Another evening of uncomfortable dining partners set Elizabeth's nerves on edge. Between the slings and arrows tossed her way by Caroline Bingley and Mr. Darcy's stares, all punctuated by booms and crashes of thunder outside, Elizabeth's neck and shoulders ached from a permanently tightened position. The abundant roses resided in complete wilt making the candlelight appear sour. All in all, there remained little to interest her in the event.

The rain beat against the windows accompanied with a feral cry of the wind. The room felt chilled, though a roaring fire was just behind Elizabeth's chair and she should not feel so. She shivered and continued to attempt an appetite by eating her cold meat one small bite at a time.

"Miss Bingley," Darcy interrupted the shrew to his left who had taken to her normal custom of a one-sided conversation with the man of Derbyshire, "while I am sure your experiences at the _ Ball last spring were most rapturous, I beg your pardon." Darcy didn't take his eyes off the diminutive form of Elizabeth across from him. "Miss Elizabeth, are you quite alright? I noticed appeared chilled just now."

Elizabeth blushed that Mr. Darcy would be so bold as to admit he had been watching her. "I am not at ease, worried about Jane, you understand." She parried the personal inquiry.

Caroline Bingley sniffed and pressed her lips in a fine line. "I should dearly hope you are not becoming ill yourself, Miss Eliza, as you've been so dutiful in your sister's care, it would be a wretched manner of repayment."

"I am quite well, thank you, Miss Bingley."

"Blast, this weather be the dogs!" Mr. Bingley piped up to the admonishment of his sister. But Charles Bingley offered no apology. "I am only to mean that your poor sister might recover all the much sooner if the weather were of a drier nature."

"There is no evidence that one becomes more or less ill due to weather," Darcy said.

"Oh, I forget you are well read on every topic." Bingley motioned for his wine glass to be refilled as he drained it upon teasing Darcy.

Darcy cleared his throat, looking up from his plate to see Miss Elizabeth giving him her full attention. "I do not profess to be an expert in the medical arts, but all of the treatises I have found can find no justification for a person's illness as a result of the weather since others in the near vicinity are often well."

"So there you have it, if one is to become ill in bad weather, it is not a defect of Nature, but that of the person's nature." Caroline beamed as she tried to impress Mr. Darcy with her logic, only to receive abject gazes of horror from the rest of the table. "What? I do not mean poor Jane has any such defect. No, of course not, she is beyond all that is sweet and good —"

"Yes, my sister IS all that is sweet and good and I think we might look for a change of subject. Mr. Bingley, how long do you plan to let Netherfield Park? Are we to expect you and your family to remain through winter and into spring?" Elizabeth shut Caroline down and forced the conversation to focus on Charles.

"Er . . . That is, I had not fully thought out our plans. I should like to stay very much, but just as swiftly as I took this property, I am just as easily pleased should our plans change," Charles made eye-contact with Caroline as her face stretched and pulled expressions of incredulity. "Caroline, I believe, wishes us to return to London for Christmas," he finished flatly.

For her part, Miss Bingley offered Elizabeth a wan smile and fluttered her eyelashes. "Well, nothing is certain yet. What my brother won't tell you is that he is of a fickle nature when it comes to plans of any sort. He's the kind to agree to a picnic only to change his mind the day of to dining indoors and follow it with a horse ride. By the way, Miss Elizabeth, do you ride?"

Elizabeth offered Miss Bingley a wistful smile, relishing the joy bubbling up inside her once more that she would not offer this woman an ounce of satisfaction. "Not in this weather, I'm afraid."

Mr. Darcy laughed at the verbally sparring woman, the only person to do so, and swiftly covered his guffaw with a cough. "Forgive me, I merely found Miss Elizabeth's rejoinder rather comical."

"Humor is no substitute for wit."

"And neither is vulgarity." Elizabeth lifted her wine glass, thoroughly enjoying herself now that she might openly be rude to Caroline without her reinforcements of Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, who had elected to eat in their rooms.

"She has you there, Caro." Bingley loudly slurped the newly arrived soup course.

"I apologize, my tongue ran away with me." Elizabeth offered her adversary an apology as she did truly feel guilty for stooping so low. A familiar throbbing began in the front of her head and Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to leave dinner and plead a legitimate headache to escape further discussion.

Caroline said nothing and resumed eating. The dinner table descended to a heavy silence until another loud crash of thunder startled most of them at the table. Elizabeth dropped her fork, and hastily picked it back up to cover her faux pas.

No longer finding herself hungry in the slightest, Elizabeth appealed to Mr. Bingley's good nature. "I wonder if you might excuse me? I do so wish to check on my sister and find my appetite has left me."

"Of course, of course, please send our warmest wishes for Miss Bennet's speedy recovery."

Elizabeth nodded and awaited a footman's assistance to leave the table. She made certain to not make eye contact with Mr. Darcy before leaving the depressing dining room in case he rebuked her for the put down of Caroline. She owned no right to being so rude to her hostess, and with a background in trade, of course, Miss Bingley would stop at nothing for acceptance.

As Elizabeth climbed the stairs to see to her sister, she never questioned herself for caring so much about the opinion of Mr. Darcy.

****
A/N Okay, I am snowed in and it's flipping APRIL! What the? Feeling a bit of the pent up energy myself as I write this story is hilarious. :) Anywho, did a bunch of editing this morning and will be working more this afternoon. Going to get this chapter and the next up here though. Hope you all enjoy it! :) Thank you so much for ALLLLL of the reviews, and to Tremu, when I read your review I had to laugh, in a good way! :) This book will have 13 chapters of 4-5 scenes each, we still have a loooong way to go for our couple to secure their HEA. :) And to Colleen, while I don't have any plans to bring Colonel Fitzwilliam into this story, I won't rule it out. But I don't think he will really fit, but we'll see.