Author's Note: *sigh* I really don't want to come off begging for reviews, but truly, I've read stories with less chapters than what I've already posted with more than triple the number of reviews. I check the Traffic of this story and there are so many hits. Do you guys just dislike the story or what? I want to know. I am worried that you guys are not enjoying it... Just drop a line. I know its hard because the last chapter and this one are fillers, but I would hope that they at least deserve a few "Thanks for posting this" comments. All right, enough ranting. Sorry.

-mgrm

Chapter 11

The three days that it took for the conveyance to reach London went by slowly, but were not as dreadfully boring as it might have been if there was no conversation to be had. As the carriages' occupants were close friends and family, however, there was not a lack of entertainment. Finally, the carriages reached London. The Ryders went to their townhouse while the Gardiners and Bennets went the Gardiners' house in Cheapside, which they had yet to sell. They stayed there overnight and on the fourth day after leaving Netherfield Park they undertook the last leg of their journey. By that point the Gardiner children were sick of being confined to a carriage, even with the frequent stops that they took, causing them to be restless during their last short journey. At long last the two carriages pulled into Loungbourn's drive.

"It will be so good to be home again, no matter how much we have enjoyed ourselves the past few months," Elizabeth said to her sister and aunt. Jane murmured in agreement.

"Especially since two certain gentlemen will be here?" Aunt Gardiner asked.

Jane blushed and demurely replied, "We will be glad to see them again. They have been very kind."

"And attentive," Elizabeth teased her sister, who blushed again, then reminded them, "But remember, we will not tell Mama about the gentlemen's attentions." Their carriage pulled to a stop, cutting short any reply.

All of the Bennets rushed out to meet the carriages. As everyone was helped out they were enthusiastically greeted by the inhabitants of Loungbourn. The Bennet sisters greeted their cousins while Mrs. Bennet barley glanced at them.

"Brother! Sister! You are very welcome. It is a pity that neither of my daughters came home engaged! What will become of us all? Jane could not be so beautiful for nothing!" she ranted. She continued, but this time to her eldest two daughters. "At least Mary is engaged to Mr. Collins. If she were not I am sure that he would turn us out of the house before your father is cold in his grave!" Before Jane and Elizabeth could congratulate their sister on her upcoming nuptials their mother continued, "It is a pity that neither of you attracted a single suitor, let alone a rich gentleman. Oh! How you try my nerves. At least Farrington Park is let by a rich young gentleman, although I have heard that he is practically engaged to a lady from the north of England! As is his friend that he is bringing! What a pity, as the friend is rumoured to have 10 thousand a year, at least!" Jane and Elizabeth exchanged looks. "Well, come in. You must tell me all about your trip and about the house, oh, whatever it is called."

The travelers were able to quickly excuse themselves since they were quite tired from their long carriage ride. Before they took a nap the eldest two sisters met in Jane's room.

"I must say, it is a good thing that we did not inform our mother that we had gentlemen callers," Elizabeth said.

"Indeed, for we do not want to get her hopes up," Jane said sensibly.

"You know that is not the reason. Why, if we had, she would bother us until we told her how rich they are, where they live, how large their house is, and every last detail about them," Elizabeth smiled. "Although, you would not need to tell Mama about your caller; she probably already knows more about his wealth than you do!"

"Lizzy!" Jane exclaimed, then smiled innocently, 'two could play this game,' she thought. "I think that you are glad that we did not tell her because you would never have peace due to cries of, '10 thousand a year!'" The sisters giggled and lay on Jane's bed silently for a bit.

"Although I do wonder how Meryton's gossips know of Bingley and his friend's interest in ladies that they met in the north," Elizabeth admitted.

"Do you think that they mean us, or some previous interests that they had?" Jane asked.

"Perhaps someone in Meryton made the information up and it is just ironic that the situation is actually somewhat accurate," Elizabeth suggested.

"Perhaps," Jane sighed and blushed at the thought of Mr. Bingley being considered practically engaged to her. "Lizzy?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you love Mr. Darcy?"

Elizabeth had a dreamy look on her face as she replied, "Yes, I believe that I truly love him. Do you love your Mr. Bingley?"

"He is not my Mr. Bingley!" Jane exclaimed.

"Since you already admitted that you love him, I do not need to ask you that."

"If Mr. Darcy were to propose to you, you would accept him?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I would. And you? If Mr. Bingley proposed?" Elizabeth asked, knowing that the answer would be identical to her own.

"I would." The sisters became silent again, relishing the sisterly bond that they had.

"Well, I am tired, I am off to take a nap," Elizabeth finally announced.

"Sleep well, dearest," Jane said.

"You too, dear Jane." With that the sisters parted to sleep the rest of the afternoon.

All of the adult travelers awoke and made their way downstairs around the same time. This just happened to be not long after Lydia and Kitty returned from Meryton to visit Aunt Phillips. The subject of the gentleman that leased Farrington Park came up and the youngest two Bennets shared the new information that they had.

"They are coming to the Assembly Ball!" Lydia squealed.

"On Saturday!" Kitty added, not to be left out. "He is to bring six ladies and four gentlemen."

"Nay, it was twelve ladies and eight gentlemen," Lydia disagreed.

