through Elle and she suddenly felt weak at the knees.

"Darcy likes someone?" she whispered

Jerry grinned before tweaking her on the nose

"Yep. You."

Elle's face drained of colour for the twenty third time that evening.

"Oh. Please tell me you don't like me, Jerry."

Jerry smiled bitterly

"Thank goodness I don't then; if that's the way you would respond to a declaration of my delicate feelings!"

"Why mention Darcy then?" Elle wanted to know.

["By the way, did you mean it about how Darcy - My Darcy, I er, I mean the black haired one - likes me?"

"Yes"

"Good"]

"Because. He. Has. A. Twin. Brother."

"Charlie? Cha--- Jane? Jerry? You don't love Jane do you?"

Jerry held his hands up in the air.

"Guilty"

That was when Elle realized and totally understood that Jerry had to get away. Jane had never looked twice in his direction, and Elle suspected that she was in love with Charlie already.

She shouldn't look at him twice when her dear Jerry was on the line haggling for her heart. Charlie compared to Jerry like Cheese compared to Chocolate, bareable on crackers, but nothing special.

She cried that night. It was the first night in years that she didn't cry for herself, but for someone else, and in true compassion with what someone else was suffering.

Slowly by slowly, she was changing into the witty and far more personable woman that would become the famous Mrs. Darcy that we all know.

But, the road to success and happiness is not always happy.

Here are few things for you to ponder over

What happens to Tom?

Who on earth is Ben?

Keep reviewing if you can… and can someone please tell me how to undo the disabling of anonymous comments on my profile?? I keep getting people telling me that they can't post anonymously, and, cough, how do I undo that??

Love,

C