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Sorry, no Pierre in this one. But I hope you enjoy it anyway. :)

Chapter 13

Lizzy went to the edge of the river and sat down. She was angry. Counting to ten didn't seem to help. So she counted to one hundred. That didn't work. So she walked to the coolers that had been packed away and opened them, and then she found what she was looking for.

"Hmm, too small to cut in two, too big for one piece. Ah, who cares." And she pulled the last (large) piece of Death by Chocolate cake out and ate it with her fingers. Yes. That did the trick She was feeling much better now.

Lizzy's face was covered in chocolate when John walked up. He started chuckling.

"Guess there's no more cake, huh? Oh hey! What's wrong with you? You don't look so good." He asked worriedly.

Lizzy rinsed her hands in the river and wiped her face on a rag she found. "I'm fine. I just- nothing," pause, "I haven't had a chance to talk to you in awhile. What's happening with the love of your life?"

"She's good. Her family is coming to visit her in a few months." John said quietly. "I'm thinking about proposing just before they come, so if she says yes, then we can announce it then."

"Wow, John! That's great! I'm really happy for you." Lizzy gave him a hug. She felt a tiny pang of regret, but shook herself mentally and replaced that with genuine happiness for her friend.

John became serious. "You know what, Lizzy? You always laughed off when I flirted with you or talked about marrying you. I tried to tell you that I was sincere. I think we could have been happy together. But you never took it seriously. I never really knew why. I think maybe you don't appreciate yourself enough. That someone would truly love you for you.

I don't know what is going on with you and Darcy, but when I watch you with him...you light up. You look for him in a room. Yeah, you get angry, but your eyes have a spark in them. He's a good guy. I would be the first to tell you if he wasn't. But I think if you took down your defenses and gave him a chance, you might be surprised. I think he's the one that will make you more than happy."

Lizzy stared at John stunned. They'd never had a conversation like this before. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I found someone that will make me more than happy. Anne is...she's smart, funny, kind, and she balances me. She makes me feel like she needs me, just like I need her. I want you to find your someone. Someone that needs you as much as you need him. I think Darcy is that someone."

"I don't know, John. I've heard that he's controlling and then there's thing with his sister-"

"If you are referring to that engagement that he broke up. Well, I assisted Darcy's legal interests in that. Not that I will give you any confidential information, but the guy Darcy ran off is a user, a blackmailer, and a fortune hunter. Miss Darcy is very fortunate her brother intervened.

But, Lizzy, you've heard rumors about Darcy. What have you seen? You've seen a loyal friend and a protective brother. Maybe his actions were off, but his motives have been pure. Don't screw this up, Lizard."

Lizzy's eyes turned watery while John was talking. How could I have been so blind? Both to John and to William? Ugh! Stupid immature side of my brain!

Lizzy knew John was right. On all points. She had lost something with John, but they could both have something better – John with this Anne girl, and she with Darcy. But she had a lot of humble pie to eat. And she had a few apologies to make. The first one was to John.

"John, you – wow. You are right. So right. I've screwed up so much. I really didn't think you were seriously interested in me. I always thought you were too handsome, too funny, too ambitious for someone like me. I just thought you were teasing me, the way you did when we were little. I know we- yes, I could have been happy with you. You are a great guy, after all. I don't know about William- Darcy, but I am just happy that you found someone that makes you feel complete. I do love you, you know."

"I love you too, Lizard." He paused. "Look at me and believe me when I say this: You, Elizabeth Bennet are beautiful, funny, and smart, and no one is too 'anything' for you! You just may be too much for someone else." John grinned. "Just let your guard down for a bit and try to give Darcy a chance. He's right for you."

ooo

"Is everyone ready to go?" Lydia shouted out. "We are loading up and shipping off!" Everyone grabbed their tubes and settled back for a lazy ride.

"The rapids are coming up soon!" Jane yelled to the Bingleys and Darcy. "But don't worry. They aren't too rough. I mean, even if you flip over, you'll be ok."

"Yeah, the worst part is if you don't raise your rear in time! You won't be able to sit down for a week!" laughed Kitty.

"It's that shallow?" asked Caroline. She didn't want her suit to rip. It was Chanel.

"Only in some parts. But if you watch when you hear the rapids, you can avoid the rocks that are close to the surface," Lizzy explained. She glanced at Darcy, who was steadily avoiding looking in her direction.

"Here they come! We'll see you at the end of these rapids – these are the worst. If you flip, it will be here. If you can stay to the right, you'll get shot into a deeper pool. To the left, it's faster, but more chances to scrape your rear!" Jane laughed and kicked to the right. "See you in a bit!" And she grabbed the ropes on Charles' and Caroline's tubes and pulled them with her. The others followed her, grabbing hands and pulling ropes, forming a train to stay together.

Lizzy couldn't get to the right with the others. She kept bouncing off of Lydia and Kitty's tubes. She struggled to stand up before going to the left. She was about to jump off her tube, when her foot tangled in her rope and she twisted and fell, hitting her wrist and arm. A sharp pain went through her body and she lost all control. She tried to stand up, but instead, ended up falling again on some slippery rocks. By this time, she was partially down the rougher side of the rapids and saw a rock just below the surface. She was inches from hitting her head on it, struggling to stop, when someone jerked her back. He picked her up and carried her to a sandbar nearby and gently put her down.

