The Bennets piled into the carriage after Elizabeth replaced her wedding band on her finger and kissed it and were on their way to the ball at Netherfield. When they arrived, Elizabeth instantly sought out Mr. Darcy, but could not find him anywhere among the crowd. She next sought out Georgiana and found her with a cup of tea in the corner. "Georgiana!" she cried, racing to her sister-in-law. Georgiana stood and embraced Elizabeth.

"Lizzie, I am so glad to see you here!" she exclaimed.

"I have not seen Mr. Darcy! Where is he?" asked Elizabeth.

"My brother is still upstairs. If he does not come down soon, I would suggest you go and check on him. For now, please help introduce me to some of these guests on behalf of my brother," Georgiana said, and Elizabeth agreed. Jane, on the other hand, did look for Mr. Bingley, but she did not seek him out. Instead, he sought her out.

"Miss Bennet," he said, bowing to her.

"Mr. Bingley," she said, curtsying.

"How do you do?" asked Mr. Bingley, his eyes on hers.

"Quite well, Mr. Bingley, and yourself?" Mr. Bingley nodded.

"Shall we dance?"

"Oh... Most certainly!" Mr. Bingley held out his hand for hers and she handed it to him, then he led her into the ballroom where a dance was about to start.

After about twenty minutes, Georgiana pulled Elizabeth aside. "I think that you must check on Fitzwilliam. Do you know where his room is?"

"I do," said Elizabeth. "I shall return shortly, hopefully with him."

"I wish you luck," said Georgiana as Elizabeth disappeared into the crowd. She climbed the stairs and went to where his room was located, finding the door open. She peeked inside and found him in his nightshirt sitting by the window in a chair, a fire in the fireplace. She crept in quietly, hoping not to startle him, but he heard her enter.

"To be or not to be - that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of troubles And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep - No more - and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep - To sleep - prechance to dream: ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life." Mr. Darcy was quoting Shakespeare's famous novel, Hamlet, and in a way that made Elizabeth's skin crawl: the soliloquy that Mr. Darcy was reciting was the soliloquy in which Hamlet was contemplating suicide.

"Oh, please, Mr. Darcy, no more!" cried Elizabeth.

"Why not? I find myself displaying similar feelings as Mr. Hamlet," said Mr. Darcy.

"Oh, Mr. Darcy, you must allow me to speak with you..."

"Why? Every time we speak, my heart breaks into smaller and smaller pieces." Elizabeth took the seat across from him.

"I have been foolish..."

"I haven't noticed."

"Mr. Darcy, please!"

"I wish to hear no more, Mrs. Darcy. Please, leave me to my peace."

"But Mr. Darcy-"

"Leave!" Elizabeth sighed and stood, taking a few steps away from him before stopping. She turned and faced him, a determined look on her face.

"No."

"Elizabeth, do not trifle with me..."

"I shall trifle with you all I please!" She neared him and knelt down beside him. "What has happened to my Mr. Darcy? The man I married was so tender despite my bitter words."

"Your bitter words destroyed him, and I am what remains."

"No, you are not. You are being silly, as I had been only a couple of months ago."

"Silly, you say?"

"Yes. You are very reminiscent of myself and I of you."

"I believe you to be the silly one." Elizabeth chuckled and took his hand.

"Oh, Mr. Darcy..." She stood, leaned over him and kissed his brow, then sat on his knee. Mr. Darcy was silent, staring at her and stuck gazing at her eyes. Elizabeth gently played with his hair. "My sweet, silly Fitzwilliam..." She was not sure if he was even sober, but she kissed him anyway. She kissed him more passionately than she did even when she called on him a fortnight before. Together, they tugged at each other's clothes, and Elizabeth was exposed in her corset and chemise and he completely shirtless. Elizabeth pressed her forehead to his and kissed it and Mr. Darcy's fingers were working the laces of the corset. Elizabeth giggled at his attempt and kissed him again.

"How do I untie this damn thing?" Mr. Darcy murmured as he became more and more frustrated with the laces of her corset.

"My Fitzwilliam, allow me," said Elizabeth, reaching back to untie the laces. She leaned against him as he loosened the corset and stroked his chest with her thumb. "My wonderful Fitzwilliam..." She kissed his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I never thought I would hear those words uttered from your beautiful lips," said Mr. Darcy, and he kissed her lips and tried to pull her corset off over her head.

"Oh, no... Not in my house!" came Miss Bingley's angry voice, and both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth looked up to see Miss Bingley standing in the doorway, the door having been left wide open.

"Oh, dear!" cried Elizabeth in shame, burying her face in Mr. Darcy's shoulder.

"I want her out! Out of this house!" cried Miss Bingley, striding to the couple and pulling Elizabeth from Mr. Darcy's arms. "Dress, you whore, and leave my house!" Mr. Darcy stood.

"Might I remind you, Miss Bingley, that Mrs. Darcy and I are married?" asked Mr. Darcy, taking his sobbing wife back into his arms. He pulled her arms through the sleeves of her dress and redid it in the back.

"I do not care. I want her out. Now," said Miss Bingley, and Mr. Darcy let out a sigh and looked at Elizabeth.

"My Lizzie, I will speak with Mr. Bingley. For now, I would like you to return to Longbourn and rest. My dearest, you are frightened beyond comprehension," he told his wife, and he gave her one last kiss before Miss Bingley dragged her out. Mr. Darcy thought himself a stupid fool for allowing Miss Bingley to catch him, but he also thought himself even more foolish for not challenging Miss Bingley's request to have Elizabeth removed from Netherfield. He was too drunk to be able to contemplate it properly, and he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was devastated. As she walked home alone in the dark freezing, she wondered why Mr. Darcy did not demand she stay. She feared that, secretly, Mr. Darcy loved Miss Bingley and had her in his bed at that very moment. She feared that he was having an affair with Miss Bingley and no longer desired her company. She wondered why he did not follow her. She cried during the last of the three miles of the walk back to Longbourn and ran, hoping that not one member of her family would notice her absence nor question her early departure.