A/N: Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, as always they are much appreciated. I'm posting this chapter today instead of Monday because, as told in a previous note, I have an exam in six days so my time starting from tomorrow will be used to revise/prepare for the exam. However, I have written the next chapter but it still needs some finishing touches which I will do after my exam and post next Friday and then we'll be back to the usual Monday posting routine.

Just a warning, this chapter might be a bit angsty for you and the story will have more to come after this chapter, there is a lot more to the Wickham/Lydia plot as well as a few things with Caroline so I hope that you will continue. As I have promised, E&D will be okay come the end of this story.

As always, please let me know your thoughts and enjoy this chapter.

It was only Tuesday but already, Lizzy was looking forward to travelling to Pemberley with William at the end of the week. Her mother refused to apologise to her about the disastrous lunch with William and on the few times that William had showed up at Longbourn to see her, Mrs Bennet refused to see William and apologise to him. As usual her father dismissed it as 'You know what your mother is like, Lizzy.' and William thought that her parents were despicable, although he didn't say that to their faces, yet. Jane was the only one who came to her defense. On the second night of her return to Longbourn, Mrs Bennet had once again stated her reasoning on why Lizzy was a failure for a daughter and Jane said that everyone was different and just because Lydia could do no wrong in her eyes, she shouldn't wish all of her daughters to be the same.

So here it was, Tuesday morning and she was walking into Meryton with William. Tomorrow, Charles had invited the Bennet family round for a barbecue and on Friday she was planning to take Leonard for a walk to show him the places she visited at his age in Meryton and the surrounding countryside.

"I see your mother still refuses to see me." William mused.

Lizzy laughed slightly, taking his hand, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. The relationship I have with my mother is better at a distance. She hates the fact I moved so far away from home for university, she hates the way I look or the things I like to do because I'm not like her and never will be. She tolerates Jane because she's the eldest and Jane sees the best in people with her good nature. Mary is quite aloof so she steers clear of my mother. The younger two, however, are the ones she fawns over."

"I just don't understand how she can be so critical of you." William muttered.

"We argue a lot because of it. I wish she wouldn't sometimes. The reason I don't go home very often is because, although I love her, of my mother." Lizzy replied.

"Have you ever told her that?"

Lizzy shook her head, "No. I don't want to be that cruel." she replied.

"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind." William stated.

"That may be true."

They continued to walk down the lane in silence, holding the other's hand as they passed a meadow that had a thick layer of trees around it and the grass freshly cut that the smell lingered in the air. Lizzy often sat in this lane in her younger years, climbing the trees or sitting on the grass with a book. Smiling to herself, she strayed from the path and dragged William by the hand into the meadow. When they stopped, she looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He reciprocated by curling an arm around her waist and pulled her closer whilst his free hand cupped her face.

Eyebrow raised, "May I ask what we are doing in a meadow, hidden by trees, Lizzy?" he asked.

"I just wanted a few minutes alone with you, we haven't had any privacy since we came here." Lizzy replied.

"That's not true, don't you remember last night?" William asked with a grin.

Lizzy blushed slightly, the night before she and Jane had been invited to Netherfield for dinner and her boyfriend had offered to give her a tour of the Bingley's home. Only William's definition of a tour started in the library with heated kisses and sly touches and then he swept her up in his arms and carried her to his room where they'd made passionate and rushed love to each other but at the same time making sure that they were quiet about it; the last thing either had wanted was for someone to hear them.

"Besides last night I mean." Lizzy mumbled.

He lifted her face up a little higher and he smiled, knowing that he was smiling at her blush, he leaned down and kissed her. Lizzy returned his kiss sensually and slowly, trying to express how she felt about him as her hands ran through his hair and both of them swaying on the spot as they clung to each other. Will lifted her off the ground with one arm still around her waist until she was at his height level, Lizzy held on to him tighter; their lips locked together and moving in that slow pace that told the other something that their words never could.

Eventually, William pulled away from her and set her back on the ground, keeping hold of her when he felt her unsteady. It was amazing how he could make her feel light-headed and so unfocused of her surroundings that nothing else mattered except for him. Lizzy opened her eyes to see him smiling down at her, his brown eyes warm with that mixture of adoration, devotion, eagerness to protect, that hungry desire for her; it all reflected what she felt about him and she could only hope that he could see how she felt about him.