Lizzy was crying from the pain in her wrist. She looked down to see her left arm and leg were bruised and scraped. The left side of her face was throbbing by this time and she reached up and felt blood. She'd cut herself.

"It's ok. I think you may have broken your wrist, but the cut on your face isn't too big. It won't need stitches, and I doubt it will scar." A voice said gently. Lizzy looked up. It was Darcy.

"Th-thank you." And she began chattering. It was suddenly very cold. Darcy began rubbing her right arm and shoulder to warm her up. He picked her up again and put her in a sunny spot.

"Take some deep slow breaths for the pain." He looked at her. "You're not babbling, Elizabeth? I thought you got nervous in emergencies." He gave a small smile.

Lizzy took a deep breath and blew out slowly. Shoot, her wrist hurt! "I only do that for other people. Believe it or not," Lizzy paused because of the pain, "I get even worse if I see blood, but only on other people! I would probably be giving you the recipe for my mother's famous meatloaf by now, if our roles were reversed." She smiled ruefully.

"As soon as you are ready, we can go. I can guide you through the easier parts and as soon as we can, we'll leave the river and try to find a phone." Darcy said quietly, staring ahead.

"Yes, there is a tube rental ahead and they have a first aid office there."

The two were quiet for a moment. Then they both began speaking at the same time. Lizzy motioned for Darcy to speak first.

"I am not going to embarrass myself again by telling you about my feelings. I do, though, want to clear a few things up."

"William, please, I owe you an apology." Lizzy started.

"Well, I'd just like to tell you something and then drop the subject and both of us can move on. Please, it's important to me that you hear this.

As you know, I have the guardianship of my sister, Georgiana. She is- was- well, is the most important person to me. A few years ago, when Georgiana was fifteen, I hired a private tutor for her, Teresa Younge. Gigi had been struggling with her schoolwork. She was at an age when girls need their mothers, I guess. I hired Mrs. Younge, thinking she would fill a void for my sister. Georgiana was improving for awhile. She seemed happier and her grades were improving.

But then, Mrs. Younge invited Georgiana to go to London with her for the weekend. I had no problem with this, except that on that trip, Georgiana met Mrs. Younge's brother, George Wickham. He was quite a bit older than Georgina, close to my age.

"Well, he was fun and smart and funny and she soon developed an innocent crush on him. Mrs. Younge didn't realize, maybe she thought it was cute. I don't believe she set this up, but in any event, Wickham began to contact Georgiana-" Darcy stopped and saw Lizzy's face had gone pale. "No, no! Nothing improper happened. Just emailing back and forth. Innocent messages, at first. When Georgiana was seventeen, Wickham began dropping hints of marriage – eloping. He began to tell her how beautiful she was and how clever,. Flattering her. Then he began to imply that people had treated him unfairly in life, that he couldn't catch a break. Closer to her eighteenth birthday, he began to tell her how much he loved her, and that I, her brother, would try to break them apart. That he wanted to marry her and run away and start life over with her.

"She was head over heels in love with this man. And he knew it. By her eighteenth birthday, they had planned their elopement. They would get married and live on love." Darcy made a face.

"William, please, I don't need to hear this." Lizzy began.

"No, I want you to hear it. She is all I have," his voice was breaking. Lizzy closed her eyes and felt so very very guilty. Her eyes teared up. Darcy cleared his throat. "She is all I have and I would do anything to protect her." He paused, then continued, "Well, Georgiana told Mrs. Younge, or was manipulated into telling her. And Mrs. Younge, not wanting to be involved in a scandal that might have far reaching consequences, immediately told me of their plans. I called Georgiana, but couldn't get a hold of her. Mrs. Younge finally found her brother, just a day before they were to get married. I rushed to them and confronted Wickham. Georgiana was crying about how much she loved him and how I didn't understand. How I wanted to control her. All these lies about me. When I took Wickham aside to discuss this, he pulled out a paper. It was an agreement for me to pay him a large sum of money to stay away from Georgiana.

I couldn't believe how ruthless this man was. It was all I could do to not physically harm him. He had calculated every word and movement. He knew our human nature so well, he knew exactly what to say and do to get the results he wanted. He even used his sister. I paid him the money after conferring with a law firm here. I didn't want anyone in England to know. I didn't want to humiliate my sister anymore.

But the worst part, Elizabeth, was that I had to tell my sister how he used her. And she wouldn't believe me until I showed her the agreement. It was heart wrenching. It killed me to see her so hurt. She's still got a lot of healing to be done." He stopped and thought for a minute then continued. "I cannot apologize anymore for how I tried to interfere with Charles and Jane. I understand why you are still angry, but I have done all I can to fix that.

And as regards your friendships? I never said anything about ending your relationships with anyone, male, female, friend, or family. I'd never try to control anyone like that, especially someone like you. That would crush who you are.

I am sorry that my feelings and words offended you. I realize that I must have misread you. I thought your feelings might have been mutual. I was wrong. I think maybe you and John Lucas have some unfinished business, as well. John is a good person. If anyone could make you happy, it would be him."

Lizzy was silent for a moment. She started to answer him, but he cut her off. "I think you need to get to a doctor. Are you ready?"

"But I want to say-" she started.

"No, Elizabeth. Please don't say anything. Let's just go." Darcy pleaded.

And so they left, Lizzy in the tube and Darcy guiding her gently down the river. Both lost in their own thoughts.