A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it means a lot to me that you continue to do so and I love reading what you think of the story as it progresses. Now this is the chapter that you lovelies have all been waiting for. Darcy's return to Pemberley to confront his father. This chapter will have a lot of fireworks and a very angry William. Enjoy.
The next chapter will be updated after Christmas, possibly by 29th or the 30th December but I have a lot of family to visit over the holiday period so I apologise if it comes a few days later.
As always, please review.
Happy Christmas!
He had no idea how long it had taken him to drive back to the place he had always called home. All he could think about on his car journey from London to Pemberley was the evidence he had found in the safe at their London home, at how his father had deliberately kept him from Elizabeth and witnessing the birth of his daughter, at how he should have been his decision and not his father's. All William knew as he pulled up into the driveway was that he was going to be shouting and yelling a lot at his father.
As he walked through the front doors, he was greeted by Mrs Reynolds who he asked to pack his belongings; saying that he was going to be staying with Charles for a while. Although Mrs Reynolds looked concerned at the angry look on his face, she didn't question what was wrong, she simply walked up the stairs and fulfilled his request that many of his belongings would be packed.
William entered his father's study without knocking, seeing that his father was sat behind the desk reading some paperwork. When Reginald looked up at him, he smiled and that smile made him even more angry with his father. How could someone pretend that everything was okay when he had known about Rose for the last four years?!
"Fitzwilliam! How are you son?" Reginald greeted cheerfully.
But William didn't reply, he simply strode across the room and chucked the folder on to the desk in front of his father. Reginald moved his gaze from the angry expression on his son's face to the folder that he clearly hadn't thought his son would find.
"Where did you get this?" Reginald asked.
"At our house in London. Honestly, if you don't want me to find out that you've been lying to me about Elizabeth for the last four years then I suggest you change the safe combination." William snapped.
"Fitzwilliam, you have to understand-"
"No. You don't get to talk. You have known about my daughter for the last four years, you are the reason that I haven't been a part of her life. You are the reason why I've been angry at Elizabeth for not explaining to my face why she left and you have spun lies to both of us in order to keep us apart!"
"Fitzwilliam, she was never any good for you! You needed to be with Eleanor, she's the one you belong with, the one you could have a real family with. Elizabeth Bennet isn't from the same background that you are, she has to work for a living because her father's estate is poorer than ours!" Reginald said.
"And that's why you deliberately asked me to take Georgie out that day to buy school supplies? Because you found the pregnancy test and knew that Elizabeth was carrying my child? You wanted me out of the way, why?"
"You know why! I wasn't about to let you throw away the chance for you to complete a master's degree. You came back from Spain with this girl who was the complete opposite of how I wanted you to live your life and you didn't seem to care about what you would be giving up if you stayed with her. When I found out Elizabeth was pregnant, yes I asked you to take your sister shopping and took care of the mess you had gotten yourself into. I sent her on her way with a cheque and kept an eye on her during her pregnancy to make sure that she didn't attempt to contact you. And in keeping that brat and girl away from you, you completed your masters and got back with the girl you are truly meant to be with." Reginald yelled.
"You had no right to make those decisions for me! That 'mess' as you call it wasn't a mess! I loved her, she's the mother of my child and we both deserved the chance to be together to raise our child. I deserved the truth from you, I deserved to know that I had a child out there who needed me and a woman who gave me that child deserved me to be by her side during everything she went through! And now, thanks to you, I've missed out on three years with my beautiful, incredible little girl and four years loving Elizabeth!" William shouted.
Reginald felt stunned at the last part of William's shouts.
"You...you still love that country fling...don't you?" Reginald asked, scoffing in disbelief.
William felt his jaw tighten, "I have missed out on so much because of you. I get that you wanted me to live my life a certain way but these were supposed to be MY decisions. It was supposed to my choice to be with Elizabeth, it was supposed to be our choice on whether or not we were going to be a family, it was supposed to be my choice if I carried on with a master's degree or not. You have been making the decisions and lying to me under the pretence that you think it's for my own good!"
Reginald chuckled darkly, "Oh my son! That country girl can't make you happy. You might dream of living a simple life with that girl and your bastard child but you're a Darcy. And Darcy's will always live the way we always have; enjoying the riches we have and the circles we make our friends in."
William punched the desk, ignoring the pain in his hand and wrist whilst his father jumped up from his chair in surprise.