"We can continue this later, perhaps I could spend the night in your bedroom? I'd like to see what a teenage Lizzy Bennet's room looked like." he whispered, grinning from ear to ear.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, taking hold of his hand as they walked back to the lane, "You want to give my mother something to gossip about? I'll hear no end to it-"

"Well I guess that means that I'll have to sneak back to Longbourn when everyone else is asleep and throw pebbles at your bedroom window." William suggested.

She laughed, "Now I'd pay good money to see you climb the drainpipe."

"If I was successful in doing so, I'd like to have a reward." William whispered, leaning next to her ear so that only she could hear.

Lizzy looked up at him with a mischievous smile, "I'm sure I could think of something to ensure you do." she replied softly.

The two continued to walk into Meryton, stopping in some of the shops so that Lizzy could say hello to some of the people she had grown up with, introducing her childhood friends to William. As they walked round Meryton, William saw a remote controlled helicopter in the window of a toy shop that he said to Lizzy he would catch her up and went into the toy shop. Lizzy walked a little further, until she felt herself being dragged into an alleyway between two of the shops. A hand covered her mouth until she was out of sight of the main path and shuddered when she felt breath against her ear.

"Don't scream, Little Lizzy." a voice whispered into her ear.

Her eyes widened as she turned around, seeing the face of the man who had abandoned her when she needed help the most. Her instant reaction was to slap him but George caught her arm and laughed harshly.

"Get off of me!" Lizzy hissed.

"I just wanted to talk, a little birdy told me you were back."

Lizzy scoffed, "You have some nerve to come back here after what you did to me." she hissed.

"I didn't get to pick and choose what army regiment I was assigned to." George replied.

"I don't believe you."

"I've missed you Little Lizzy, I still love you."

"Get off of me or I'll scream." Lizzy warned.

"Listen to me-"

With that, Lizzy screamed as loud as she could. She hoped that William would hear her or someone working in the two shops that the alley separated would hear her and come to her aid. Luckily within minutes, she saw her boyfriend running down the alleyway and grabbing her into his embrace. He looked down at Lizzy and checked to make sure she was okay. William looked furious after he whispered his question of whether she was okay, when she nodded, he looked away from her to the man who dared to stand there after he had been caught trying to force Lizzy into a situation against her will.

"Stay away from my girlfriend..." Will had started to say but the second his eyes met George's, he released his grasp of Lizzy.

Lizzy looked between the two men, seeing the anger in her boyfriend's eyes for the first time ever.

"Oh this is priceless," George laughed, "Lizzy, you're dating Darcy?!"

"How do you two-"

But her question was unanswered as William lurched forward, grabbing George by the throat and pinning him up against the wall. Lizzy froze to the spot, unsure of what to do.

"You little cockroach! I'm going to kill you." William shouted through gritted teeth.

"Come on Darcy, she got into my car willingly. It's not like I forced her to do it." George tried to reason.

"You killed her! You crashed that car and moved her into the driving seat before running off. You killed my sister!"

It became apparent to Lizzy in that moment. The same man who had caused her own accident had caused the death of William's sister. George simply laughed in amusement and she begged Will to forget about him. As William released George and turned to walk away with Lizzy, George said the completely wrong thing.

"How is my son Darcy?"

She couldn't stop what happened next. William turned round and launched at George, beating him to a bloody pulp. Lizzy couldn't believe what was happening, George Wickham, her ex-boyfriend, was also the ex-boyfriend of Lucy Fitzwilliam and had fathered Leonard? This had to be some cruel joke. She felt angry that George had not only abandoned her but had caused the death of Leonard's mother. That sweet boy couldn't have a father like Wickham?

"George Younge or George Wickham, which one do you go by? Which one is your actual name?" William growled, punching him in the ribs.

Wickham merely laughed, goading William into punching him some more. George's face was starting to bruise and swell from William's beatings and Lizzy felt scared that her boyfriend was capable of this.

"WILLIAM!" she screamed.

Her boyfriend stopped and stood up, releasing George who scrambled from the ground and ran away like the coward he was. William's hands were cut and swollen from where he had repeatedly punched George over and over again. The anger in his eyes still remained and as he tried to move towards her, she backed away. He had frightened her. She hadn't thought him capable of this much violence.

"Lizzy-"

"Stay away from me." she whispered, running from the alleyway.

ooOoo

What had he done?

