A/N - I'm so sorry for all the typos thus far. Believe it or not, I had done a quick edit of all the chapters, but I've gone back through from the stat over the past couple of days and cringed at how many odd words I'd missed. Whoops! Hoping things will be a little better from here on in.

It's my birthday today, I'm working this weekend and then it's a bank holiday here in the UK on Monday, so it will likely be a few days before the next chapter - but it is coming, so don't worry! ;) Hope you are all having a lovely end-of-August and here's today's chapter. Enjoy! xx


Mary had readied herself for dinner early, yet it had taken her what time remained to check her reflection in the mirror, make an adjustment, check again, adjust again, and pronounce herself done, so that she scarcely had a moment to gather her thoughts before Elizabeth knocked on her chamber door.

"Mary!" Elizabeth beamed at her, pushing the door open. "How pretty you look! Let's go down together. I don't know about you, but I am a little nervous to approach Lady Catherine again alone!"

Mary said nothing, but smiled, grateful that her sister would be by her side. As the two girls descended the stairs, Lizzy pointed out a few of the paintings that lined the walls, explaining who they depicted and what connection they had to Lady Catherine.

"Did you spend your whole afternoon in the library?" Mary marvelled. "Surely you lost hours to all this research!" And to what end? she wondered.

"Not even close!" Elizabeth laughed. "In fact, my plan to locate the library was entirely scuppered by locating one Mr Darcy instead."

"Oh?" Mary watched her sister carefully, for any trace of the affection that Jane had already noticed, but Lizzy was her very own self, if a little pink-cheeked, which Mary put down to the heat of the fires that blazed in every available fireplace.

"I do not doubt he, too, was eager for some occupation, for he volunteered to show me Rosings quite without my meaning him to." She smiled. "I had not imagined him so knowledgeable."

"It is his own family, Lizzy," Mary chided, good-naturedly. "I should think him rather stupid not to know all about them."

"Oh, indeed," Elizabeth agreed. "But on other things, too. I found him to be very intelligent. We conversed quite a while, Mary, so long that I had to hurry to be ready in time!"

Mary said nothing, but smiled, content that in this instance, she was savvier than her sister in affairs of the heart. Now if only she could devise a way to convince Elizabeth of the feelings that were only too plan in that moment to her!

The door to the sitting room stood open, and Colonel Fitzwilliam strode forward to greet them.

"Good evening, ladies!" he said, with a beaming smile. "I trust you are well-rested?"

He glanced at Elizabeth out of politeness, but Mary was touched to see how swiftly and completely his attention switched to her.

"Very well, thank you," she said, suddenly shy. "That is, I am. Elizabeth took to exploring." She elbowed her sister.

"Oh? And what did you discover?"

"That your cousin is at least half as knowledgeable as you are, at least in matters of family history," Elizabeth said, smoothly disentangling her arm from Mary's and dancing ahead of her into the parlour.

Richard's eyebrows lifted, and he looked with interest at Mary.

"Did I miss something?"

"I fancy my sister and your cousin successfully spent an afternoon together without arguing," Mary said, stifling a laugh.

"Wonders never cease!" Richard offered her his arm, and Mary slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Now, we must both be brave, for my aunt is already in fine form."

"She is?" Mary's heart sank.

"Fortunately neither you nor I are the focus of her attention at present." Richard winked, hard. "And once we are, I have a scheme in mind to distract her. Recall the music we purchased for Anne? I was hoping you might be persuaded to play it for us after our meal, so as to introduce her to it, and to introduce everyone else to your skill as a pianist."

Mary's face grew hot.

"Oh, I couldn't!"

"You can, and you must," Richard said, with a firm smile. "Trust me, Mary, once Aunt Catherine hears you play, all other thoughts will be swept aside, and we might all be granted some peace." He winced, but before Mary could question him on the reason for his concern, they drew close enough to the sitting room that she could distinguish from the voices inside what must be the source of his anxiety.

"And cousin Mary!" Mr Collins cried, hurrying forward as they crossed the threshold. "Here you are in Kent, as well! What providence!"

"Providence?" Richard asked, with a hint of an edge to his voice. "Is it so very providential that I should seek to introduce the young lady I intend to marry to my wider family?"

"Oh!" Mr Collins laughed. "Oh, I suppose not. Yes, indeed. Marriage. Well!"

Before he could say any more to either of them, Richard steered past him, seating Mary next to her sister and across from another young lady with a pale complexion rendered still paler by her light blond hair.

"Mary," Richard said softly. "This is my cousin Anne de Bourgh. I was so eager that you might know one another, for I fancy you are not dissimilar."

"My cousin tells me you are musical," Anne said, leaning forward with a warm, welcoming smile that instantly put Mary at ease. "And are you also fond of the piano, Miss Elizabeth?"

"I am fond of it, indeed," Lizzy said. "But alas, all talent in our family is Mary's." She squeezed Mary warmly on the arm. "As I am sure you will hear later, for you are going to play for us, are not you?"

"Apparently," Mary said, with a tentative smile at Anne. "Although I do not like to take your seat."

"Nonsense!" Anne laughed. "It will do me good to listen, instead of play. And I trust you will have pieces I do not know, and vice versa. I must show you my music room later…" she glanced towards her mother, who was at that moment engaged in a whispered conversation with Mr Darcy. "Perhaps tomorrow. Miss Elizabeth, you must come too, for even if you do not play yourself you might help us to decide which pieces are best." Her eyes twinkled with fun. "And if you comport yourself particularly well, we may even engage you to turn our pages!"

All three ladies laughed, which drew the attention of the far corner.

"Dear me, I did not realise it was the fashion for young ladies to be so amusing at present," Lady Catherine observed, with a sniff." Anne, come and sit closer to me. You have hardly even greeted your dear cousin Fitzwilliam properly, and it has been so long since we have seen him."

With a resigned sigh, Anne stood and obediently joined her mother. Sensing a movement at the corner of her eye, Mary glanced up as Mr Collins made a move towards their corner, but before he could reach it, Richard claimed it for his own.

"Now, ladies, I must have your opinion on a matter of utmost importance." He affected a position of confidence, leaning forward, so that only Elizabeth and Mary could hear him. "It concerns buttonholes…"