"If you didn't care about 'my bastard child' so much, why are you saving money for Rose on a regular basis?"
"Well that's simple isn't it. Putting money into a savings account for that child each month ensures that when she's old enough to come looking for answers to her questions, the money will be enough to prevent her from accusing our family of not providing for her." Reginald answered.
William scoffed, "That's your reason? To stop her from making a claim to our money? our assets? To prevent some sort of scandal from coming out if that day were to ever come? Were you hoping that I would remain blissfully unaware of the fact that I had a daughter out there that you had to resort to taking efforts to ensuring that the Darcy's didn't have any embarrassment?"
"I did it for you. For the family. You should never have found out about this child and you would have gone on to marry Eleanor and have children with her, your true children. This one might have half your blood and genetics Fitzwilliam, but she's a Bennet and always will be." Reginald replied.
Shaking his head, William looked his father in the eye. It was now he realised how much of a pathetic excuse of a person his father truly was and he wasn't going to end up like his father. He was going to put an end to his father's lies and secrets but most importantly, he was going to be what a father should be.
"This is the last time I ever want to set eyes on you. You have been a poor excuse for a father ever since my mother died. You make these decisions based on what you think we should do with our lives without a thought for what would make me and Georgie happy. I'm putting a stop to that, I'm going to be a better father to Rose than you ever were to me." William vowed.
Reginald raised an eyebrow, "How are you going to do that?" his father asked.
"That's none of your business or concern. Think of this as an opportunity to reflect on the bad decisions you've made and I don't know, maybe you still have a chance of redemption with Georgiana. And believe me, if I find out for one second you've made my little sister unhappy then I'll give you a taste of your own medicine!"
"And how would you do that exactly?"
"If I find out that you're hurting Georgiana in any way, I'll take her away from you. I'll look after her and you won't see either of us ever again. Maybe then you'll realise how it feels for me to be kept away from a child that's yours."
Reginald glared at him and stood from his chair, "You wouldn't dare take Georgiana away." he hissed.
"You want me to be a Darcy so badly? Don't push me into becoming like you!" William shouted.
As he turned his back on his father and left the study, not looking back on his father. With his heart still pounding in rage, he climbed the staircase and walked to his bedroom, seeing that Mrs Reynolds had packed two suitcases of clothes for him but the housekeeper had been prevented from packing any more of his belongings. In the bedroom, Mrs Reynolds merely looked on at his girlfriend in silence. As William looked at his girlfriend, he saw that Eleanor was holding the dusty shoebox containing memories of his time with Elizabeth.
"Eleanor-"
His girlfriend looked up at him through watery eyes, "Fitzwilliam, what is this?" Eleanor whispered.
Mrs Reynolds quietly left the bedroom, not wanting to get in the way of an argument between the two of them. William sighed, he hadn't been expecting the shoebox to have ever been discovered.
"You know what it is. A box of memories." William answered.
"I can see that. Pictures of you and that...that whore!" Eleanor hissed.
"She's not a whore! She's the mother of my child-"
"Please! Don't pretend to me that she's nothing more than that to you."
"Elle, it's a box of memories from a happy time in my life and I thought that one day I could give it to Rose to show her the time I spent with Elizabeth." William explained.
"You don't have anything like that of our time together and we have been together on and off a lot longer than you were with Elizabeth Bennet." Eleanor pointed out.
William sighed, the last thing he wanted was to get into an argument with his girlfriend about Elizabeth when he had just disowned his father.
"Eleanor, please, can we talk about this another time? Right now, I need to get out of here. I've just found out that my father lied about Rose, he knew about her since the day he forced Elizabeth to leave-"
"Why do you care so much?!
"I don't expect you to understand. But right now, I've just found out that my father has lied to me for the last four years and deliberately kept me from my daughter. Now, I'm going to go and stay with Bingley for a while, it's your choice whether you come with me or not." William snapped.
Nothing more was said as William snatched the box from his girlfriend and left the room with his suitcases; for now he had everything he needed from Pemberley and when he made a further decision on what he was going to do, he would send for the rest of his belongings.
ooOoo
It had only been ten minutes since her boyfriend had departed from Pemberley with the shoebox and two suitcases full of his clothes and shoes having found out the truth of Reginald's decision to separate Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth but Eleanor had already packed a suitcase and was rushing down the stairs, only to be stopped in her tracks at the bottom when Reginald blocked her way.