William fell back against the brick wall and closed his eyes. He had heard Lizzy's screams when he had exited the toy shop, he didn't know why but he knew that she was in trouble and he had to go to her. When he had found her and saw that George Younge, or Wickham as Elizabeth knew him, he felt angry and he couldn't repress that anger. He had acted on impulse, everything this man had done to his sister had done to Lizzy. Wickham was the reason why Leonard didn't have his mother and to hear that scumbag ask how his son was, the son he had never bothered with and didn't deserve to be a father to, made him lash out. William was perfectly prepared to walk away with Lizzy until the man had mentioned Leonard.

Lucy deserved justice, Leonard deserved justice. Wickham deserved to be punished for the death he had caused and escaped from. He was determined not to let Wickham get away with his crimes and so had beaten the man black and blue, the first time in his life that he had been unable to control his anger. But the way that Lizzy had looked at him, scared and wishing he hadn't done what he did, had made him regret doing so. She had told him to stay away from her and had run away.

Had he ruined his relationship with her? He wasn't sure. But William decided to head straight back to Netherfield to clean himself up and give Elizabeth enough time to calm down. But on his return to Netherfield, Charles was waiting outside for him.

"Darcy-"

"Not now Charles." William said impatiently.

"I've just returned from Longbourn."

He stopped in his tracks and turned to his best friend, a look of worry on Charles's face.

"Will, what were you thinking?" Charles asked.

"I wasn't. I just saw the scumbag who was responsible for my sister's death and nearly caused Lizzy's. I just saw the pathetic excuse for a father who left my nephew without his mother. He thought it was amusing. He needed to be taught a lesson." William replied.

"You do realise Lizzy is scared beyond her wits? She was really upset that Jane had to calm her down and when she did, she related the story to me and Jane. This is out of character for you."

"I wasn't thinking, I've never felt so angry before."

"Well get yourself cleaned up and get over to Longbourn as soon as you can. You need to explain to Lizzy what it was all about." Charles said.

The two went into the house, with William hurrying up to his room to freshen up; hoping that Lizzy would allow him to explain the situation and that he could fix this mess.

ooOoo

"Oh dear, you don't look too pretty." Caroline tutted in mock sympathy.

George Wickham looked around and once he saw the two of them were alone on the country lane, he turned to her. Ever since she had met him outside the army base and asked him for his help in return that she wouldn't tell the Darcy family where he was. Of course, she had told him the entire story of how she had hired a private investigator and recognised him from a picture in the case file of the accident; she had seen him on the few occasions that she had stayed at Pemberley in the past.

"Why didn't you tell me that Darcy was the friend you wanted to save?" Wickham snapped.

Caroline gave a wicked smile, "The Darcy family have been wanting your head since you killed their beloved Lucy. When I found out about your connection to Eliza, well, I had to use you to my advantage. The evidence on your face shows that Darcy didn't take the reunion too warmly and from what I've heard at Netherfield, Eliza was scared out of her wits. You've done your part and now I wait to play mine." she replied.

"And what is that exactly?"

"Well if Eliza decides to end her relationship with Darcy then I will swoop in to comfort him. In time, he will see that he should be with me and not that little waitress."

George grinned before wincing in pain, "I hope it goes well for you. I should get back to base." he replied.

"Wickham."

George turned around, "Yes, Caroline?"

"Now that Darcy knows you're here, it won't be long before he tells his father. If I were you, I'd request a transfer as soon as possible to another regiment."

He nodded and turned away, heading back to the base as Caroline took the path that would take her back to Netherfield. Everything would work out for her in the end, she was absolutely positive about that.

ooOoo

Lizzy heard the knocking on the door and the voice of William as Mrs Hill let him into the house. She had been sat in the living room, sitting on the window seat the overlooked her favourite part of the Longbourn gardens. She had been trying to process what she had witnessed happen between Will and George but it scared her to death and she wasn't sure what he was going to say to her. Mrs Hill led him into the living room, shutting the door behind them to give them some privacy. He crossed the room quickly, kneeling in front of her as his eyes met hers.

"Lizzy, I'm so sorry." he whispered.

She saw that he had cleaned himself up a bit but his knuckles remained cut and swollen.

"I didn't know that George was responsible for my accident and Lucy's. It's a small world." she said quietly.

"Lizzy, you have to understand, he used a fake name. He told us that his name was George Younge, he took Lucy out that night and killed her and then he pulled her into the driving seat to make it look like she was responsible and ran for it. For four years, he's escaped justice."