To conceal the fact that she knew that it would actually be three ladies and three gentlemen, Elizabeth commented, "Too many ladies," exchanging another look with Jane and her aunt.

"Not that it matters, for we are to never be acquainted with him!" Mrs. Bennet exclaimed. Her eldest daughters gave her a questioning look so she said, "Your father refuses to call!"

Lydia and Kitty began to inform their eldest sisters of the other gossip that they had heard about Mr. Bingley and his guests, but were interrupted by their mother. "I am sick of Mr. Bingley!" she exclaimed.

"I am sorry. If I had known earlier I would not have called on him yesterday; but I am afraid that it is too late to escape the acquaintance now." Mr. Bennet said.

"You have called on him!" Mrs. Bennet shrieked, "Girls, girls, is he not a good father?" she went over to her two youngest to talk endlessly of Mr. Bingley.

Finally Mr. Bennet had had enough so he interrupted, asking the Gardiners, "Where are you traveling the day after tomorrow?"

"We are to return to London to sell our old house, as we inherited a townhouse in a more fashionable part of Town. After we settle into our new lodgings we are to travel to Bath to settle the details on the house that Aunt Augusta had lived in until her death. We are to let the house," Mr. Gardiner replied.

"I had thought that you did not inherit a house?" Elizabeth was perplexed.

"No, Aunt Augusta sold her country estate in Sussex when she became ill and bought a house in Bath. Her doctor had recommended the waters to her. She was going to sell her townhouse as well, but decided to leave it for her heir." Mrs. Gardiner explained.

"Oh!" Elizabeth had had no clue as to the how large the inheritance actually was until then.

"It is too bad that you cannot meet Mr. Bingley and his friend," Mrs. Bennet said, conveniently forgetting the gossip about his supposed near-engagement.

"It is too bad," Mrs. Gardiner replied with a slight smile.

"I cannot wait until the Assembly. I wish to meet the new addition to our neighbourhood," Elizabeth said.

"Whatever for? Neither of the gentlemen will pay any attention to you!" Mrs. Bennet snapped. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows and Jane thought, 'I can think of one gentleman that will pay attention to her.'

The talk of Mr. Bingley did not fully cease until supper, which, fortunately for Mr. Bennet, was not long after the start of that discussion. Over supper Mrs. Bennet demanded that her daughters tell her of their time in Derbyshire. They told their family stories of what happened there, the picnic, the assembly, their friends---even about being trapped at Pemberley. In short, they talked about everything except Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. They also made no mention their friendship with Georgiana. Mrs. Bennet interrupted their narration in all of the right places, as well as the wrong ones. Finally, at the end she demanded to know why they did not endear themselves to their friends' brothers. "Would you not love having one of your friends as your sister?" She asked.

"Indeed, I would," Elizabeth whispered, thinking of one friend in particular that she would wish to become the sister of.

"Then why did you not secure one of them?" Mrs. Bennet asked, after overhearing Elizabeth's comment. Elizabeth did not have an answer to that.

The next day the Bennet sisters went to Meryton to buy ribbon for the Assembly the upcoming weekend. As they came out of the shop a carriage bearing the Darcy crest rolled by. Elizabeth looked up at the window with hope of seeing the owner and was rewarded by the sight of Mr. Darcy. As the carriage past he turned to keep her in his sight. Right before he lost sight of her, he nodded and was satisfied by the sight of a smile hovering over her lovely lips.

"Lizzy?" Lydia asked.

"Pardon?" Elizabeth asked, still slightly affected by the sight of the man she admired.

"I was just curious as to why you stopped in the middle of the sidewalk," Lydia said.

"I caught sight of the man I believe to be Mr. Bingley's friend," Elizabeth explained.

"Really?" Kitty asked.

"What did he look like?" Lydia asked.

"He is very handsome, with dark curly hair and dark eyes," Elizabeth replied, thinking that her description was pale compared to what he looked like in person.

"Too bad that he does not wear regimentals. A man is nothing without a redcoat," Lydia said. At that moment a gentleman wearing that specific article of clothing walked up to the group.

"Miss Mary, Miss Kitty, Miss Lydia," he bowed.

"Mr. Denny, these are our two elder sisters, Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth. Jane, Elizabeth this is Mr. Denny," Mary said, knowing that her two younger sisters would not complete the introductions. The group chatted until the Bennet sisters had to return home. Denny offered to escort the ladies, walking with Kitty and Lydia on each arm. The other three sisters dropped to form a second line.

Denny was invited to tea which he accepted. After tea, he departed leaving the family to various pursuits. Kitty and Lydia were fixing bonnets. Mary read, as did Elizabeth; Jane embroidered, and Mrs. Gardiner played with her children upstairs. Mrs. Bennet planned the meals for the next day while her husband and brother went to the library. That evening after supper Jane and Elizabeth retrieved the gifts that they bought for their family, as well as the gifts they bought for their aunt, uncle, and cousins that afternoon. After receiving their gifts, all exclaimed that they loved them, and then the gifts were put aside or in the necklaces' cases, put on.

The next day the Gardiners departed for London to sell their old home and the rest of the family settled back into the routine that they had before Jane and Elizabeth left to visit Derbyshire.