"He's gone. He knows my secret." Reginald hissed to her.
"Reginald, I'm sorry. I have to go after him, I can't lose him." Eleanor replied apologetically.
"You have to help me. Talk to Fitzwilliam, tell him I did it because I had his best interests at heart."
"What makes you think that he wants to hear that at the moment? Reginald, I promise that I will do what I can to get William back to Pemberley but at the moment he's very angry and I have to ensure that my relationship with him isn't lost like yours is." Eleanor said.
Reginald glared at her, "Don't forget my girl, you had a part to play in this as well." he whispered.
Eleanor frowned, "I wasn't the one who hired a private investigator and lied to two people in order to keep them apart."
"No you weren't but you were agreeable in getting back with my son in order to take his mind off of that country girl and you've known the whole time about my son's child."
"And if I don't help you...you'll reveal my part in your deception to Fitzwilliam?"
Reginald nodded and chuckled darkly, "And how do you think Fitzwilliam will feel if he learns he wasn't only betrayed by his father but by his loving girlfriend as well?" he asked.
Eleanor shook her head, "You wouldn't tell him. He wouldn't believe you. If you tell him, you know for a fact that he would turn Georgiana against you." she stated.
"I can get to Georgie first, she's a good girl."
Knowing that Reginald had leverage over her, she sighed. There was no way that she could fight against Reginald because it would mean that she would lose her boyfriend for good if Fitzwilliam ever found out about her involvement in his father's deception. At the moment it felt that her boyfriend was already slipping away but there was a good chance that she could get him back by going after him.
"Fine. I'll do everything that I can to convince Fitzwilliam that you were acting in his best interests if you keep my part in your deception a secret. Fitzwilliam can never know that I've known about the child for the last four years." Eleanor sighed.
Reginald smirked with satisfaction, "You have a deal my dear. Now, you have a car journey to start. Say hello to the Bingleys for me." he replied.
Eleanor watched as he walked away before she ran out of the house and on to the driveway where she flung her suitcase into the back seat of her car and started the engine. If she was quick, she would be arriving at Netherfield not long after her boyfriend would be.
ooOoo
Elizabeth stood on a step ladder in her classroom after her class had all gone home with their families, pinning up the latest display work that her pupils had done in art hour. The project had been to paint a memory and then write on a piece of paper what the painting they had done represented. Most of the paintings showed birthday parties, trips to a theme park or a holiday destination and were brightly painted in every colour that the school could possibly possess.
It was as she stood on her tiptoes to staple one to the very top of the display board that she didn't hear footsteps enter her classroom until she had stapled the work to the board so hard that she nearly tumbled backwards. It was then that she realised, as she felt strong hands on her hips to support her weight on the step ladder, that a man was in her classroom.
She looked down and frowned as she saw the last person that she had expected to see on a Wednesday afternoon.
"Will?" she asked.
"Caught you just in time. I thought you had a good sense of balance considering the amount of time you spent climbing tress as a child?" he teased.
His teasing caught her by surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked.
William released his hold on her hips when it was clear that she wasn't going to tumble off the ladder and cleared his throat.
"I'll be staying with Charles for a while, until I get myself sorted."
Elizabeth punched in another three staples to the other corners of the painting before stepping off the ladder and facing him, placing the stapler on top of the last few paintings.
"What happened?"
"I found the evidence that I was looking for. I found my old handset and charger but that wasn't all."
"It wasn't?"
"No. I found out that my father hired a private investigator to keep tabs on you throughout the pregnancy and for a few months after Rose was born. My father had everything single piece of information about you hidden in a file in his safe at our London house. He also had every single piece of information about Rose, including a savings account that he had set up in her name and has been paying into on a regular, monthly basis since her birthday." William explained.
Elizabeth's eyes widened, "He's been saving money for her? How is that even possible, he would need-"
"A copy of her birth certificate? Yeah he's got one and a copy of yours. The evidence was concrete enough for me to confront him with no possible way for him to deny what happened. He admitted everything, including the fact that the savings account was to prevent Rose from accessing the Darcy fortune and assets should she have come looking for answers when she was old enough. My father had made the assumption that I would be blissfully ignorant of the fact that you gave birth to my child."
"He was hoping that we wouldn't have met again." Elizabeth said quietly.