"When did Lucy's accident happen?"

"When she was eighteen, I believe that your accident happened after hers because Lucy is a year older than you."

She nodded and sighed heavily, "I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Seeing you like that William, it frightened me. It wasn't the William that I know. You beat him to a pulp and yes, he may have deserved it, but that doesn't excuse what happened. You wouldn't have stopped and if he goes to the police-"

"If he has any sense then he won't because he knows it will backfire on him."

"But what if he does? You didn't think about the consequences of what will happen to Leonard did you? He's already lost his mother and what if he lost the closest thing he has to a father?"

William fell silent when he realised that she was right. He hadn't thought of Leonard or the consequences of his actions.

"Lizzy, I think we should go to Pemberley sooner than we planned."

"You just want to run away?"

"Not run away, get away from here. Just be together and work-"

"William, I need some time to process this. I think you should go to Pemberley without me."

She knew by the sad expression on his face that he was devastated and she couldn't help but let out a tear which streamed down her cheek. But she knew that she was making the right decision, they both needed some space; it didn't mean that she was breaking up with him.

"What about us?"

"William, I'm not breaking up with you. We both just need a little space, next week I'll get in touch with you but a few days apart after this whole thing with Wickham would do us both some good."

He nodded and leaned forwards, giving her a parting kiss before rising and leaving the sitting room. Lizzy let out a few more silent tears as she turned her attention out of the window, she hoped that in a few days time she would be able to talk through this with William properly and not feel frightened by him but for now, she needed to think about what had happened and what Wickham was going to do next.

ooOoo

William missed her more than anything as they drove from Netherfield to Pemberley. Mrs Reynolds kept herself busy reading a few magazines as Leonard sat in the back asleep with his head against the window, he had fallen asleep watching the rain drops trail down the glass. But as he drove them through multiple stand stills on the motorway, his thoughts always trailed back to Elizabeth. He missed making love to her, he missed her laugh, her wavy brown hair, those hazel eyes that lighted up when she teased him. He missed cuddling up with her while watching the TV and kissing her when they were supposed to be paying attention to said TV. He was utterly miserable and didn't know whether he would be hearing from her any time soon.

His return to Pemberley had been a warm and welcome one, Georgie had flung her arms around him the second they had all stepped out of his car. His father shook his hand and Frank had arrived earlier than expected due to extended leave. Mrs Reynolds was invited to eat dinner with them and was shown to the guest rooms instead of the old one that she had used when she had been working as the Pemberley housekeeper. The employees took their suitcases to their respective suites before Reginald stated that he had something to discuss with his family and asked Mrs Reynolds to take Leonard to the stables to visit the horses. Fitzwilliam followed his brother, sister and father into the sitting room where they all sat down to discuss Reginald's topic.

"Georgiana, you can go and keep your nephew company." Reginald instructed.

"I don't think so, I know you're going to talk to Fitzwilliam about those files you think is connected to Lucy. She was my sister too-"

"You'll do as I say."

"If I leave, Fitzwilliam will tell me later!" Georgiana demanded.

Reginald looked at his son, "Will you now, Fitzwilliam?" he asked

William nodded, "I have no secrets from Georgie, Dad." he confirmed.

Smiling in triumph, Georgiana felt satisfied. William knew that their father wouldn't send her out of the room when he had just said that he would tell her what had been said anyway. The four of them sat down and Reginald cleared his throat.

"Fitzwilliam, you said that you were bringing your girlfriend with you." Reginald stated.

"She's staying with her family, she has a connection to George Younge or George Wickham as she knows him. It turns out that Wickham is in Hertfordshire with an army regiment and-"

"Caused your Elizabeth to have a car accident which nearly killed her. It seems that Younge has a record." Reginald finished.

"How do you know this?"

"Caroline Bingley had a private investigator hired to follow this Elizabeth Bennet. The PI managed to get hold of Elizabeth's private medical and criminal records which she emailed over to Dad." Frank explained.

"That awful woman." Georgiana muttered.

"My sentiments exactly." William agreed, knowing that Caroline was perfectly capable of doing this just to try and cause a wedge between him and Lizzy.

"It won't be long before I have the police head to the army regiment to arrest Wickham. He won't get away with this, not any more." Reginald vowed.

"I forgot to mention that I beat him to a pulp."

They all looked round at him as he raised hi fist to show them the cut and bruises along his knuckles.

"Fitzwilliam!" Georgie scolded.

"He goaded me into it. He laughed and tried talking about Leonard-"

"You better hope, my son, that he doesn't do another runner!" Reginald yelled.

"Dad, if you had been there you would have done the exact same thing." William snapped.

The atmosphere turned a little tense until Frank cleared his throat and turned to face William.

"So why didn't Elizabeth come with you?" Frank asked.

"She got a little frightened by the violence I showed towards Wickham." Will muttered.

"She dumped you?" Georgie asked.

"I don't think so, she just said she needed some space and she'd call me."

"Regardless of your girlfriend, we will get Wickham this time. For Lucy and Leonard's sake." Reginald said, with all three of his children nodding in agreement.

With the discussion of what Reginald decided to do with Wickham out of the way, it was announced that dinner was being served so the family moved to the dining hall to see Mrs Reynolds entering the room with Leonard.

ooOoo

"Lizzy, talk to me." Jane urged softly.

The two sisters sat in the garden on that warm Thursday. It had been two days since she had asked William to return to Pemberley without her and in those two days she had been sat moping. She had missed him terribly and after giving it much thought after talking with Jane, she had come to the conclusion that if she had been in William's situation and Wickham had caused the loss of one of her sisters she would have done the same thing. On the plus side, Wickham remained away from her since his brutal beating from William.

"I'm just thinking, Jane." Lizzy replied.

"About?"

Lizzy looked at her sister, "William."

"You said that you weren't frightened of his actions since you said you would have done the same thing if the situation had been yours instead of his." Jane pointed out.

"It's not that. I think he feels that I've ended our relationship, he hasn't contacted me and I text him yesterday to see if he was okay but he was quite brief."

"Well, how do you feel about him?" Jane asked.

Lizzy blinked, "What do you mean?"

Jane laughed slightly, "Oh Lizzy, I think you're falling for him."

When she thought about Jane's words, her heart fluttered and beat faster. When she thought back to the many arguments that she had with Oliver, she realised that her relationship with William was much better. William had been patient with her. All the times that Oliver had tried to push her into a car to 'help' her overcome her fears, it had ended that relationship. She had taken that step with William . Her feelings, they weren't just deep feelings. She missed him whenever they were apart, she looked forward to spending time with him, she loved the fact that the first time he had made love to her had been mid-afternoon and had made her feel so connected and safe with him. She was in love with him. Just him.

"I think you're right." Lizzy muttered.

Jane smiled, "You love him so all that matters now is, how are you going to tell him?" her sister asked.

"Shit. I asked him to go to Pemberley without me. Would he even want to see me? What if he doesn't feel the same way?" Lizzy asked, panicking a little bit.

"Lizzy, surely you can see how much you've changed from being guarded to taking risks? You got into William's car to make the journey here instead of taking a train, you took a risk with that and with him. Surely it's worth taking the risk?"

"How am I even going to get to Pemberley?"

"Charles is going tomorrow morning. He's coming over to see me in a little while, shall I ask if you can go with him?"

Lizzy nodded, "It's so strange, I used to be so deathly afraid of cars. But now that I've been in one again, I'm not so nervous as I was once." she mused.

Jane smiled in pride, "I'm happy that you no longer feel so scared Lizzy, now you should go and pack." her sister replied.

Lizzy returned her sister's smile and got up, rushing into the house and up the stairs to her bedroom where she began to pack her suitcase. She hoped that Charles would agree to take her to Pemberley and that she wasn't too late to make things up with William.

ooOoo

"George, what's the matter?" Lydia asked for the tenth time in the past hour she had been with him.

He had been pacing a lot lately since his encounter with Darcy, wondering when his time would be up. Lydia had told him that Lizzy had sent William on to Pemberley with some housekeeper and the nephew -his son- and if Darcy hadn't told his family that he was in Hertfordshire, it was only a short time before he would share the location of the most wanted man by the Darcy family. When his thoughts went to the son he had last seen nearly five years ago, who would be turning six soon; not that he remembered the exact date. Leonard, that was his name. Lucy had named him but he wasn't ready to become a father, Lucy should have known better than to get pregnant at such a young age.