William nodded, "Of course, it just so happens that my best friend is marrying your sister so fate had other ideas." He laughed.
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile, "It's funny how you can laugh at your father's betrayal." She commented.
His laughter and smile faded, "I'm still angry but I feel better now that it's out in the open. I left Pemberley and told him that I was finished with him. All that matters to me now is this." William stated, taking hold of her hand and giving it a light squeeze.
This?
The look in his eyes was one that she had seen the first time he had told her that he loved her all those years ago, it was one that she had tried to forget several times but had failed miserably. A part of her screamed at her to look away, to step away and close her heart off but her eyes were defiant to any common sense. Green eyes locked into brown, lips grew wider into bigger smiles and hearts were beating faster in a happiness that she hadn't felt in so long.
She didn't stop him when his free hand caressed her face or when it tucked that stray lock of hair behind her ear, the one that always fell out of place from behind her ear. And when that part of her that was screaming at her to have some common sense told her that he still had a girlfriend, she still didn't stop him.
"We could have been a family, we could have been happy together and that's why I disowned my father," William whispered, "because he's the reason why I have missed out on so much time with Rose and so many experiences that I should have shared with you."
Elizabeth nodded and squeezed his hand, "There's a lot that we should talk about- "
But she couldn't say anymore because of the three sharp raps of knuckles on her classroom door. Immediately, the two of them sprang apart to look in the direction of the door.
"Oh, sorry to interrupt. Lizzy, are we still on for tomorrow night?" Matthew asked.
Lizzy could have glared daggers at her best friend's brother but merely nodded.
"Yeah of course, who's coming?" she asked.
"Charlotte, Marie and this new guy I want you to meet that I met through speed dating at the Horse and Crown." Matthew replied.
Elizabeth smiled, knowing the whole reason for this night out at the pub for 'after work drinks' was actually so that her best friend's brother could show off his new boyfriend.
"Can't wait. Matt, this is William Darcy. Will, this is Matthew Lucas, he's my best friend's older brother."
"The famous William Darcy?! It's nice to see where little Rosie gets her good looks from." Matthew gushed, winking at her ex-boyfriend.
"Ummm…thank you." Will muttered.
"Well it's nice to put a name to the face, Lizzy never stops talking about you these days." Matthew informed William.
Elizabeth flushed a little bit, it wasn't as if she went on about Will to her colleagues as if she had a school girl crush. It just so happened that on Monday mornings before the kids were allowed in to classrooms that she would be finishing her cup of tea and her colleagues would ask her what she did at the weekend, and she would tell them what she got up to with William and Rose.
"Well, I'd better go. Night Lizzy, night William." Matthew said.
"Night Matt."
Lizzy ascended the step ladder to finished putting up the last few paintings on the display board, the moment between her and William was gone and now she was feeling guilty as she listened to common sense. Her relationship with William ended four years ago, regardless of whatever the reason was, and now he was with someone else. Despite her dislike of Eleanor from the one time she had met William's girlfriend, she wasn't going to be the one to break them up. She also had to consider Rose. Any feelings that her moment with William had brought up had to go because if they ever tried to make another go of their relationship and it ended again, her daughter would get hurt most of all and that was something that she would never do.
ooOoo
William arrived back at Netherfield after saying goodbye to Elizabeth in time to be greeted unexpectedly by his girlfriend. His departure hours earlier from Pemberley hadn't exactly gone smoothly and he had been sure that Eleanor would remain at his father's side, the two were extremely close. So to be kissed and hugged by his girlfriend came as a surprise.
"Eleanor, I didn't think-"
"That I would come after you? Why would you think that?" Eleanor asked sweetly.
The two walked in the direction of the terrace to take a walk through the grounds, it was a place to talk without being overheard by nosey younger sisters of his best friend.
"Things between us haven't been great lately." William pointed out.
"Well, you've been distracted by that child and I imagine that you've been feeling guilty that you've had to leave me behind-"
Well that wasn't exactly true. Of course he felt bad that Eleanor was feeling lonely but he didn't feel guilty at putting time with Rose ahead of spa weekends and shopping weekends with his girlfriend.
"But I thought that if I stayed here with you then that way you could still have me and your daughter. Of course, that's also another thing I've been thinking about, the fact that you have a child."
"What about the fact I have a child? You know that Rose and Elizabeth are important to me."