All he wanted was Elizabeth, the girl he had met at the age of seventeen. He liked young girls, they had a certain naivety and vulnerability about them which he could use to his advantage. By charming them into thinking he loved them, he made them think that he was the only man that they could rely on and that gave him the pleasure that he craved. Being in foster care for his entire life, that is what he wanted, someone who could rely on him alone. Lizzy and Lucy had relied on him when he had first met them and now, one was dead and the other hated his guts.

Mrs Younge knew everything, she was the only mother figure in his life. He had used her last name as his when he had met Lucy, wanting to forget the pain that the surname of Wickham had brought him his entire life. She had protected him and gave him some money to start over in Meryton, a little village where nobody would have thought to look for him and then he had met Elizabeth. Of course, by the time he had met Elizabeth, he had been forced to revert back to using Wickham for his last name, not wanting to be tracked down by the Darcy family.

"George!" Lydia snapped.

"What?"

"Will you tell me what's wrong!"

He sighed and sat on the bed next to her, "I can't tell you this. I have to protect you from this." he whispered, not actually meaning those words but knowing it was what she wanted to hear; he'd say anything to stop her from nattering the way she did, it bloody annoyed him.

"I'm your girlfriend and I love you. I'm your Little Lydi remember?"

He smiled, "Of course I do."

"So share, maybe I can help."

He sighed again, putting his head in his hands. His life was one big, fuck up. His entire time in foster care, the accidents that he had caused for Lucy and for Lizzy, running away because he only thought of himself, abandoning his own child.

"Someone will be coming after me soon, I've gotten special permission for leave. I've told them that my mother is critically ill and I leave tomorrow morning first thing."

Of course, it was a lie about his mother being critically ill, he had to think up some reason to leave the army so suddenly.

"Oh your poor dear!" Lydia hummed sympathetically.

"I don't know when I'll see you again-"

"But I'll come with you."

He stared at her, biting his tongue from letting out a laugh. Oh she was so naive, she actually thought he would run off into the sunset with her? She actually thought that this 'relationship' that they had was going to last forever? Lydia Bennet actually thought he loved her? It was hard not to laugh and reveal to her now that he had only been sleeping with her and keeping her sweet to get to her sister.

But then again, she was sat here in his bed and willing to do whatever he wanted. If Darcy and his family came for him to get justice for their Little Lucy, then he could run away with Lydia which would hurt Lizzy. And if Lizzy found out why he ran away with Lydia, she would blame Darcy for the mess surely? Because if Darcy had left him alone then Lydia would be able to stay where she was at home.

"I'd love for you to come with me." he replied, kissing her lightly.

Lydia beamed with joy, "I'll pack tonight and sneak away before anybody wakes up. By the time it's been discovered that we've run away to be together, we'll be with your mother. Where does your mother live?" she asked.

"My foster mother will take care of everything. My birth mother lives in Calais, she wants to say goodbye to me one last time and then we can stay in France." George replied.

"I best get home, I have so much to pack!" Lydia squealed.

"I'll be waiting for you by the school at seven o'clock." he smiled.

Lydia climbed out of his bed and began pulling her clothes on, hurrying out of his room and probably straight back to Longbourn. Oh his plan for revenge was too easy, he knew that Darcy would be held responsible for this; if only he and his family had left the whole Lucy thing alone. He lay back on the bed when there was a knock on the door, he didn't answer it until he looked up to see Denny entering the room.

"I heard you've got two weeks leave, something about your mother dying?" Denny asked.

Wickham nodded, "My mother yes, she's not going to live past two weeks so I need to see her before she goes. Arrange the funeral, settle her affairs if you get what I mean?" he replied.

"Sorry mate, I didn't know." Denny muttered.

"Yes, it's quite a shock."

"Do you want me to look after Lydia while you're away?" Denny offered.

"No need for that, her parents have allowed her to come with me."

"Really?"

Wickham nodded, "Yes, apparently it took some persuading but after she said she had to support me and that she would be well looked after, they relented. Her mother adores her and Kitty, practically gives them everything they could ever want." he said.

"Well that was very understanding of them."

"Just don't mention anything to Kitty, apparently she's quite jealous that Lydia gets to go away again and she's stuck here with you." George lied, twisting the knife a little bit.

Denny nodded stiffly, looking annoyed at the last comment that George had made and left his room. George moved from his bed and began chucking his belongings into the suitcase, after a good night's sleep, he and Lydia would be heading to Ramsgate before getting on a ferry at Dover to Calais. That would teach Darcy a lesson.