Eleanor frowned at the mention of Elizabeth's name.
"Of course. But I've been wanting to talk to you about a few things. Firstly, I'm not comfortable with the amount of time you're spending in the company of your ex-girlfriend, you've kept your word by seeing your child every weekend, isn't it about time that you amended the agreement to having Rose just by yourself for a couple of hours every Saturday and Sunday?"
Eleanor had a point, he had been keeping his word. But did he really want to amend the agreement when his time with Rose and Elizabeth was going so smoothly and seemed to work well for the three of them?
"I don't think so, Rose needs to see that Elizabeth and I can get along."
"But you're so focussed on the Elizabeth part of it, you keep a box of keepsakes. I think that some of your old feelings are resurfacing and I get that, but Fitzwilliam, you also made a commitment to me. You said you loved me."
Again she had another point. He had been the one to ask Eleanor to move into Pemberley with him all that time ago but he had been a different person back then. Back then he had locked away his feelings for Elizabeth a long time ago and having spent so much time with her, those feelings had been unlocked and he didn't want to lock them away again.
"Eleanor, I just need some time to figure things out in my own head. Some space apart from you. My life is just a mess at the moment and the only thing that makes sense to me is that Elizabeth never betrayed me, my father did. I also have this child to commit to now-"
"But Fitzwilliam, we don't need to break up."
"I'm not what you need right now Elle-"
"Fitzwilliam, the other thing I wanted to discuss with you is that whilst you have this connection to Elizabeth Bennet, it's because the two of you share the one thing that you and I don't. I want us to have a baby. I want us to have a family, I want your baby, I've always wanted it. I want us to get married."
William felt stunned. He had wanted to tell her that he just needed some space to get his head sorted and to make a decision about who he wanted to share his life with until his girlfriend had dropped this bomb on him. Starting a family with Eleanor would be the wrong decision and making a new commitment to Eleanor would be for the wrong reasons.
"Elle, now isn't the right time. I think you need to move back in with your parents whilst I stay here and clear my head-"
"Or you mean so that you can spend more alone time with Elizabeth in your bedroom here?! How long has it been going on Fitzwilliam? How long have you been cheating on me with your country whore? Playing happy families with that little brat. If I had known that Jane was Elizabeth's sister, I would never have allowed you to attend that stupid engagement party. Hell, you can keep it going for all I care because I'm done doing what your father asks me to do!" Eleanor screamed.
As she tried to turn to walk away, he grasped her arm to stop her from leaving. She was hiding something, something about his father.
"What are you talking about? What has my father asked you to do?" William asked.
The look on Eleanor's face had gone from complete anger to utter panic at the realisation that she had said too much.
"It's nothing, I'm leaving!" Eleanor said, too quickly.
"No. Tell me. Eleanor, what has my father asked you to do?" William demanded, his teeth gritted together.
Eleanor gulped, not meeting his gaze, "He asked me to come here to do everything I could to make you see that everything he had done was for your own good." She muttered.
William narrowed his eyes, there had to be more to it.
"What else?"
Eleanor blinked, trying to stop the tears from falling out of her eyes involuntary.
"He…he…he said that if I didn't he would tell you the truth and that both of us would lose you." Eleanor cried.
"How would you lose me?"
"I already was. I was trying to hold on to you. Four years ago, after Elizabeth had left you, your father got in touch with me and asked me to take you back, to take your mind off of that country slapper and I agreed. I found out that your father had sent her away because she was pregnant and that if I took you back it would make you forget about your summer fling and it worked. We were happy, we could have had something, a family, a marriage but that engagement party changed everything for us. You've been shagging her behind my back and pushing me aside."
William let go of her arm, "Get out of my sight, you're no better than my father." He growled.
"Fitzwilliam, please. I had no choice-"
"You had no choice? Not only have I found out that my father has been making decisions and plotting behind my back, you've been doing the same! You knew I had a daughter, you should have told me when you found out. Any decent human being would have done so!" William shouted.
"If I had told you, you would have run straight to that country slapper and forgotten about me! I love you Fitzwilliam! I always have, she will never love you the way I do!" Eleanor sobbed.
"Just go. I never want to see you again!" William growled.
He turned his back on her and went back inside the house. It wasn't every day that you found out that the ones who were supposed to care for you would betray you in such a deceitful way.